Euphoria has always been a lightning rod for controversy… and this season, sex workers are lighting their torches.
As season 3 of HBO’s divisive drama continues to play out, the stories of Rue, Jules, Maddy, Nate, and Cassie, played by Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Alexa Demie, Jacob Elordi, and Sydney Sweeney respectively, are really taking shape. But sex workers aren’t liking what they’re seeing with the latter’s!
During this season, which drops new episodes every Sunday night, Sydney’s character Cassie dips her toes into the world of online adult entertainment. She begins by throwing on a corset, dog ears, and a tail, and having her housekeeper snap racy pics of her to build her following. She then goes on to venture into OnlyFans to pay for $50k worth of wedding flowers, and goes to some pretty dark places, including an age-play bit including pigtails, a binky, and all, at the request of followers.
And REAL LIFE sex workers are NOT happy about the bad rap Euphoria is giving their industry.
During an interview with Variety published on Sunday, Sydney Leathers, a longtime OnlyFans creator, sounded off:
“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.”
Age-play involving a real or simulated minor is strictly prohibited from the service, which notes in the Acceptable Use Policy section of its Terms and Conditions that it could result in account deactivation:
“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.”
Maitland Ward, who once starred in Boy Meets World and has since transitioned into the adult film world, added:
“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. 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.”
Yikes… We can definitely see where they’re coming from, though — especially with the Epstein files out. It’s already an uphill battle enough trying to get people to recognize sex work as legitimate work, so a portrayal like this doesn’t do much good in terms of helping validate it.
Related: Human Trafficking Victim Describes Baby Farming & More
By episode 4, Sydney’s character is seen teaming with Alexa’s to infiltrate an influencer’s party to get Cassie’s name out there. On that front, OF creator Alix Lynx had thoughts:
“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 shit, 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.”
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published last month, show creator Sam Levinson opened up about Cassie’s inflammatory story arc this season:
“[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. 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.”
As for the OnlyFans story in particular, he added:
“Some of these scenes we only lit with these ring lights that she would use. When you’re inside, it’s a beautiful, glowing front light, but then you jump out of it and it’s just a pool of light and everything surrounding it is dark. It’s just gnarly and jarring… 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.”
However, his comments didn’t sit well with Maitland… She told Variety:
“That speaks volumes to me about why this OnlyFans storyline is being represented in the way that it is. It’s not being taken seriously. 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.”
Sydney L. tagged on:
“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.”
What are YOUR thoughts on this latest Euphoria controversy, Perezcious readers? Be sure to let us know in the comments down below.
[Images via Maitland Ward/InstagramHBO/HBO Max]
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