We’re only three episodes into the third season of Euphoria, and we’ve already seen Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) film pup play and adult baby content for OnlyFans, Jules (Hunter Schafer) get wrapped in clingfilm as part of a BDSM mummification ritual by her sugar daddy Ellis (Sam Trammell), and Magick (Rosalía) dance with a neck brace as part of a lawsuit claim at the Silver Slipper strip club. Euphoria’s preoccupation with sex work hasn’t come out of the blue, either. The show has form: it depicted Kat Fernandez (Barbie Ferreira) as an online findomme in season one, and the character Faye is played by Chloe Cherry, a former adult film star. Sam Levinson, it seems, is more than a little obsessed with sex work. 

However, given that Euphoria is not written or directed by a sex worker, and it's unclear if sex worker consultants were hired on the show, the show has some pretty obvious inaccuracies (for one, baby roleplay goes against OnlyFans' community guidelines). This is a problem that Maedb Joy, the founder of the performing arts company Sexquisite Events, is all too familiar with. “We’re seeing the same problem happen time and time again, where stories about sex workers are told by non-sex workers. They’re inaccurately represented, and they cause harm and damage to the community,” Joy explains. “It’s like everyone profits off our stories, yet we’re never given the access to tell our own.”

So, in order to hear what sex workers really think about Euphoria season three, we asked OnlyFans creators, adult performers, and individuals working across the industry to share their honest opinions. 

CELINA REBOYRAS, SEX WORKER, FOUNDER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF DOXY MAGAZINE

“It’s very fucking bizarre that Sam Levinson decided to have every main character in season 3 of Euphoria either become a sex worker or have a job that’s sex work-adjacent. Like, I went to high school 20 minutes outside of a major metropolitan city in the US and I’m the only person among my peers who became a sex worker. 

“I’ve heard some sex workers I know say they’re having a hard time watching this season because certain scenes feel too accurate, too dark, and overall triggering for them. Then I’ve heard other sex workers say it’s completely inaccurate because there’s no way sugar babies are raking in the kind of money we see Jules making in episode 3, especially in this economy. 

“On one hand, I want to feel happy about the representation of us working girls in one of HBO’s biggest shows. Then, on the other hand, we have to ask ourselves, how are we being represented to the world? Are we being portrayed in a positive light or are we just side characters for viewers to laugh at and feel pity towards?”

STACEY CLARE, CO-FOUNDER OF EAST LONDON STRIPPERS COLLECTIVE

“As a sex worker of 20 years, my problem with Euphoria season three is the relentless stereotyping. It’s honestly exhausting. We’re out here trying to get the world to take our safety seriously, and consider the value of our labour, and to see our workplaces as sites for us to organise for our labour rights and protections. And then TV like this can just blow all that to pieces with a fresh round of social stigma, by delivering the age-old message that sex work is inherently dangerous and violent, and a great misfortune to befall on anyone who gets mixed up in ‘that world’. What a dreadful old trope that just keeps perpetuating the myth that sex workers are defiled people. So, thanks HBO.

“Also, why does every story line about a female sex worker have to focus on their relationships with cis men? From the sugar baby to the strippers, all these characters have storylines that can’t be separated from the males they interact with. Honestly, it feels like every TV show or film about sex workers just finds a new way to centre male characters but, in real life, sex workers are actually out here trying to decentre men from their life. There are so many queer women who literally will only fuck with men for cash and spend their actual time and energy in real life not having to deal with men at all. Euphoria was so obviously written and made by men and non-sex workers, it’s kind of painful.”

Euphoria dramatises the adult industry in a way that’s visually compelling but not always grounded in reality

KASEY KEI, ADULT PERFORMER

“I find it, honestly, a bit disappointing. Euphoria has felt like a show that cares about authentic representation, especially in how it portrayed Jules as a trans character.

“But then this season, with Cassie doing OnlyFans, I don’t think it’s an honest representation of how OnlyFans really works. Especially with sex work being under attack under the current administration, honest sex work representation in mainstream media would’ve gone a long way.”

REED AMBER, SEX WORKER, EDUCATOR AND CO-HOST OF COME CURIOUS

“I think Euphoria suggests that you can easily be a popular online sex worker if you just put up hot, creative content, but that isn’t true. For so many sex workers out there, we are constantly being deleted when we try to exist online. We lose our accounts much more than other big account holders or celebrities, and often have to pay someone crazy amounts of money to try and retrieve our account. One of my close friends [who is a sex worker] had her account deleted at 400,000 followers, and it has horrifically affected her income. 

“Euphoria suggests that sex workers can just post whatever they want online and have more eyeballs go to their accounts when that’s not true. I have to be so careful about what I post. I can't even use any kind of sexual language. I can't even use the term ‘penis’ or ‘vulva’ when talking about sex education. You have to be so careful.” 

JADE VENUS, ADULT PERFORMER

“I thought the portrayal of sex workers in Euphoria was a little unhinged. It’s definitely glamourised significantly, especially with Jules’ character. I’ve been a whore for almost a decade, and let me tell you, clients are not like that. And the saran wrap? What the fuck? And the way all the characters talk about OnlyFans is so obnoxious to me; they make sex workers look like dumb influencers. Most of us are not! Besides the annoying portrayal of sex workers, I have been enjoying the show, however.”

EMILY MAI, ONLYFANS CREATOR

“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. 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 great that more people are talking about sex work and normalising it, but there are much more tasteful ways of doing it.”

MISTRESS MARLEY, FOUNDER, LUXURY DOMINATRIX, AND EDUCATOR

"When watching characters engage in sex work on Euphoria, I notice how it is glamourised and made to seem easy. 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. Here in the US, sex workers are navigating platforms, laws, and survival in ways that deserve more in-depth storytelling. The show makes it seem like more of a spectacle.”

It feels like we are watching [Sam Levinson’s] fantasy play out on screen

BRITTNEY KADE, ADULT PERFORMER 

“From my perspective, Euphoria dramatises the adult industry in a way that’s visually compelling but not always grounded in reality. It leans into shock value and aesthetic over accuracy, which can blur the line between performance and real-life experience. 

“While I appreciate the conversation it sparks, the industry is far more nuanced; there’s autonomy, business strategy, and professionalism that often go unseen. I think it’s important people understand that what’s portrayed is entertainment, not a full reflection of the diverse experiences of performers actually working in the space.”

PAMELA BLONDE, DOMINATRIX 

“I am going to keep watching Euphoria season three because I’m personally quite attached to Rue and Jules as characters, but it feels like sex work is not very well represented. I think Sam Levinson has picked the actors he respects the least or finds personally attractive and made them sex workers because he personally finds sex work degrading. It’s honestly quite sickening to watch. I don’t think he’s trying to push the ‘sex work is bad’ idea; I think he just believes it and we can see it in his work.

“It feels like there’s several situations where sex workers are being manipulated. There’s no depiction of any sex worker who is truly in control of their work lives. It’s all dangerous and coercive. I’d also say that there’s no understanding of the nuances of different type of sex work. The fact that Sam Levinson has Cassie doing baby content on her OnlyFans is insane considering actual fetish content creators can’t post much on their OnlyFans; we’ve had to make ourselves very vanilla. So him ramping it up to 100 was a bit crazy. It feels like we are watching his fantasy play out on screen.”