When OnlyFans first launched in 2016, it was meant to be a way for content creators to monetise connecting with their audience via subscriptions.
As time went on, the platform became better known for disseminating R-rated content, something OnlyFans is attempting to clean-up now.
Despite its once seedy reputation, actors, musicians, sportspeople and even comedians flocked to the site, and now a growing number of celebrities are turning to the platform to help make ends meet.
Among the actors who have joined the platform are former Bond girl Denise Richards, and Emmy award-winning actors Drea de Matteo and Jaime Pressly.
There are musicians such as Cardi B, who used the site to connect with fans, while others, such as English-born singer-songwriter and actress Kate Nash, say the income stream allows then to continue to perform.
Nash sensationally announced in 2024 she had joined the site and would post photos of her bum to help pay for her upcoming tour.
Meanwhile, another British-born singer and actress Lily Allen drew quite a following by sharing images of her feet with fans and claimed it made her more than royalties from streaming on Spotify.
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While a host of celebrities claim they earn more from OnlyFans than their day jobs, others, such as ’90s sex symbols Shannon Elizabeth and Carmen Electra, say it allows them to take control of their images.
Read on to find out some of the celebrities who are supplementing their incomes, and making millions, from the platform.
Denise Richards
One of the best known actresses on OnlyFans is former Bond girl and Charlie Sheen’s ex-wife, Denise Richards.
Richards, whose acting career began in early ’90s TV shows such as Saved by the Bell and Melrose Place, later found fame in the 1998 erotic thriller Wild Things, before she reached superstardom the following year playing Christmas Jones in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough.
Richards joined OnlyFans in 2022 – in part to show support for her daughter, Sami Sheen, who faced backlash for joining the site.
She told People in 2025, “At first, I didn’t understand what OnlyFans was.
“When I saw that [Sami] was getting backlash for owning her sexuality and doing what she wanted to do, it upset me as a mum and also as a woman in business.”
Richards told People in 2025 that the platform was “quite lucrative.”
TMZ reports court documents show Richards makes up to $414,000 a month from the site while other reports claim she was making more than $2.7 million a month at her peak.
The account became the subject of court action following Richards’ separation from second husband Aaron Phypers, who is asking for half of the income from the site, alleging he helped build the account and took photos she used.
Drea de Matteo
US actress Drea de Matteo is best known for playing Adriana La Cerva in the long- running drama series, The Sopranos.
The role even netted her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2004.
She went on to star in sitcom Joey, Desperate Housewives, and had a long-running role on Sons of Anarchy, but later found herself broke with only $10 in the bank.
She was facing foreclosure on her home before joining OnlyFans in 2023.
While de Matteo, a single mother of two children, said she didn’t want to go on OnlyFans at first, she has embraced it after making more from the site than her entire acting career.
She said that within five minutes of starting her account, she had made enough money to save her home, but admitted she took “a lot of heat” for the decision.
“OnlyFans saved my life, 100 per cent,” she told the Daily Mail in 2024.
“I can’t believe I’m saying that, but it really did save us. Anybody that wants to condemn me and put me down, go for it. I just hope you never find yourself in the position I was in to take care of two little kids.
“It saved my home of many years, that was very important to us.”
She told Fox News the previous year she wished she had gone on it sooner.
“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,” she said.
After making “$75,000 (AU$103,000) in 75 minutes”, she was even able to start her own streetwear business ULTRAFREE.
Shannon Elizabeth
Shannon Elizabeth was a star in the late ’90s and early 2000s thanks to roles in the American Pie franchise, Scary Movie, and TV series’ That ’70s Show and Cuts.
She even had a small role in the smash hit film Love Actually as Harriet, ‘the sexy one’ whom actor Colin Frissell meets at a bar in the US after fleeing England.
She later appeared on the improv comedy show Thank God You’re Here, was a contestant on US Dancing with the Stars and became a professional poker player before launching her OnlyFans account in April 2026.
She reportedly made more than $1.4 million in her first week.
She told People it was quite a departure for someone who doesn’t usually feel that comfortable naked.
“I’ve spent my entire career working in Hollywood, where other people controlled the narrative and the outcome of my career,” she said.
“This new chapter is about changing that, showing off a more sexy side no one has seen, and being closer to my fans.
“I’m choosing OnlyFans because it allows me to connect directly with my audience, create on my own terms, and just be free. I really do think this is the future.”
She told Entertainment Tonight earlier this year she still wasn’t sure how far she would go on the site.
“I don’t know yet, I don’t know what I will or won’t show in the future,” she said.
Jaime Pressly
Jaime Pressly was a big star of the 2000s thanks to her role in the sitcom My Name is Earl, and it seems she has her fans, and friend Shannon Elizabeth, to thank for her decision to join the site this month.
After starting out as a teen model, Pressly made the jump to acting with an uncredited role in Baywatch.
Her first lead role was in the TV series Jack & Jill. She starred in films Not Another Teen Movie and Tomcats before winning the role of Joy Turner in My Name is Earl, which won her she won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
She continued to act, including a role in the TV series Mom, and launched her own fashion line, but was supplementing her income attending Comic Con conventions before announcing she was joining OnlyFans.
Pressly, 48, revealed to Fox News Digital a conversation with Elizabeth convinced to her join the site.
“I was like, ‘What, that’s porn?'” she told Fox News Digital. “And she said, ‘No, they’re rebranding’.”
She told People this month, “The entertainment industry is always shifting, and I’ve never been someone who sits on the sidelines.
“OnlyFans gives me a space to create what I want, how I want, and share it directly with the people who’ve supported me for years.”
