'The Sopranos' Drea de Matteo Opens Up About Launching An OF Account At 51
By Favour Adegoke on September 15, 2023 at 5:00 AM EDT
Actress and "The Sopranos" star Drea de Matteo has shared her reason for joining OnlyFans.
She revealed her agent dropped her, and she almost lost her house due to Hollywood's vaccine mandates, leading her to seek a career change.
De Matteo, a mother of two, launched an OnlyFans account to support her kids, enlisting their help editing pictures for the subscription-based platform.
Keep on reading to learn more.
Why Drea de Matteo Joined OnlyFans
Actress Drea de Matteo recently revealed that she turned to OnlyFans because she refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19, leading to career setbacks. In an interview with Fox News Digital, the 51-year-old actress explained how her agent dropped her and she almost lost her house.
Frustrated by the entertainment industry's vaccine mandates, de Matteo shared, "I didn't know this was going to have to be a change of life, you know, all of a sudden that during a time I'm supposed to be relaxing a little bit, that I would have to switch careers and figure new things out because my own industry thinks I'm, you know, a savage."
She continued, "I guess you could say I was a bad girl because I did not follow the rules a couple of years ago. So, I don't want to be at the mercy of mandates or strikes or anything like that ever again."
De Matteo, who has expressed her vaccine-related views on social media, explained her decision to join the subscription-based platform OnlyFans, where she could share revealing content and earn income. She said, "I figured, 'OK, so everybody's in their underwear and being sexy on Instagram and I don't do that, but I can do that and get paid for it.'… I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner."
'My Kids Have Always Been My Number One Focus'
De Matteo launched her OnlyFans account last month priced at $15 per month, humorously named "THE SOPORNOS ;-)," the actress saw this platform as a way to support her two children, Alabama Gypsy Rose and Waylon Albert "Blackjack," from her previous relationship with Shooter Jennings.
De Matteo emphasized her commitment to her kids as her top priority, saying, "My kids have always been my No. 1 focus. Had I known that I could work out of my closet my whole life, I never would have [believed]."
She continued, "I know that might sound crazy and might sound somewhat lazy, but I am a very big supporter of stay-at-home moms and women who really love to raise their children. I balanced it all, and I've done it all."
Drea de Matteo's Boyfriend And Kids Support Her OF
During the chat, Matteo revealed her boyfriend, Robby Staebler, and her children support her OnlyFans work. "My kids were the ones that were like, 'Do it.' She'll [de Matteo's daughter] edit the pictures, too, because they want certain things that we haven't been able to do," she stated.
De Matteo emphasized she used to have more money, but her circumstances changed, preventing her from working. She explained. "I used to have a lot of money. And then, all of a sudden, I went from being allowed to work to never being allowed to work again. I was never the kind of actor who took jobs just to stay in the business. I literally took jobs to feed my family."
In response to critics, she defended her choices, highlighting, "So, when people make nasty comments about why I would have done that, my response is, 'Damn straight, I hope you're never in the f***ing position I'm in. I take care of an entire family and a lot of other people who depend on me."
She Was Paid $500 Per Episode Of 'The Sopranos'
De Matteo disclosed that she never earned substantial income from acting. In a 2021 interview with Page Six, she revealed that she was paid just $500 per episode for the first season of "The Sopranos."
However, her pay improved when she became a leading cast member in Season 2. Despite this, the money lasted only a short time.
"Then I made a couple of thousand and then probably by the end is when I started making series quotes but that money came and went immediately," she shared.
According to the news outlet, the actress added that the cast doesn't receive residuals for the show that aired from 1999 to 2007. De Matteo also admitted that she didn't spend enough time on the show to accumulate significant earnings.
