OnlyFans Creators Slam Sydney Sweeney's Euphoria Role
by Jada GomezBuzzFeedBuzzFeed StaffAs the Managing Editor of Streaming at BuzzFeed, I cover all things entertainment, and especially love to nerd out on all things Disney.
From Rue swallowing balloons of drugs as a drug mule, to Cassie posing as a "sexy" (?!) baby to make a quick buck on social media, the third season of Euphoria is doing the absolute most. It makes me wonder: a) what is going on in creator Sam Levinson's head and b) can I truly stomach the rest of this to see how it all ends?
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Now, Sydney Sweeney's character Cassie going full-on OnlyFans hopeful has struck a cord with real-life OnlyFans content creators and sex workers, and they're furious about her "cartoonish" portrayal of the industry. Since OnlyFans creators already face a lot of mockery for their mode of work, they say fictional Cassie is making it worse.
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“There’s just a lot that’s ridiculous and cartoonish about it,” OnlyFans creator Sydney Leathers told Variety. “There’s so much that they have her doing that is not even allowed on OnlyFans, and that alone is infuriating: the age-play stuff where she’s dressed as a baby in a diaper, for example."
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OnlyFans' acceptable use policy states the following are not permitted: "Illegal activity including actual, claimed, or role-played: exploitation, abuse, or harm of individuals under the age of 18; incest; bestiality; necrophilia; rape or sexual assault; and any content or conduct that promotes terrorism."
That means much of Cassie's content (especially "sexy baby") would violate policies.
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"Credit card processors have very strict rules that you have to abide by, and the rules are getting stricter all the time," Sydney continued.
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Another OnlyFans creator and adult actress, Maitland Ward, was particularly bothered by the baby costume. Before her adult career, Maitland starred in Boy Meets World and White Chicks.
© ABC / Courtesy Everett Collection
“In the climate we’re in, that they dressed her up as a baby to make pornographic OnlyFans content was beyond troubling and again serves to perpetuate stereotypes that sex workers have no moral compass and that they will do anything for money,” Maitland told Variety.
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“And there’s always this untrue stigma that somehow sex work is synonymous with sex trafficking and abuse," Maitland continued. "And they just said, let’s make a joke of it... I’m not laughing.”
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Sam's explanation of Cassie's OnlyFans storyline did little more than put salt in the wound.
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“[Cassie] has got her dog house and her little dog ears and the nose, and that has its own humor, but what makes the scene is the fact that her housekeeper is the one filming it,” Sam said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “What we wanted to always find is the other layer of absurdity that we’re able to tie into it so that we’re not too inside of her fantasy or illusion — the gag is to jump out, to break the wall.”
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And Sam's leaning into the "absurdity" approach is exactly what's infuriating the OnlyFans' community of creators. “It reminds me of when I pranced around in lingerie on Boy Meets World. It’s just the guys in the writer’s room coming up with their fantasies."
© ABC / Courtesy Everett Collection
"To take someone so traditionally blonde and beautiful with the biggest boobs and dress her up as a dog and baby is really bizarre," Mailtland continued, "but at the same time so expected in Hollywood.”
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The most troubling and disappointing issue at hand is that Cassie's storyline does nothing for empowerment and ownership of her own body. Instead, it relies on fetishes and harmful tropes that will do nothing to change the stereotypes around sex work in general.
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Sunday evenings are basically designated as "WTF did I just watch on Euphoria?" time on social media, at least until Season 3 ends. So here's what people are saying about Cassie the rising OnlyFans star on Twitter:
"Yes, and this shit screws real OF content creators because then this idiots watch this show and think they can ask us to do it."
@alleria_eh / Via x.com
"OK but can we blame Sam Levinson instead of Sydney? She’s a fucking actress playing a role … let’s not further play into the misogyny of all this and instead place the blame on the male adult who wrote the script and created the show"
@brainonbravo / Via x.com
"No, they're painting CASSIE as an insecure, social media obsessed lady doing ANYTHING to get attention and fund a lifestyle similar to what Maddy has. They just wrote in the platform that everyone knows. It's about CASSIE being shitty, insecure, and desperate, not all OF models."
@Zachari / Via x.com
"I don't know...there's just something strange about women who will sell their bodies and dignity to anyone with $7 -- simultaneously clutching their pearls about a TV show."
@3rdwavemedia / Via x.com
"I mean I think the point of her doing these things is to show her character do