Denise Richards Admits She ‘Didn’t Understand’ Why Daughter Sami Wanted to Make OnlyFans Account

Denise Richards admitted she didn’t really get why daughter Sami Sheen wanted to start an OnlyFans account but later joined the “lucrative” way of making money through exclusive fan content.

“At first, I didn’t understand what OnlyFans was,” Denise, 54, told People in an interview published on Wednesday, February 19. “When I saw that she was getting backlash for owning her sexuality and doing what she wanted to do, it upset me as a mom and also as a woman in business.”

Sami, 20, started her OnlyFans account in June 2022, three months after turning 18 years old. She said she did it at the time to make more money. “Click the link in my bio if you wanna see more,” Sami captioned a photo of herself in a black bikini via Instagram, adding a lipstick kiss emoji. The link directed followers to subscribe to her OnlyFans account, which was priced at $19.99 per month.

“I really wanted to get an apartment, and I knew that working at the candy shop I was working at wasn’t going to cut it,” she told the publication. “So, I went to the next best thing and made an OnlyFans.”

Denise took notice of her daughter’s source of income and started her own OnlyFans account one month later in July 2022, telling People it has been “quite lucrative.”

“I wish she’d waited a bit because she started it right after me, but it doesn’t bother me,” Sami said of her mom’s decision.

An insider told In Touch exclusively in March 2024 that Denise was bringing in a whopping $2 million monthly from OnlyFans, after seeing Sami rake in an average of $80,000 a month for her steamy posts.

Sami’s dad and Denise’s ex-husband Charlie Sheen was upset initially when his daughter turned to posting racy content to make money.

“I do not condone this, but since I’m unable to prevent it, I’ve urged her to keep it classy, creative and not sacrifice her integrity. She is 18 years old now and living with her mother. This did not occur under my roof,” the Two and a Half Men alum, 59, told E! News on June 13, 2022.

Denise responded to her ex’s comment by telling the outlet, “This decision wasn’t based on whose house she lives in. All I can do as a parent is guide her and trust her judgment, but she makes her own choices.”

Soon, the Starship Troopers actress realized the upside to making money off her own content.

“My daughter got a lot of backlash for opening the account,” she told Los Angeles TV station KTLA in a July 6, 2022, interview. “I had heard of OnlyFans but I wasn’t educated on what OnlyFans was and once I started to learn about it, I really think that the creators of the site really took the best of every platform of social media and put it into one site. You own your content. The other sites, they can sell your content.”

Denise added, “We all post pictures with ourselves with bathing suits on Instagram and some of the other sites that there’s no difference other than you actually own the content.”

Sami caused a stir in June 2023 when she referred to herself as a “sex worker” and talked about wanting a breast enhancement to help her feel “fully confident” in a TikTok video while doing her makeup.

She responded to the backlash several days later in another video, saying, “I am not a porn star.”

“I don’t meet up with people. I don’t film myself having sex. I don’t do that, but I also have no judgment toward the people who do, do that,” Sami continued.

“I’ve been doing OF for almost a year now and I love my job,” she said in the TikTok video. “There’s absolutely nothing that anyone could say to make me want to get a different job at the moment. I don’t know why people are so judgmental if I love it and it makes me happy and it’s boosted my confidence so much.”

Sami ended up getting the breast enlargement surgery in November 2023, documenting her journey via Snapchat.