Most clips clear moderation in minutes. When one doesn’t, it’s almost always for a reason that’s quick to fix — a missing performer link, a prohibited element in the trailer, the title or description making a claim the file doesn’t support, or a content-rules violation. This guide walks through what each moderation outcome means, where the moderator’s note shows up (in your email AND on the clip’s edit page), the typical fix-and-resubmit flow, and when to take an appeal to support instead of resubmitting.
For the upload + first-submit flow, see How to add a clip. For the post-approval edit flow, see Editing or deleting a clip. For the rules a moderator is checking against, see Prohibited content.
1. The three moderation outcomes
After you click Submit clip for review (or Update clip and resubmit for an existing clip), one of three things happens:
- Approved. The clip goes live, or — if you set a future release time — moves to Scheduled and goes live at that time. Email subject: “[Lewdden] Clip approved: <your title>”. On the edit page, a green panel reads “Your clip was approved.”
- Changes requested. The moderator wants edits before they’ll approve. Clip is not live. Email subject: “[Lewdden] Changes requested: <your title>”. The on-page panel is purple with the headline “Your clip needs changes before it can be approved again.” and the moderator’s specific note underneath.
- Disabled. The moderator has determined the clip can’t go live in its current form. Clip is not viewable by fans, and existing buyers (if any) lose access. Email subject: “[Lewdden] Clip disabled: <your title>”. The on-page panel reads “Your clip was disabled by the moderation team.” with the moderator’s note.
The status badge on /clips-manage/ and at the top of the edit page reflects the current state — Pending, Approved, Changes requested, Disabled. See Editing or deleting a clip §1 for the full status taxonomy.
2. Where you’ll see the moderator’s note
Two surfaces show you exactly the same thing:
- Email to the address on your account. Sent the moment a moderator records the decision. Subject prefix tells you the outcome (Clip approved, Changes requested, Clip disabled); the body has a “Moderator note:” line followed by the specific reason and a direct link to “Open the clip editor:”.
- On the clip’s edit page, at the top, in a coloured panel labelled “Latest moderator message” with the timestamp it was saved and an indicator if it was emailed. Purple panel = changes requested. Green = approved. Red = disabled. Older notes for the same clip are in an admin notes log below the panel — useful when a clip has gone through several rounds.
You don’t have to keep reloading /clips-manage/ to check — the email is reliable and the on-page panel waits for you whenever you next open the clip.
3. The most common reasons a clip is held
Moderators check every clip against the Prohibited content rules and verify the listing matches what’s in the file. The reasons that come up most often:
- Performer not linked / not approved. Every person visible in the clip must be linked to your store as an approved performer. If a performer’s identity verification hasn’t completed, the clip can’t be approved until they’re cleared. See Customising your store for the performer-link UI.
- Listing doesn’t match the file. The title, description, or tags claim something that isn’t in the clip — common with copy-pasted listings, or when a clip was retitled before upload.
- Trailer shows prohibited content. The trailer is publicly visible and held to a stricter bar than the main clip in some cases — anything that breaks platform rules in the trailer fails moderation even when the same content would be allowed gated in the main clip.
- Audio rights / music. Background music with a recognisable track that you don’t have rights to. Mute it, replace it with a royalty-free track, or use platform-provided audio.
- Real-name reveals. Showing real names, ID documents, or any other identifying off-platform information of you or anyone visible in the clip — including in burned-in captions, watermarks, or screen recordings.
- Off-platform contact for paid services. Inviting fans to message you on another platform for paid content. Even soft prompts (“DM me elsewhere for the full version”) count.
- Tag / category mismatch. Tags or categories that materially mislead — using a category the clip doesn’t fit, or a popular tag the content isn’t an example of.
- Performer gate not satisfied. A category that requires a specific performer attribute (e.g., a sub-category that needs a verified attribute on the performer profile) — moderation can’t approve until the attribute is set.
- Quality issues at the level of unwatchable. Black screens for most of the runtime, audio that fails entirely, the wrong file uploaded. Genuine quality issues are rare and the moderator’s note will be specific.
The moderator’s note on your clip will be specific to the reason — the list above is what tends to recur, not what’s necessarily in your note.
4. The fix-and-resubmit flow
For a Changes-requested clip:
- Open the clip from
/clips-manage/or the direct edit link in the email. - Read the moderator note in the purple panel at the top of the edit page.
- Make the listed changes — most often a metadata edit (title, description, tags, categories, performers), but sometimes the trailer needs re-cutting too.
- Scroll to the bottom and click Update clip and resubmit.
- The status flips back to Pending and a moderator re-checks. Most metadata-only edits clear within minutes.
If the moderator note is unclear, save a reply note on the clip via the support form (category Account admin, with the clip URL) and ask for clarification before you resubmit — saving and resubmitting without addressing the cited issue typically results in another Changes-requested round.
The main clip file and trailer file are locked after first approval (see Editing or deleting a clip §3) — but a Changes-requested clip is by definition not yet first-approved, so you CAN replace the main file or trailer at this stage. After the first approval, those files become locked.
5. Disabled vs Changes requested — what’s the difference
- Changes requested is a fixable hold. The clip is recoverable through edits. Read the note, make the change, resubmit.
- Disabled is a stronger action. The moderator has decided the clip can’t go live in its current form, often because the issue is structural (e.g., the file itself violates content rules and can’t be fixed by a metadata edit). On a Disabled clip, resubmitting without first addressing the cited issue won’t unlock it — the moderator will keep it disabled.
