‘Sopranos’ Star Drea de Matteo Says She Joined OnlyFans After Losing Work For Refusing To Get COVID-19 Vaccine: “My Own Industry Thinks I’m A Savage”

Drea de Matteo is standing by her decision to join OnlyFans. In a new interview with Fox News Digital, the 51-year-old Sopranos alum said she joined the subscription-only site after she allegedly lost work due to her controversial stance on COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

De Matteo — who won the 2004 Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Adriana on The Sopranos — first announced her OnlyFans account last month. The actress charges $15 a month to subscribe to her page, which simply reads, “THE SOPORNOS.”

“I know some people have said some nasty things about me having joined OnlyFans,” she told Fox News Digital. “But, you know, the way we see it in this house is mommy’s a warrior, not accepting defeat.”

She continued, “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.”

According to the star, she was dropped by her agent and “almost” lost her home after actively speaking out against COVID-19 vaccine mandates, which prompted her to then join OnlyFans.

“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 said. “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 strike or anything like that ever again.”

Despite starring in five seasons of The Sopranos as well as Desperate Housewives and Sons of Anarchy, de Matteo insisted that she was “never really paid very much money” for any of her work on the shows. As far as her decision to make some extra cash on OnlyFans, she has turned a blind eye to critics.

“I just don’t care. I don’t. I’d rather save my family than save face,” she said. “Listen, for the people who think it’s something crazy. It’s not what you think it is. And for the people who think it’s something crazy, it’s exactly what you want it to be.”

De Matteo, who shares a 15-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son with her ex-fiancé Shooter Jennings, revealed that her kids are supportive of her OnlyFans account.

“My kids were the ones that were like, ‘Do it,'” she said. “[My daughter will] edit the pictures, too, because they want certain things that we haven’t been able to do. 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 added, “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 fucking position I’m in. I take care of an entire family and a lot of other people who depend on me.”