“The Sopranos” star Drea de Matteo recently told Jamie Kennedy on the “Hate to Break It To Ya” podcast (via EW) that starting her OnlyFans page was a “political statement.”
“In some ways, the OnlyFans page was almost like a political statement on my part in a way…It was like, ‘Fuck you. I don’t have to work,” de Matteo said.
She went on to add that some critics think, because of her Emmy-winning turn as Adriana la Cerva on the HBO mob drama, that she is “made of fucking money.” However, de Matteo explained that the whole reason she started her OnlyFans was because of financial problems.
“Everyone sees me coming, they’re like, ‘Here comes that rich bitch from The Sopranos,’” she said. “And it’s like, no, I’m not at all. In fact, you know, I live a pretty fucking normal life. I had to do that [OnlyFans] page to get a lien off my house after foreclosure.”
Earlier in the interview, de Matteo said that when she first launched her OnlyFans, it was to “start a podcast because I was afraid that I’d be censored.” But after getting encouragement from her kids, she shared a photo of herself in a bikini on her page, and “within 75 minutes” she made enough to pay the lien on her house.
In a 2024 interview with Variety, de Matteo shared how OnlyFans helped her financially during the pandemic while facing judgment from her family for not getting vaccinated. She recalled, “[During the pandemic], my brother was like, ‘You know, you’re risking everyone in your home’s life right now [by not being vaccinated].’ And then years later, when I ended up having to open up an OnlyFans page just to save my home, because nobody would help me at that time because I didn’t ‘do the right thing,’ he was like, ‘Your body, your choice. I’m with you all the way.’”