Season 3 of Euphoria has sparked intense backlash after the show pushed Sydney Sweeney’s Cassie into OnlyFans content. Maitland Ward is among the loudest critics of this act, who argued that the storyline mocked s*x workers (via Variety):

There’s always this untrue stigma that somehow s*x work is synonymous with s*x trafficking and abuse. And they just said, let’s make a joke of it. That is so funny. I’m not laughing. 

The controversial storyline features Cassie launching an account to pay for the flowers in her extravagant wedding with Jacob Elordi’s Nate. She is shown filming fetish-themed content while dressed as a dog, and later a baby. Let’s look at what else Ward and other adult stars said about the same, followed by Euphoria’s creator, Sam Levinson’s take on the ordeal! 

Maitland Ward and More Adult Stars Condemn Euphoria’s OnlyFans Arc

Credits: maitlandward/Instagram

Maitland Ward was critical of how Euphoria handled Cassie’s venture into OnlyFans content and condemned the baby-themed part shown in the series. According to her, it reinforced the false belief that adult creators lack boundaries or morality. 

In the climate we’re in, that they dressed her up as a baby to make p*rnographic OnlyFans content was beyond troubling and again serves to perpetuate stereotypes that s*x workers have no moral compass and that they will do anything for money. 

Another adult creator, Sydney Leathers, criticized the storyline, she said,

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.

She noted that the activities shown on-screen in Euphoria would not even be permitted on OnlyFans due to the platform’s strict rules. They do not allow age-play content that simulates minors, and violating this policy leads to permanent account termination. 

Sam Levinson Defends Sydney Sweeney’s OnlyFans Role in Euphoria 

Sydney Sweeney in Euphoria | Credits: HBO

Sam Levinson insists that the bizarre presentation has been intentional. He says it was designed to expose the disconnect between the fantasy performers’ attempt and the bleak reality that surrounds it. Here’s what he said about the dog-themed content (via The Hollywood Reporter):

[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.

But these explanations do little to satisfy critics like Maitland Ward. She feels Euphoria has simply reduced s*x work to a male fantasy that has been filtered through Hollywood stereotypes (via Variety). So, what’s your opinion on Cassie’s OnlyFans arc? Do you find Levinson’s creative vision to be genuine, or do you side with Ward on this? 

Euphoria is streaming on HBO Max (USA).
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