OnlyFans Creators Criticize 'Euphoria' for Its Portrayal of Sydney Sweeney's Cassie Storyline

Sydney Sweeney's controversial storyline on HBO's 'Euphoria' continues to draw fire, this time from the very community it attempts to portray.

In the third season of Sam Levinson's hit series, Sweeney's character Cassie opens an OnlyFans account to fund her wedding to Nate (Jacob Elordi), with Maddy (Alexa Demie) stepping in as her manager. The plotline sparked immediate backlash when preview footage showed the character dressed in various provocative costumes, including one scene featuring age-play content with Cassie in a diaper.

Now, established OnlyFans creators are speaking out about how the show misrepresents their profession.

Sydney Leathers told Variety that much of the content depicted in the show violates OnlyFans' actual policies. "There's just a lot that's ridiculous and cartoonish about it. 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. Credit card processors have very strict rules that you have to abide by, and the rules are getting stricter all the time."

Leathers emphasized that sex workers remain particularly sensitive to Hollywood's treatment of their industry. "Sex workers in general, myself included, tend to be hyper-sensitive about the way Hollywood portrays us because it's almost never nice. It's always absurd or depressing and rarely ever on point. When you're part of a marginalized community, it's easy to get upset about certain portrayals of it."

Maitland Ward expressed similar concerns about the show's messaging. "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," Ward said to Variety. "And there's always this untrue stigma that somehow sex work is synonymous with sex trafficking and abuse. And they just said, let's make a joke of it. That is so funny. I'm not laughing."

Ward drew a parallel to her own experience in mainstream entertainment. "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. To take someone so traditionally blonde and beautiful with the biggest boobs and dress her up as a dog and baby is really bizarre, but at the same time so expected in Hollywood."

Creator Alix Lynx acknowledged that certain elements of the portrayal ring true—namely, the strategy of collaborating with established influencers for content. However, she criticized the overall message the show sends about the work involved. "When Cassie goes to the influencer's house to get video, coming from a marketing background myself, I thought, 'OK, that's f–kin' smart. That's a great formula. On the other hand, it's portrayed that if you just dress up and do crazy s–t, you'll instantly make money, or you just have to be hot and have big boobs and you'll instantly cash out, and it doesn't work like that. You have to really grow and nurture a fan base."