{"id":479151,"date":"2026-05-11T12:27:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T12:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/479151\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T12:27:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T12:27:13","slug":"sydney-sweeneys-euphoria-sex-worker-storyline-sparks-backlash-from-onlyfans-creators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/479151\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney Sweeney&#8217;s &#8216;Euphoria&#8217; sex worker storyline sparks backlash from OnlyFans creators"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/series\/euphoria\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Euphoria<\/a> has received a backlash from some OnlyFans creators for its depiction of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/sydney-sweeney\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sydney Sweeney<\/a>\u2018s character Cassie Howard.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"post-content-read-more\">\n<li><strong>Read More:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/reviews\/tv-reviews\/euphoria-season-2-review-zendaya-hbo-3132916\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Euphoria\u00a0season two review: still the best teen drama on TV<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While the first season of the hit\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/brands\/hbo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">HBO<\/a> show was widely praised for its subversive take on the conventional teen high-school drama, the newest season \u2013 which features a five-year time jump from the last \u2013 has proved divisive because of its sudden emphasis on sex work, with central storylines revolving around strip clubs, sugar babies, and OnlyFans.<\/p>\n<p>Currently in the middle of its third season, the show has followed Cassie as she embarks on a career posting explicit content on OnlyFans to raise money for an expensive wedding to Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/tv\/fans-react-to-disgusting-scene-featuring-sydney-sweeney-dressed-as-baby-with-dummy-in-her-mouth-in-new-euphoria-teaser-3939796\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The storyline has already attracted controversy, after Cassie dressed up as a baby and a dog for her content<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>OnlyFans\u2019 acceptable use policy states that \u201cillegal 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\u201d is prohibited.<\/p>\n<p>Show creator Sam Levinson previously told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/euphoria-season-3-premiere-feature-sam-levinson-interview-1236561251\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">The Hollywood Reporter<\/a> of the storyline: \u201c[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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we wanted to always find is the other layer of absurdity that we\u2019re able to tie into it so that we\u2019re not too inside of her fantasy or illusion \u2014 the gag is to jump out, to break the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, real-life OnlyFans creator Sydney Leathers called much of the storyline \u201cridiculous and cartoonish\u201d, noting that there is \u201cso much that they have her doing that is not even allowed on OnlyFans\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat alone is infuriating: the age-play stuff where she\u2019s dressed as a baby in a diaper, for example,\u201d Leathers added to <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/tv\/news\/sydney-sweeney-euphoria-onlyfans-hbo-sex-worker-nude-1236741946\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Variety<\/a>. \u201cCredit card processors have very strict rules that you have to abide by, and the rules are getting stricter all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fellow creator and former Boy Meets World star Maitland Ward called the baby scene \u201cbeyond troubling\u201d and one that \u201cserves to perpetuate stereotypes that sex workers have no moral compass and that they will do anything for money\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s always this untrue stigma that somehow sex work is synonymous with sex trafficking and abuse,\u201d the creator said. \u201cAnd they just said, let\u2019s make a joke of it. That is so funny. I\u2019m not laughing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Responding to Levinson\u2019s previous explanation of the arc, Ward added: \u201cThat speaks volumes to me about why this OnlyFans storyline is being represented in the way that it is. It\u2019s not being taken seriously.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3939810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/live-sydney-sweeney.jpg\" alt=\"Sydney Sweeney\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1270\"  \/>Sydney Sweeney as Cassie in HBO\u2019s \u2018Euphoria\u2019. CREDIT: Patrick Wymore\/HBO\/PRESS<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt reminds me of when I pranced around in lingerie on Boy Meets World. It\u2019s just the guys in the writer\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Creator Alix Lynx suggested that the social media influencer side of the storyline, such as Maddie attending a raucous mansion party to try and go viral, was \u201csmart\u201d, though stressed: \u201cIt\u2019s portrayed that if you just dress up and do crazy shit, you\u2019ll instantly make money, or you just have to be hot and have big boobs and you\u2019ll instantly cash out, and it doesn\u2019t work like that. You have to really grow and nurture a fan base.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Leathers further noted: \u201cSex workers in general, myself included, tend to be hyper-sensitive about the way Hollywood portrays us because it\u2019s almost never nice. It\u2019s always absurd or depressing and rarely ever on point. When you\u2019re part of a marginalized community, it\u2019s easy to get upset about certain portrayals of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Euphoria has received a backlash from some OnlyFans creators for its depiction of Sydney Sweeney\u2018s character Cassie Howard.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479152,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265],"tags":[18,117,19,17,128],"class_list":{"0":"post-479151","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-tv"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}