![\"Margo,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/margos-got-money-troubles-photo-010410.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n On \u201cMargo\u2019s Got Money Troubles,\u201d Elle Fanning\u2019s Margo paints her entire body a metallic green. Her aim? To fully embody her OnlyFans persona, an earthside alien named The Hungry Ghost, who offers mild nudity and harsh criticism of her willing subscribers\u2019 genitalia.\n <\/p>\n
\n The earnings that Margo, a single mom, collects from this line of work go directly toward supporting her infant son after she loses her restaurant job, which didn\u2019t involve horny people on the internet.\n <\/p>\n
\n Like Margo, more than 4.6 million people worldwide have become creators on OnlyFans \u2014 the subscriber-based platform known for featuring everything from foot fetish photos to explicit adult content. A decade after it was founded, OnlyFans is now also all over mainstream TV, including on \u201cEuphoria,\u201d where Sydney Sweeney\u2019s Cassie ascends to stardom on the platform.\n <\/p>\n
\n It also plays a role in a storyline on HBO\u2019s \u201cIndustry\u201d and was even parodied on ABC\u2019s \u201cAbbott Elementary,\u201d the most wholesome show on television. A sign that American culture is going through a phase of hyper-sexualization? More like: people are struggling through a fraught and ever-changing US economy. The characters\u2019 motivations for joining (or thinking about joining) OnlyFans may vary, but the reason is inherently the same: The traditional job market isn\u2019t working for them.\n <\/p>\n
\n Rufi Thorpe, the author of the novel on which AppleTV\u2019s \u201cMargo\u2019s Got Money Troubles\u201d is based, believes the \u201cincreasing financial hardship in this country\u201d has something to do with the rising cultural relevance of a platform like OnlyFans.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cYou see the rise of hustle culture, and it could look like driving for DoorDash or driving for Uber, or it could look like OnlyFans,\u201d she said. \u201cBut people are trying desperately to afford their rent.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
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\n However fictional the storylines are, they\u2019re rooted in some of the realities that millions of people are facing today.\n <\/p>\n
\n A new CNN poll<\/a> has found most Americans are pessimistic about the economy, with high prices and the cost of living prompting them to cut back on spending, including on groceries. Inflation is also rising<\/a>, cutting into Americans\u2019 wages, while job seekers in most industries have in recent years been facing big challenges<\/a> in the labor market. Unless you\u2019re looking for a job in health care \u2014 one of the only industries that is actually hiring right now and a field none of the characters in these TV shows work in \u2014 it\u2019s pretty bleak.\n <\/p>\n \n That economic reality is changing the way sex work is being portrayed on TV. For so long, sex workers have largely been portrayed as victims on police procedurals. This season, they\u2019re being shown turning to OnlyFans to do the banal, but crucial, thing of putting money in their pockets.\n <\/p>\n \n Thorpe was inspired to write her 2024 novel after seeing OnlyFans explode during the pandemic.\n <\/p>\n \n The platform allows creators to post videos and photos and interact directly with subscribers \u2014 and keep 80% of their earnings, according to OnlyFans\u2019 creator policy.<\/a>\n <\/p>\n \n Those who earn more than $600 per year get a 1099 tax form, which in the eyes of many creators legitimizes their work, said Bridget Crawford, a law professor at Pace University who has published <\/a>studies on the economics behind OnlyFans. Their goal, she said, is to feel \u201clike any other worker.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Paying taxes on earnings also helps creators have a record so they can get an apartment or a loan, a mindset similar to that of Fanning\u2019s Margo.\n <\/p>\n \n The platform\u2019s broader appeal has a lot to do with the fact that it offers sex work without any physical contact, said Thorpe, adding that every model she spoke with while researching \u201cMargo\u201d had joined the platform \u201cfor the money.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI think that\u2019s the predominant reason why anyone does sex work,\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n \n Gracie Canaan, a comedian and OnlyFans creator who cohosts Audible\u2019s \u201cOnlyFantasy\u201d podcast, told CNN she made $4,000 in her first month by offering \u201cthe girlfriend experience\u201d (which included \u201cbikini level nudity,\u201d \u201csome nudes\u201d and character role play). Last year, Canaan earned over $100,000 on the platform.\n <\/p>\n \n The money she makes from being on OnlyFans is her main driver for being on the platform while she continues to pursue a comedy career, but she also chooses to create content in a way that makes her \u201ccreatively fulfilled,\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThis is something I want to keep doing,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I know from having jobs that I hate, that in order for me to keep doing it, I have to really enjoy it and the way I find joy from it is being creative.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Canaan thinks fictional storylines about the platform are culturally resonant right now not just because of a \u201ccollective uncertainty\u201d in the economy, but also because there is this understanding now of why \u201cso many people turn to OnlyFans.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThat stigma has been chipped away over time,\u201d Canaan said. \u201cIt\u2019s now the point where it\u2019s interesting enough without being as taboo as it used to be.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Chloe Cherry, a former adult film star and OnlyFans model who plays Faye on \u201cEuphoria,\u201d believes OnlyFans has become more accepted in today\u2019s culture because of \u201ccapitalism and the economy getting worse.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt has nothing to do with empowerment or power or anything,\u201d Cherry said in a recent interview with Refinery29<\/a>, adding that she thinks the platform is a \u201cweird phenomenon of the 2020s that we will look back on and be very confused by.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n OnlyFans features heavily on the current season of \u201cEuphoria,\u201d with Cassie initially joining the platform in hopes of making an extra $50,000 for flowers for her wedding. In one scene, she poses as an adult baby, drawing significant backlash from OnlyFans creators, who have called it \u201ctroublesome\u201d<\/a> and said that portraying the platform as a place that would find that content acceptable was a \u201cserious problem.\u201d<\/a>\n <\/p>\n ![\"Margo's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/margos-got-money-trouble-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Cassie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/euphoria-1.jpg\")
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![\"OnlyFans](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/abbott-1.jpg\")
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