While it is too soon to know what she will earn, she is no doubt hoping to emulate Elizabeth, who made $1.4 million on the platform the first week.
Carmen Electra
Former Baywatch babe Carmen Electra was a huge star in the late ’90s and early 2000s.
After starting her career as a dancer and then a singer, working with Prince, she posed for Playboy in 1996, which led to a film role and her famed part in Baywatch.
More acting roles followed, including the Scary Movie franchise, Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and Date Movie.
She even became a guest member of The Pussycat Dolls.
Electra, who appeared on Playboy’s cover four times, was half of one of the biggest celebrity couplings of the early 2000s thanks to her shortlived marriage to NBA star Dennis Rodman.
She joined OnlyFans in 2022, to celebrate turning 50.
At the time, she told People it was a chance to take control of her sex symbol status.
“I, for once, have this opportunity to be my own boss and have my own creative vision to share with my fans without someone standing over me, telling me, ‘Don’t do this, don’t do that. Cover up this’,” she said.
She quickly became one of the platforms biggest earners, putting her in the top 0.1 per cent of creators, but has not disclosed her earnings.
Bella Thorne
US born actress and singer Bella Thorne had her first acting role in the early 2000s before finding fame as a Disney star and singer thanks to the series Shake it Up.
Her career took off after she played Adam Sandler’s tomboy daughter in the 2014 comedy Blended, followed by the equally family-friendly film Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
After moving into more adult roles, and even directing an adult film, she joined OnlyFans in 2020.
She told the LA Times she originally joined the site as research for a film, but after making a reported $1.4 million on the first day alone, she decided to post some content in a bid to make enough money to help fund her own production company.
She made close to $3 million in one week but fans turned on her for not posting a nude shot they claim she promised. She has not posted any content since then, but the money allowed her to produce the films Infamous (2020) and Saint Clare (2024).
Lily Allen
Singer and actress Lily Allen found fame following the release of her 2006 debut album Alright, Still, which included singles Smile, LDN, Knock ‘Em Out and Alfie.
After losing a son to stillbirth and welcoming two daughters with first husband Sam Cooper, they divorced.
Allen, who overcame an addiction to drugs, played Elizabeth Taylor opposite her brother in the film How to Build a Girl.
In 2019, she met Stranger Things actor David Harbour on the exclusive dating app Raya. They married a year later in Las Vegas and settled in Brooklyn in the US.
In 2024, Allen launched an OnlyFans account specifically for those with a foot fetish.
She first announced the venture on social media, giving followers a sneak peek of what to expect. “La dolce feeta,” she wrote over a video of her feet on Instagram.
It was followed by a post on X. “Soled Out, big time. here’s the link for my future Toe Daddies.”
In October 2024, Allen said her foot photos generated around $14,000 a month in income – which was more than she made on Spotify.
She told Interview Magazine in October 2025, her once lucrative side hustle had somewhat lost its appeal since she and Harbour separated in early 2025.
“I was quite active in the beginning, but when I broke up with David, it just wasn’t that fun anymore,” she said.
Kate Nash
English-born singer songwriter Kate Nash found fame in 2007 thanks to her hit song Foundations and chart-topping debut album Made of Bricks.
She was named Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2008 Brit Awards before suffering a breakdown.
She made a comeback with the 2010 album My Best Friend Is You and starred in the 2012 film Greetings from Tim Buckley. She continued to act and release music over the next decade, and wrote the Rita Ora hit Poison, but was left almost bankrupt after her manager stole money from her.
In 2024, she announced she was joining OnlyFans to help pay for her upcoming tour.
Under the slogan “Butts for tour buses”, she said the income would subsidise her shows because “touring makes losses, not profits”.
“I also think it’s bit of a punk protest as a woman to take control of my body and sell it to be able to fund my passion project, which is actually my 18-year career,” she said, per BBC.
“I want to highlight that, and I want people to talk about it, and I want people to know the truth about what what’s happening in the music business.”
She said the images she was posting were revealing but not explicit.
“I actually like bums. I think they’re just quite great. I think it’s funny. I enjoy taking pictures of my bum. Always been a bit of a flasher. So I’m going to enjoy doing it, and I’m already putting it online anyway.
“I’m going to probably make more money doing that than the music over the next three months.”
Iggy Azalea
Aussie born rapper and songwriter Iggy Azalea once topped the R&B hip-hop charts.
She is only one of two artists in the world to have songs at number one and two in the charts thanks to her 2014 collaboration with Charli XCX, Fancy, which topped the charts at the same time Problem, her song with Ariana Grande, was at number two.
She went on to become one of the best-selling female rappers in the world, with a slew of awards, including two American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, an MTV Video Music Award, a People’s Choice Award, four Teen Choice Awards, and four Grammy Award nominations.
But after a dip in record sales and parting ways with her record company, Azalea announced in 2024 she was retiring from the music industry to devote herself to other creative projects, including the OnlyFans account she started in January 2023.
Since then, she has reportedly become one of the highest-earning celebrities on the platform, earning a staggering $12.8 million a month at her peak.
Cardi B
US-born rapper Cardi B’s 2018 debut album became the most successful by a female rapper of all time and won a Grammy Award for best best rap album.
She made history when she became the first female rapper to have five number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
She has more digital single sales in the US than any other rapper (69 million), and has a swag of awards to her name, including Billboard Woman of the Year in 2020.
That year, she joined OnlyFans, to share behind-the-scenes content and updates ahead of the release of her single WAP.
She does not share explicit content, but makes more than $55 million a year from the site, thanks in part to the low montly subscription price she charges her fans.
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