I tend to stay out of Euphoria conversations as a rule. It's just so difficult to discuss Sam Levinson’s work critically and not lose a contact lens rolling my eyes. I’ve resisted for so long, whether it was the sexualising of teenagers, the allegations, denied by some, of toxic working conditions, or Barbie Ferreira’s conflicts with Levinson. But when Cassie’s season three storyline centred on sex work, I knew it was only a matter of time until I’d give in to her siren song. Jules’ sugar baby storyline was one thing, but Cassie’s new “direction” as an OnlyFans creator has crossed a line. And yet, even I can admit that it’s captured something all too real.
Let’s talk about why Euphoria season three’s ragebait storyline is eerily accurate, but also sets a dangerous precedent for sex workers.
Cassie the OnlyFans star
In episode three, we witness the financial emancipation of Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) from her new — and broke — husband Nate (Jacob Elordi). He seems to have shed his earlier qualms about Cassie joining OnlyFans, now that it’s no longer funding wedding flowers but instead supporting his broke arse.
Cassie turns up the notch on her lucrative new venture with the help of frenemy Maddie (Alexa Demie). This includes ASMR content, foot fetish videos, mailing worn underwear, making out with fellow influencers, and doing the podcast rounds.
Of all the harmful misrepresentations of sex work portrayed by Euphoria — including the age play content (which is illegal on OnlyFans) — it’s arguably the fully clothed podcast scenes that feel the most insidious.
In a montage of interviews, a grinning, American Dream Cassie explains: “I just feel like American men have been treated like second-class citizens… In the past, men were hunters and gatherers and protectors, but now they’re being forced to walk around on their tippy toes. I mean, it’s not natural. Men should be free. They should be able to speak their minds, voice their desires.”
When Trisha Paytas clarifies that she means men are “restricted” nowadays, Cassie agrees: “Yes, like if a man today were to say that he wants a girlfriend who can cook or clean, he might as well be screaming the N-word.”
I wish I were joking.
Not to mention that when she’s asked if she’s a Democrat, Cassie flashes a 100-watt smile and responds with an ableist slur in place of a coherent answer.
A real-life Cassie?
Is Cassie’s podcast rant sounding weirdly familiar? That’s because, once again, fiction is pulling directly from real life.
In recent years, we’ve seen the rise of ragebait tactics employed by a small but highly visible corner of the sex work industry. The prime example is Bonnie Blue, the adult performer known for her extreme stunts, deliberately inflammatory content, and ability to dominate social media discourse.
She’s best known for her “1000+ men” videos, but it’s her interview commentary that many people find even more troubling. Bonnie Blue has controversially claimed that men “should cheat” on their wives or partners if they aren’t being “treated properly” at home after a hard day’s work. She has argued that men naturally seek fulfilment elsewhere if their partners become “lazy” — and positions herself as the solution.
AI dating companions have replaced the transactional relationship of sugaring.
Speaking on the Australian radio show Kyle and Jackie O, Bonnie Blue said: “I actually think it makes you a better partner because then you can come home, deal with your wife’s whinging, get on with looking after the kids.
“They come and see me, and it allows them to have like a reset button.”
Addressing public criticism, she also suggested that male infidelity is practically inevitable in some situations, arguing that it’s “better off” happening with a sex worker than with someone from a couple’s local community. She has even bragged about engaging with married men wearing wedding rings, framing it as providing something their wives supposedly failed to.
It’s the kind of stunt that gives sex workers a bad name — ragebait in its purest form, designed to generate headlines, outrage, and followers in equal measure.
And Euphoria seems acutely aware of this phenomenon. Levinson is essentially replicating the same formula through Cassie’s podcast circuit and viral soundbites. But there’s one major — and potentially dangerous — difference that makes this storyline feel less like realism and more like a crude moral judgement.
Cassie is too dumb for this
As mentioned, Cassie isn’t the only Euphoria character involved in some form of sex work. Jules is a sugar baby, notably engaging in a mummification bondage kink with her sugar daddy. Rosalia works as a stripper while wearing a neck brace. Even Rue — literally a drug mule — is still framed as intelligent and emotionally complex in her decision-making.
Cassie, meanwhile, has relentlessly been portrayed as the “dumb blonde.”
And that distinction matters. Because, yes, the character repeatedly framed as naive, impulsive, and unintelligent is also the one who turns to OnlyFans. It taps directly into a stigma that already exists around parts of the sex work industry, particularly platform-based adult content like OnlyFans.
We don't want to be them, but we just can't stop watching.
In reality, a “stupid” woman wouldn’t succeed on OnlyFans. Building a profitable career on those platforms is incredibly difficult, and the creators posting eye-watering earnings usually spend years cultivating audiences, building brands, and learning how to market themselves effectively. The biggest key to success on OnlyFans? Having a substantial following before you even launch your account, unlike Cassie, who is portrayed as building her audience in real time while instantly raking in cash.
Through this lens, Levinson seems to imply that OnlyFans is easy money: a shortcut chosen by the uneducated, unserious, or untalented.
“When watching characters engage in sex work on Euphoria, I notice how it is glamourised and made to seem easy," Mistress Marley, founder of Luxury Dominatrix, told Dazed. "For instance, back in season one, when Kat is depicted as an online dominatrix with a paypig, it makes it seem like she just logs on and instantly gets all of these men to her inbox. In reality, sex work is work, and takes a lot of intentional branding, learning, and understanding of kink dynamics. Euphoria tends to take these scenarios and make them look fluffy, almost like a joke.”
“I hate how OnlyFans has been portrayed as a humiliating thing – there are a lot of smart women who do OnlyFans or sex work because they love this line of work," OnlyFans creator Emily Mai also said to Dazed. “They’ve portrayed the other characters as smart and successful but Cassie, the character who cries and makes mistakes throughout the show, is the one who turns to OnlyFans. The show is making a mockery out of sex work.”
“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,” OnlyFans creator Alix Lynx told Variety. "You have to really grow and nurture a fan base.”
And that’s the contradiction at the centre of this storyline. The kind of ragebait strategy Cassie is deploying online isn’t born from stupidity; it usually requires someone highly aware of how outrage cycles function. Bonnie Blue, for all the criticism levelled at her, clearly understands how to generate clicks, headlines, and engagement.
Cassie, however, has consistently been framed as less intelligent than her peers. Maybe Maddie is secretly feeding her talking points off-camera rather than simply arranging the interviews. Maybe we’re meant to believe these are genuinely her unfiltered views. Either way, by presenting a supposedly “dumb” character as effortlessly succeeding in sex work, Euphoria reinforces some of the most tired and harmful stereotypes surrounding people in the industry.
