LOS ANGELES—In Margo’s Got Money Troubles, which debuted April 15 on Apple TV+, Hollywood girl-next-door Elle Fanning stars in the title role, in a story about the adult cam industry—proof that livestreaming adult content, in 2026, has become as mainstream as Main Street will allow.
Everyone knows someone, who knows someone who is on OnlyFans. The streaming series is based on the novel of the same name by popular girlcore author Rufi Thorpe, about the daughter of a former pro-wrestler and former Hooter’s waitress. When not-old-enough-to-drink Margo gets pregnant by her English professor, she finds she has limited employment options and a mouth to feed. The eight episode series’ A-list cast includes Michelle Pfeiffer (whose husband David E. Kelley is executive producer), Nicole Kidman, Marcia Gay Harden, Greg Kinnear, Nick Offerman and rapper Rico Nasty, among others.
At the series’ red carpet premiere in early April, Fanning told Access Hollywood that she felt like subscription platform OnlyFans was a relatively new format for entertainment media, which has created a new type of performer.
“It’s a modern occupation and Margo is a modern girl,” said Fanning. As a mainstream actress, the role may have been a little bit of a stretch for Fanning, even as Hollywood is facing its own celebrity identity crisis and online influencers are increasingly sought-after by talent agencies and production companies for acting roles in new projects. While on the adult side, multi-awarded career cam models have helped define the new role with raw talent, instincts and the tools that technology gave them, to create a new category of celebrity and eventually come into their own as entertainers and entrepreneurs.
Jenny Blighe could write a book—a real-life take on the fictional Margo. In fact, multi-awarded Blighe has dedicated her efforts to documenting “the transition from cam performer to independent content creator [with] a primary-witness perspective on a pivotal era in the industry’s evolution" for future projects.
Starting on cams in 2012, Blighe knew she was uniquely in her element as an online entertainer and, as her performing name implies, was determined to be the captain of her own destiny.
“I never felt like I needed the studio system. All I really needed was more reach,” she told AVN. “When I started on MyFreeCams, my audience was limited to whoever happened to be logged in right then. While that was an amazing community, in my head I was like, ‘This cannot be it…’
“I was successful camming from Day One, even without any set guidelines for new cam girls. Models had to be strategic in marketing and innovative in performance because we weren't offered the features you see today,” Blighe explained. “I remember a lot of camgirls did not offer content because of the extreme distinction between what it meant to be a cam model versus a ‘porn star,’ at that time. Personally, I didn't see much of a difference in performing live or on film, so, within days, I was already creating videos for sale for members on MFC.”
Always at the forefront of technology, savvy adult insiders had quickly recognized the unlimited potential for video chat in the mid ‘00s and, by 2010, MyFreeCams (MFC) was one of the biggest platforms with 100,000 models online. What Blighe describes was a mutiny in media, ignited by the emergence of mobile smart devices that put a camera and screen in every user’s hand, as well as widespread adoption of home internet.
Suddenly, taking the conventional path as a performer—via talent agents and video productions studios—wasn’t the only way to become a “porn star” or, more importantly, to profit from it. Instead of being paid once for a studio scene, a cam star could tap into streaming revenue and also own their self-produced content, which could be sold repeatedly. Anyone with enough know-how, a solid internet connection and the equipment could try their luck online. A whole new audience was attracted by the ability to interact one-on-one with the models by tipping and in pay-per-minute formats.
“I didn't want to be limited to one platform, one audience. I wanted the entire internet. I wanted every adult content consumer who resonated with my style to be able to have an option in purchasing it,” Blighe said. Social media, which had gained wide acceptance by the general public, was her portal to promotional opportunities and clip sales.
“I had made a Twitter account to tell my regulars when I was going live. I started thinking about how all of my followers were not on MFC. Many of them were finding me through social media itself. I realized I could advertise my content to people outside of MFC and also bring them onto the site to actually buy it.
“So, I started creating my own previews of my content and was posting them as marketing. I treated my social media like advertising. My entire thought process was just that I knew if more people saw my work, more people would buy it,” she recalled. “The hardest part was convincing people it was legit. Tokens and cam sites were still relatively new to a lot of people, so naturally, they were skeptical. Once people finally understood how it worked though, they stayed."
