Drea de Matteo, known for portraying Adriana La Cerva in the hit TV drama The Sopranos, is facing renewed backlash for involving her son in her X-rated work.
The Emmy winner, who grew up in a Catholic family, shares two children with her ex, musician Shooter Jennings: a son, Waylon "Blackjack,” and a daughter, Alabama.
In 2023, when she was 51, Drea stunned fans by announcing a career shift: she had joined a popular subscription-based platform for adult content.
Highlights
- Emmy-winning actress Drea de Matteo sparked backlash by involving her children in creating her adult content.
- Her son, 13 at the time, and daughter, 16, actively helped edit and manage photos for her adult content business.
- Drea justified her decision, citing financial struggles and criticism from the film industry over her political views.
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Trigger Warning: This article contains references to adult content and allegations involving minors that some readers may find disturbing.
“The way we see it in this house is mommy's a warrior, not accepting defeat,” she explained at the time, adding that she would rather “save my family than save face.”
The Sons of Anarchy alum revealed that her children, both of whom were underage at the time, encouraged her to join the adult site. “My kids were the ones that were like, ‘Do it,’” Drea shared.
While the comment was enough to raise some eyebrows, a revelation Drea made the following year during an appearance on the Not Today, Pal podcast was considered even more unsettling.
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In addition to encouraging Drea to join the platform, her children are actively involved in the content-creation process.
"My kids are out there. I’m sorry guys. I’m really sorry. But they know," she said in the podcast, explaining that her two children were on the other side of the door.
"Before you start, your son was outside saying he edits your OnlyF*ns photos," host Robert Iler told Drea. At the time, Waylon was 13 years old.
“Oh yeah. He’s like, ‘So what do you want me to do with the bikini line here?’” the mom of two said.
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“Yeah, so you don’t have to apologize to them, I don’t think," Iler responded.
“No. But they don’t see the girl shots. But I do go over that with them before I ever put them out," De Matteo said of her girl-on-girl content.
The actress explained that her children are aware she films content with other people, though she never directly involves them in those cases.
"I was like, ‘Are you okay with this?’ Because it’s like, if I were to do it in a movie, because I would make out with girls in movies all day long before I’d even make out with boys.”
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Her comments recently resurfaced on X, with thousands of users judging the mom of two for exposing her children and making them active participants in her risqué work.
“F**king disgusting. This is literal child ab*se and she should go to prison. I say this as a Sopranos fan,” one user fumed.
“Kid’s going to have a very interesting LinkedIn bio one day,” someone else quipped.
“Nah straight to jail,” stated a separate critic in a post that has received 70,000 likes.
“You have a sh*t ton of p*rn money just go hire an actual editor that is not a child???” another outraged user exclaimed, while someone else said, “We need the world to end ASAP!”
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In an interview with Fox News published shortly after launching her page, the actress revealed that her daughter, then 16, also edits her adult content.
“She’ll [Alabama] edit the pictures, too, because they want certain things that we haven't been able to do,” she said.
Despite being judged for her parenting decisions, the 54-year-old insists that her decision to post adult content has always been in her children’s best interest.
Success in the film and TV industry is never guaranteed to last, and she had to adapt to provide for her family when opportunities faded away, Drea said.
“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 that took jobs just to stay in the business. I literally took jobs to feed my family,” she shared.
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"So, when people make nasty comments about why I would have done that, my response is, 'D*mn 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.'"
Drea announced on Instagram that she would be joining the subscription service, charging $15 per month for her content.
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"Things have changed in the last three years. 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.
"But I’m 51. I didn't know this was going to have to be a change of life, 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 a savage."
The Sopranos star detailed some of the actions she believes sparked criticism in the film industry, including her refusal to comply with COVID vaccine mandates or go on strike.
Drea said her agent dropped her amid backlash over her stance and that she almost lost her home because of it.
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She added, "People find it hard to believe that I was never really paid very much money for any of the jobs I've done. People think I'm f***ing made of gold, and I'm not."
Elsewhere in the interview, Drea said her work is not so different from that of women who post revealing pictures on Instagram, though there’s far more stigma surrounding it.
Additionally, she clarified that she “loves” acting but that it’s not “the only interest in my life anymore."
Drea famously played Adriana, the protégé of Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), in The Sopranos from 1999 to 2006. Her performance earned her an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2004.
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The star went on to appear in shows like Desperate Housewives and Sons of Anarchy and in films such as New York, I Love You and Don’t Sleep.
Her latest role was in the 2025 Netflix film Nonnas, in which she starred alongside Vince Vaughn, Lorraine Bracco, Talia Shire, Brenda Vaccaro, Linda Cardellini, and Susan Sarandon.
Drea is not the only Hollywood actress to join adult content platforms.
Jaime Pressly, known for My Name Is Earl, launched her page this month. Shannon Elizabeth is also among the actresses to start a page, reportedly earning more than $1.2 million during her first week.
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