Euphoria HBO TV

‘Hollows out the individual’: Sam Levinson slams OnlyFans after controversial Euphoria plot

'You're constantly depending on external. validation'

Oreoluwa Adeyoola
23rd June 2026, 16:21
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Sam Levinson, the writer and director of Euphoria season three, has shared his concerns around covering OnlyFans in the series, revealing some controversial opinions.

Sex work is a big part of the final season of Euphoria. Rue spends the bulk of her time in a dodgy strip club, Jules quits art school and is taken care of by a sugar daddy, and most infamously, Cassie starts an OnlyFans account. It quickly became a scandal among viewers of the show, as more and more outrageous Cassie OnlyFans scenes were written into it. Multiple sex workers came forward and spoke out against their portrayal and labelled it as “harmful”.

via HBO

In a sit-down podcast interview with  Real Time With Bill Maher by Deadline, the creator candidly spoke about his feelings around OnlyFans and the sex work industry.

“[T]here’s a part of me that wonders, if the show kind of affirmed this life and how empowering it was, whether we would get the same criticism,” Sam said. “You know, we take a fairly critical look at it. It hollows out the individual. You know, you’re constantly just depending on the likes and external validation.”

He went on to discuss the parallels between OnlyFans and Hollywood, saying it’s a “fast cash” option for people who turn 18 and look up to creators’ lifestyles.

via HBO

The showrunner continued: “If you look at OnlyFans, it is making as much money as Hollywood. I mean, essentially it’s on par,” Levinson told Maher, per the entertainment outlet. “It’s not a niche business, it is a massive enterprise. And so if you’re young, you’re going, ‘I don’t want to work in a 9-to-5 at this place or that thing. Well, maybe I can just start taking photos of myself.”

“When you know, as a young person, you’re on Instagram and these things, and you’re told that you’re the product, you’re the brand, and now you’re 18 years old, and you’re going well, ‘How do I make money?’ And I just thought chasing that desire, that kind of fast cash, was an interesting thing to kind of explore.”

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Featured image by  Tinseltown via Shutterstock