Sydney Sweeney’s New ‘Euphoria’ Role Sparks Backlash From OnlyFans Models
Sydney Sweeney’s new storyline in Euphoria Season 3 is getting a strong reaction online, especially from real-life OnlyFans creators who say the show’s portrayal of sex workers feels exaggerated, unrealistic, and insulting.
The criticism comes mainly from interviews published by Variety, which spoke with several OnlyFans creators and adult performers after the new season introduced Cassie’s controversial content creator storyline.
In the new season, Cassie, played by Sydney Sweeney, starts an OnlyFans account while trying to build a glamorous online image. The show presents her making shocking and provocative content in hopes of becoming successful online. But many real-life creators say the series completely misunderstands how platforms like OnlyFans actually work.
OnlyFans creator Sydney Leathers told Variety that parts of the storyline immediately frustrated her because some of the content shown in the series would not even be allowed on the platform. She explained, “There’s just a lot that’s ridiculous and cartoonish about it.”
Leathers specifically criticized scenes involving age-play style costumes, saying they crossed a line and spread harmful ideas about sex workers. She said, “The age-play stuff where she’s dressed as a baby in a diaper, for example… is infuriating.”
According to Leathers, platforms like OnlyFans have strict rules because payment companies monitor what creators can upload. She explained that many people wrongly assume creators can post anything they want online, when in reality there are heavy restrictions.
Adult actress and top creator Maitland Ward also criticized the storyline during her interview with Variety. Ward said the scenes added to old stereotypes that already hurt sex workers in real life.
She explained, “It serves to perpetuate stereotypes that sex workers have no moral compass and that they will do anything for money.” Ward also said she was disappointed that the storyline appeared to treat the subject like a joke rather than showing the reality of online sex work.
Another creator, Alix Lynx, said the show got one thing partially right: the importance of social media promotion and building attention online. However, she felt Euphoria oversimplified the process and made success look too easy.
Lynx explained, “It’s portrayed that if you just dress up and do crazy shit, you’ll instantly make money.” She added that real creators spend years building audiences and maintaining relationships with subscribers before they become successful.
One of the biggest complaints from the creators interviewed by Variety was the way Hollywood often presents sex workers in extreme or depressing ways. Several of them said they rarely see accurate or respectful portrayals in movies or television.
Leathers summed up that frustration by saying, “Sex workers in general, myself included, tend to be hyper-sensitive about the way Hollywood portrays us because it’s almost never nice.”
Meanwhile, Euphoria creator Sam Levinson defended the direction of the storyline in comments shared with The Hollywood Reporter. Levinson said the scenes were meant to show absurdity and emotional emptiness rather than glamour.
He explained, “We wanted to capture what she’s trying to show the audience and be inside of it, but then also pull back wider and see how depressing it is.”
Even with that explanation, many creators still feel the show missed the mark. For them, the issue is not simply controversy. It is the feeling that real online workers continue to be misunderstood, mocked, or reduced to stereotypes in mainstream entertainment.
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