Almost 15 years later, those innovative techniques have become common in the industry and have earned Blighe accolades that didn’t exist when she first started. The multi-awarded model was the very first AVN Favorite Indie Clip Star in 2018, among other recognitions.
2025 AVN Favorite Cam Girl and “farm girl-next-door with a plot twist,” Emma Starseed, is, according to her X account info, also “part bunny.” She lives on a farm somewhere in Texas. The three-time Miss MFC says she is a storyteller, at heart.
“I didn't know anything about camming until the moment I started, to be honest. Like I knew very little about porn, in general,” Starseed began.
“I was looking for a way to pay some medical bills. I had left my job in public relations and, um, needed a way to make ends meet. I was literally in bed, googling ‘ways to make money from bed’ when I found ‘camming’ and I was immediately intrigued. So, I did a little bit of research and thought, ‘You know, this sounds kind of fun. I think I would be good at this.’
“So, when I first started, it was absolutely not my intention to make it into a career. But I quickly kind of fell in love with it and found success fairly early on, to where it just kind of made sense, and I made it into a career. I was very intentional about how I did things, from the beginning,” she explained.
Just how does one go about being “intentional” as an online entertainer? Starseed says consistency and community building were hugely important to getting established, as well as allowing lots of access to her life for subscribers. Some members who were initially attracted by her NSFW live shows have stayed to see what happens with the chickens and ducks in her backyard.
“I'd say that building a fan base that's invested in me, as a creator and performer, was the single most important thing that I did early on and continue to do, to build out my cam room. My cam room regulars have been with me from the very first years of me streaming. So, it's been an ongoing, developing relationship and they're excited to support me in holistic ways. You know, it goes beyond just a sexual service type of thing. It's like meeting me where I'm at, in terms of what I'm creating or the kind of streaming experience that I'm curating.
“A huge part of what I do is sharing about my life and even my various farm animals, and my pet chickens and my ducks. My cam room has sponsored my hobbies outside of my cam room,” she described. “It sounds trite in some ways, but I think being clear on who you are and what kind of experience you want to create and bring into your work is probably like the most important step in attracting the right kind of audience.”
That level of interaction, between performer and audience, is unique to the live cam environment and changes the dynamics for viewers and models. Users who have been raised on social media, reality shows, gaming and niche content seek out higher-than-ever levels of engagement with their idols, as well as digital spaces for community and connectedness.
Current AVN Fav Female Indie Creator Mama Plugs has won the award two years in a row. A saucy British influencer, she boasts 1.5 million followers on Instagram. At January’s AVN Expo, her advice to budding adult creators seemed counterintuitive.
“I think what is really important is to grow social media platforms first, because the problem that people are having now is, because it's so saturated, when you then join OnlyFans or any platform, you're battling with literally millions of people at this point. So, if you grow your social media first—then if you're like, ‘I’d quite like to post nudes’ or post anything that's explicit, then do it,” Plugs, who performs only solo or with her husband, explained.
“The worst thing is if you go straight to porn, rather than growing a social media following, right? Then, if you only get three people subscribing and it's your family friends and then it's all over the internet, you can't get rid of it. If you don't succeed, then there you are—yeah, you know it’s a choice now, but the choice will always be there. You can't undo your choice.
“I was a cam girl and you have to, like, chuck-forward your personality and be loud and proud and happy because otherwise you won't really get anywhere,” she said, noting that she and her husband have experimented with a wide range of content.
“So, we do predominantly comedy skits. We used to do a lot of car content, but honestly we've kind of like come away from it a bit because when you turn a hobby into a job, then you start to dislike your hobby. So, we're just comedy at the moment, a little bit of news, and it works, right?
“A lot of people don't realize how far I go, as well,” Plugs continued. “So, like my Instagram—that is completely PG [rated], so it's like a little bit of boob, a little bit of that, but it's predominantly comedy sketches and skits and stuff. But then obviously my OnlyFans is like full porn, so, I do advise to give the audience a choice of what kind of content they want to see.”