If you think Disabled was the wrong call, that’s an appeal — see §6.
6. Appealing a moderation decision
For the dedicated walkthrough — the difference between a Disabled appeal, a Changes-requested dispute, and a performer-rejection appeal, what makes an appeal more or less likely to succeed, and the typical turnaround — see Appealing a moderation decision. The summary below is enough for most cases.
When to appeal:
- The Disabled decision references a content-rules violation you don’t think is actually present.
- A trail of moderation messages is contradictory and you want a senior moderator to look.
- The moderator note is clearly responding to the wrong clip (rare, but it happens with batches).
- Your performer was rejected by mistake and the clip can’t be approved as a downstream effect.
How to appeal:
- Open a support ticket from
/contact/and pick category Account admin. - Include the clip URL (the edit URL is fine), the verbatim moderator note you received, and your specific reason for asking for a re-look.
- Don’t include any prohibited content in the ticket itself — screenshots of context are fine, but the support team can retrieve the file from their side; you don’t need to send it.
- Wait for the senior-moderator review. The team aims for a response within the standard support window (see Contacting support).
If the appeal succeeds, the clip’s status changes back to Approved or Pending. If it doesn’t, the moderator will leave a more detailed note explaining the decision; that one is final, and re-appealing the same clip on the same grounds isn’t productive. You can still upload a re-edited version as a new clip.
Don’t try to work around a Disabled decision by deleting the clip and re-uploading the same file under a different title. Moderators recognise duplicate content and the second upload will land in the same state — and repeated attempts to dodge a moderation decision can affect your account standing.
7. Performer rejection (different from clip rejection)
A clip can fail moderation because a performer on the clip wasn’t approved. Performer approval is a separate flow from clip approval:
- A performer attached to your account is reviewed once when they’re added and again whenever you change their identity verification documents.
- The same three outcomes apply (Approved / Changes requested / Rejected), with the same panel and email pattern but on the performer’s profile rather than a clip.
- If a performer is rejected (default fallback message: “X was rejected. Please contact support if you believe this was a mistake.”), every clip linked to them stays held until either the performer is re-reviewed and approved, or you remove the performer link from the clip.
- Performer-rejection appeals route through support the same way as clip-disabled appeals — category Account admin, with the performer’s name and the rejection reason.
8. Common questions
Q: I resubmitted my clip three times and it’s still Changes-requested. Am I doing something wrong?
Probably one specific issue isn’t being addressed. Open the moderator note at the top of the edit page and read it carefully — the same note may have been left after each save. If you’ve genuinely fixed what’s cited, open a support ticket (category Account admin) with the clip URL and ask for clarification before saving again.
Q: My clip was Approved last week and now it shows Disabled. Did I do something?
Possibly, possibly not. Clips can be disabled retroactively if a violation is found after approval — usually because of a fan report, an audit, or a moderation policy update. The moderator note explains which. Existing buyers lose access on a Disabled clip, with no automatic refund (see Editing or deleting a clip §6).
Q: The moderator note mentions a “performer not linked” issue but the performer IS linked.
Three things to check, in order: (1) the performer is on YOUR store (not just on the platform), (2) their identity verification status is Approved (not Pending or Changes requested), (3) their attributes match any category gates the clip uses. If all three look right and the rejection persists, open a support ticket with the clip URL and the performer’s username.
Q: Can I see a list of all my Changes-requested clips in one place?
Yes. /clips-manage/ has a tab / filter labelled Changes requested that lists exactly the clips waiting on your edits. Once you fix and resubmit, the clip leaves that filter on the next save.
Q: My clip was Disabled and I deleted it. Can I re-upload?
Yes — but think about whether the issue cited in the disable message will recur in the re-upload. If the underlying file violates content rules, the re-upload will be Disabled too. If the issue was a metadata or performer-link problem and the file itself is fine, fix the cause and re-upload as a fresh clip.
Q: My clip has been Pending for hours / a day. Is that normal?
Mostly clips clear within minutes, but the queue length depends on how busy the platform is. Anything more than 24 hours without an outcome is worth asking about — open a support ticket with the clip URL under Account admin.
Q: Can I tell which moderator reviewed my clip?
No — moderator identity isn’t shared with creators by design. The note is signed as the moderation team rather than an individual.
Q: I want to dispute a Changes-requested decision rather than fix it.
Same path as a disable appeal (§6) — open a support ticket under Account admin, cite the clip URL, the verbatim note, and your reason. A senior moderator re-checks. Disputing a Changes-requested rather than just complying is the right move when the moderator’s read of the rules is genuinely off; it’s the wrong move when the cited issue is real.
Q: I uploaded the wrong file by accident and it’s now Approved. Can I get the right file in?
Don’t delete the clip — open a support ticket under Account admin with the clip URL, “uploaded wrong file” as the reason, and the correct file (or a description of how to find it). Support can swap the file directly. See Editing or deleting a clip §3 for the full file-lock context.
Need more help?
- How to add a clip — from upload to publishing
- Editing or deleting a clip — what’s editable post-publish, what’s locked, what happens to existing buyers
- Prohibited content — the rules moderation checks against
- What you can and can’t sell — the positive-framed companion to Prohibited content
- Customising your store — performer linking lives here
- Contacting support — appeal path
