Why “Sopranos” star Drea de Matteo turned to OnlyFans amid financial problems

Marina WattsSun, August 16, 2026 at 5:07 PM UTC

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Drea de Matteo at a farmer’s market in Los Angeles in July 2026Credit: BG026/Bauer-Griffin/GC ImagesKey Points -

Drea de Matteo launched her OnlyFans page as her house was at risk of foreclosure.

When launching her subscription based page and sharing a bikini photo, “within 75 minutes the lien was paid.”

The actress is known for her roles in The Sopranos and Sons of Anarchy.

Drea de Matteo is getting candid about her OnlyFans journey.

The actress, best known for playing Adriana la Cerva on The Sopranos, spoke about leaving Hollywood and why she launched an OnlyFans, a subscription service known for adult content.

“Honestly, we were going to use the OnlyFans platform to start a podcast because I was afraid that I’d be censored too much to talk about stuff just out there in the world,” she admitted during a recent appearance on Jamie Kennedy’s Hate to Break It to Yapodcast.

de Matteo was outspoken against COVID vaccination mandates during the pandemic and was dropped by her agent as a result. She also said she wasn’t too active on her Instagram page and disliked social media.

“So we were going to do the podcast on there and so I set up the page and we were in a really bad spot,” she said of her state of affairs in August 2023.

“We knew that the foreclosure was around the the corner. My house flooded, so I couldn’t sell the house quickly. It flooded right as I was getting news of the last foreclosure.”

Drea de Matteo at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood in June 2022Credit: Paul Archuleta/Getty

She likened the chain of events to divine intervention. “I thought I was being punished,” de Matteo recalled. “We opened the Only Fans page as a placeholder for the podcast that week.”

de Matteo decided to take her family to Tahoe on a whim as a distraction, and when she got back, her children had an idea that was strange enough to work. “The kids were like, ‘Show your feet on Only Fans,’” she recalled.

The actress then posted a picture of her in a bikini and “within 75 minutes the lien was paid.” That lien was $75,000. de Matteo admitted that she’s pulled in tens of thousands of dollars a month since launching the page.

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“In some ways, the OnlyFans page was almost like a political statement on my part in a way...It was like, ‘F---you. I don’t have to work.” With her OnlyFans money, de Matteo was able to pay for her podcast and her tee-shirt company ULTRAFREE.

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Elsewhere in the podcast, she also spoke about the money she made when she was on The Sopranos, noting that she had enough to survive” and knew she could always go back to work when she needed more cash.

“People think I’m made of f---ing money,” de Matteo said in reference to her Emmy-winning role. “Everyone sees me coming, they’re like, ‘Here comes that rich b---- from The Sopranos.’ And it’s like, no, I’m not at all. In fact, you know, I live a pretty f---ing normal life. I had to do that [OnlyFans] page to get a lien off my house after foreclosure.”

“The OnlyFans thing, I always say, it’s Adriana’s fan page because people love her,” de Matteo concluded.

“I mean, I’ve done a lot of other TV shows, but that’s the TV show people really love. So, you want to see more Adriana, go there, and that’s where I am.”

Drea de Matteo in ‘The Sopranos’Credit: Alamy

In 2023, de Matteo revealed how her children encouraged her to create an OnlyFans account. “My kids were the ones that were like, ‘Do it,’” de Matteo said at the time, noting that her daughter helps maintain her page. “She’ll edit the pictures, too, because they want certain things that we haven’t been able to do.”

Added theSons of Anarchyalum, “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.”

She also addressed the “nasty” comments she has received over making an OnlyFans account. “The way we see it in this house is mommy’s a warrior, not accepting defeat.”

on Entertainment Weekly

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”