Adult star Maitland Ward reveals exactly what is wrong with Sydney Sweeney's controversial Euphoria baby scene
Adult film star Maitland Ward has criticized one aspect of Sydney Sweeney's character arc in the latest season of Euphoria.
The hit HBO drama has long been known for its frank and sometimes uncomfortable depictions of sex and addiction, but the newest third season has been heavily criticized over one plot line in particular.
Previous seasons have focussed on the characters at high school, but the third has now picked their stories up again five years after the events of season two, and now the characters are trying to build lives for themselves as adults.
Among the careers in sex work and drug dealing, it's the arc of Cassie, played by Sydney Sweeney, which has drawn the most criticism, particularly where she starts an OnlyFans to help pay for her wedding.
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The plot line has seen Sweeney dressing up as a dog and being held on a leash, while another even saw her dressed like a baby, with her hair in pigtails and a pacifier in her mouth.
These scenes have previously been criticized, but now, adult star Maitland Ward has joined several adult actors and real life OnlyFans models concerned about how the story portrays sex workers and sex work.
Ward is herself a very successful creator on OnlyFans, with an account that brings in six figures every month.
The former actress explained that the baby costume scene in particular plays into stereotypes of sex workers as immoral and willing to do anything.
“In the climate we’re in, that they dressed her up as a baby to make pornographic OnlyFans content was beyond troubling and again serves to perpetuate stereotypes that sex workers have no moral compass and that they will do anything for money," said Ward.
Ward went on to say that it also perpetuates other negative stereotypes about sex work.
"And there’s always this untrue stigma that somehow sex work is synonymous with sex trafficking and abuse," she said. "And they just said, let’s make a joke of it. That is so funny. I’m not laughing.”
She added: "It’s just the guys in the writer’s room coming up with their fantasies. To take someone so traditionally blonde and beautiful with the biggest boobs and dress her up as a dog and baby is really bizarre, but at the same time so expected in Hollywood.”
Ward was not the only OnlyFans creator to slam how her work is portrayed in Euphoria.
Sydney Leathers has worked on the platform since 2017, and pointed out that some of the things Cassie does for her account wouldn't be permitted anyway, and that credit card providers have 'very strict rules'.
“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," she said.
The show's creator Sam Levinson has previously spoken about the plot line to The Hollywood Reporter, saying: “[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.”
New episodes of Euphoria season three are available to stream on HBO Max, as well as Sky and Now TV.
Celebrities who have joined OnlyFans
Lily Allen
The 'Smile' singer revealed in 2024 that she was 'dipping her toes' in the OnlyFans scene, telling the Miss Me? podcast that she’d thought about starting one because her pedicurist said she had a five-star rating on WikiFeet - a site where people post and rate pictures of celebrity feet.
“[My pedicurist said I] could make a lot of money selling foot content on OnlyFans, and I’m like, ‘Not no’,” Allen said.
She later revealed she actually made more money from OnlyFans than she did from her music.
Jessie Cave
Harry Potter actress Jessie Cave started her OnlyFans account in 2025, with it being tailored to people with hair-based kinks.
Although she said it wouldn’t be 'sexual', with it being a means of clearing her debt, Cave said she wanted to expand her acting range and also facilitate content for those keen to explore her niche - which is very long hair.
Drea De Matteo
Best known for her roles in The Sopranos and Desperate Housewives, De Matteo turned to OnlyFans in 2024 to supplement her income when her acting career took a bit of a dive.
“I kept putting more pictures up. I was like, holy s**t. In five minutes, I was able to pay back Compass Real Estate who kept the sale of my house,” she told the New York Post.
Cardi B
The 'Bodak Yellow' rapper originally joined the platform in 2020 to promote her single at the time, 'WAP'.
“On my OnlyFans, I will be putting the [behind the scenes] of the music video — not only the day of that music video — but the whole process of it,” Cardi said.
“I want to know what my fans would like to see there — what type of content would they like you guys to see there. We will be talking about personal stuff… straight-up real-life content.”
Sadly for her fans, Cardi no longer uses her OnlyFans.
Bella Thorne
Former Disney Channel star Bella Thorne was the first person on OnlyFans to earn $1 million within just 24 hours of signing up - even though she no longer uses her account six years on.
Topics: US News, Sydney Sweeney, Euphoria, Film and TV
Kit Roberts