Of course, many would-be cam models are willing to risk getting naked right away, like multi-awarded Chaturbate model Lana Del Bae. The petite, tattooed, pierced, purple-haired model with heart-shaped nipples is outgoing, straightforward and fun, and frank about how she got started in cam life. It was a way for her to become financially independent and move out of the house.
“My sister is actually in the adult industry, and she was like, ‘Hey, like we come from a really abusive family and childhood and all that, and I was kind of trapped in that situation, because I'm gonna tell you what, working in a toy store doesn't pay very well,’” Del Bae remembered her sister saying. “So, she was like, ‘Hey, like don't take this the wrong way or anything, but I do this and I feel like you would be good at it.’
“And I was like, ‘Hell yeah! I love being naked. I'm already kind of a freak, so let's try it out.’ So, I started camming from my parents' attic.”
Her spicy plan worked despite lack of experience and shaky internet connection. “It was such bad quality because it was just like the worst internet ever and I didn't know what I was doing. But apparently, I was funny enough or something and I made enough money that I could move out. I got my first apartment and just have gone from there."
After working solo, six days a week for three years straight, Del Bae said, “I was able to buy my first house. Then, I was born and raised in Oregon, and I left Oregon. I sold my house at a profit and I moved to Colorado and bought a house here. I collect animals like they're Pokémon cards. My passion is taking care of sick cats.
“So yeah, I work hard so that I can buy animal food,” she laughed.
Highlighting an important aspect of adult work, especially for female performers, Del Bae pointed out there are few traditional jobs that would pay as well and also allow as much freedom. The other models interviewed for this story agreed with her assessment.
“I love being at home. I love taking care of animals and I like setting my own schedule. So, yes, of course, I could have been a doctor or a lawyer or whatever the fuck makes a lot of money in those fields, but I wouldn't like that. I like being my own boss and I am very happy with the life that I have created for myself.
“It took a lot of groundwork, those first few years where I was working every single day. But the reward is being able to have a hard couple months, where I'm moving and it's really chaotic, and I'm able to take a full, entire week off of work [and not be] drowning in debt, you know,” Del Bae said. In a few weeks, she would attend a creators-only retreat hosted by Chaturbate at an Arizona resort. She was slated to speak on a pair of seminar panels on financial planning and looking forward to it.
According to a study by inside.theporn.com, the adult webcam industry in 2024 was valued at $5.5 billion (up from $2 billion in 2016), and had attracted 1.1 billion views across major platforms like Live Jasmin, Chaturbate and Stripchat, among others. The study also estimated over 100,000 models online, with more than 4,000 on Chaturbate alone.
The same study noted that pay rates for cam performers varied widely, starting at as little as $100-500 a week for beginners with less than a year of experience to an average of $1,500-3,000 for an experienced model with five years or more, working full-time. Elite earners were limited to the top one to five percent of performers, with the top one percent earning as much as $10,000 a week.
Models who have been widely reported on tabloid sites, claiming to have made millions overnight are unicorns or, as Del Bae likes to call them, “golden buttholes.” They are the very rare exception to the rule, if they exist at all.
But in the U.S., where women earn 85¢ to every dollar made by their male peers, it isn’t hard to understand why there are so many Margos out there, attracted to the platforms with promises of life-changing money and support from a close-knit cam community. The caveat is that it’s still hard work.
Several mainstream stars have already opted for OnlyFans as a viable alternative to fickle mainstream markets. Celebrities including Bret Rockman, Amber Rose, Bella Thorne, Denise Richards (and her daughter Sami Sheen), Iggy Azalea, Cardi B, Black Chyna, Carmen Electra, Drea De Matteo, Tyga, Larsa Pippen and Marston Hefner (Playboy founder Hugh’s son) all have OF accounts.
On April 15, actress Shannon Elizabeth announced that she has joined the platform. The star of 1991’s risqué comedy classic American Pie, Elizabeth told People Magazine, “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.”
Photos courtesy of Jeff Koga, Jenny Blighe & Lana Del Bae
