This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you. *** “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” a novel-turned TV series about a 19-year-old single mom who turns to OnlyFans to get by, has attracted plenty of attention and acclaim — especially with its star-studded cast that includes Elle Fanning, Nick Offerman, Nicole Kidman, and Michelle Pfeiffer.  We’ve come a long way since “Pretty Woman,” but why is a story about a 19-year-old driven to OnlyFans by financial desperation so popular?  Rufi Thorpe, the author of “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” told CNN she believes OnlyFan’s “rising cultural relevance” is because “people are trying desperately to afford their rent.” The article explains that financial struggles in a harsh economy have led OnlyFans to be more “accepted” and less “stigmatized.” Thorpe has also been clear that she supports the destigmatization of the sex industry, saying that her goal with the novel was to “explore sex work as work.”  But it is a failing position to accept that financial necessity should drive women to OnlyFans and that society should refrain from condemning OnlyFans as a result.  To be clear: I certainly don’t believe women who turn to OnlyFans out of economic desperation should be condemned; it is the systems and individuals who exploit their desperation that deserve our censure.  Consider an analogy: A landlord approaches a woman in his building who is struggling to pay her rent. “If you send me nude photos a few times a week,” the landlord says, “I’ll forgive your debts. Otherwise, you’re out on the streets.”  Does it make your skin crawl?  How about this one: A CEO arranges a private meeting with a female employee. Behind closed doors, he explains the offer: “Come into my office at the end of every workday and do a strip tease. If you do that, I’ll double your wages.”  In contexts like these, most people recognize that coercing sexual consent through financial necessity — or even financial opportunity — is exploitative and abusive. There’s a good reason for this. It’s because sexual consent is a uniquely sensitive type of consent, which must be given completely freely. Generally speaking, it is not wrong to pay someone to do a job that they may not really desire. But sexual consent warrants a particularly high standard of freedom and autonomy. As such, it is wrong to use money (or any other means) to pressure someone into accepting sexual situations that they do not authentically desire. As a society, we largely understand this — hence our reactions of repulsion to the landlord and CEO examples. But for some reason, when it comes to OnlyFans and the commercial sex industry, there’s a clear double standard.  Society is increasingly happy to accept and even celebrate the sex industry. Social media and mainstream TV are full of glamorized stories of women who went from making minimum wage to raking in millions on OnlyFans. And this, the popular narrative goes, is empowering to women.  But leveraging a woman’s economic need to coerce her into unwanted sex acts is not empowering. It’s exploitative.  It’s worth noting that very few women actually make good money on OnlyFans. In fact, the average creator earns only $131 per month. However, even if it were true that OnlyFans was the answer to women’s financial problems, the question becomes: How did we end up with a society where accepting sexual exploitation is a woman’s best option to support herself?  As Thorpe and the CNN note, the struggling economy certainly plays a role. But it’s far from the entire answer. If it’s just the economy, why aren’t men flocking to OnlyFans to make money? Why are the vast majority of people selling content on OnlyFans women and the vast majority purchasing content men?  This is about much more than the economy. It’s about a society that has commodified women as sex objects. A society that tells women their primary worth is in their ability — nay, their obligation — to please men sexually. And a society that withholds or grants financial rewards on the basis of women fulfilling that obligation. I’m reminded of a man who once said to me, “Pornography is empowering to women because it’s one of the only jobs where a woman can make more money than a man.”  At the time, I was simply rendered speechless. But I’ve long wished I could go back and say what I really thought about his absurd argument. A world where the only way a woman can make more money than a man is to strip for those leering men is not a world that’s empowering to women. That’s not a system that was created by and for women. It’s a system that was created by and for men.  The hard truth is that the sex trade has always been a misogynistic industry whose sole purpose is to cater to male sexual entitlement. It has never been about what’s best for women.  Even the glamorized OnlyFans is not exempt from that fact. Diving deeper into common experiences on the platform shows creators face a myriad of serious harms at the hands of subscribers, pimps, traffickers, and even the OnlyFans corporation itself. These women deal with stalking, rape, abuse, threats of physical violence, financial exploitation, psychological manipulation, death, suicide, mental health harms — you name it.  Embracing the sex industry as “empowering” does not erase its fundamentally misogynistic and exploitative nature. It simply obscures it. *** Lily Moric is the communications and content strategist with the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, the leading national nonprofit organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking, and pornography.

NASCAR driver Kyle Busch’s widow, Samantha, revealed in an Instagram post Wednesday night the promise she made to her husband before his untimely death last month. Busch died at the age of 41 after he developed sepsis following a bout of pneumonia. The couple had two children together, Brexton and Lennix. Brexton has already begun his racing career at the age of 11. “Watching Brexton back at the track is both heartbreaking and beautiful all at once because there are moments when I catch a glimpse of Kyle in him, the same determination, the same passion, the same spark, and for a second it feels like a piece of him is still right here with us,” the grieving widow wrote.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Samantha Busch (@samanthabusch) “These moments are incredibly hard, but they also remind me that Kyle’s story isn’t over. It lives on through the dreams he inspired and the two children he loved more than anything.” “In the hospital, I made Kyle a promise. I promised him that I would do everything I could to help our children pursue their dreams no matter what. For Brexton, that dream is racing.” The post went on, “It wasn’t a dream Kyle chose for him. It was something they shared. They spent countless hours talking about race cars, working together, dreaming together, and building a bond around something they both genuinely loved. Racing is what lights Brexton up and as long as it’s the dream in his heart, I’ll be right there beside him, cheering him on every step of the way.” “The racetrack has been home for our family for nearly 20 years. It’s where some of our greatest memories were made, where our kids grew up, and where so much of our life together happened. Right now when so much of our world feels unfamiliar it’s also one of the few places that still feels like home.” “Every time we get to the track, we’re reminded that a piece of our team is missing. The person who should be standing beside us isn’t there. That part is heartbreaking. But it’s also where we feel closest to him, surrounded by the memories, the people, and the dreams he helped build. So, we race on,” the post concluded.  Over more than two decades behind the wheel, Busch became one of the winningest and most recognizable drivers in NASCAR history. He captured two Cup Series championships and recorded 234 victories across NASCAR’s three national series, more than any other driver the sport has ever seen. Known to fans as the face of “Rowdy Nation,” Busch built a reputation as one of racing’s fiercest competitors. Even critics and rivals acknowledged his extraordinary talent and relentless drive to win.

Another ex-girlfriend is accusing Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner of knowing the meaning behind his infamous Nazi tattoo, telling the New York Post the symbol reminded him that “the US was the evil bad guy overseas.”  The unidentified woman, who claims to be a left-wing streamer, told The Post she was romantically involved with Platner in 2021 while he was engaged to his now-wife. “As a person who is a leftist, I immediately looked at him and asked him, ‘Is that a Totenkopf?’ and he told me a whole, ‘he will hold this weight forever’ bravado sob story about how it was, but he decided to keep it as a reminder that the United States was the evil, bad guy overseas,” she told The Post.  The Post reported that it corroborated parts of the woman’s account using text messages she sent to her mother in September 2025, as well as social media posts she published Wednesday night.   I very briefly was talking to and then consequently seeing Graham Platner from about February 2021 until mid July 2021 when it was revealed to me that he was cheating on his fiancée at the time. He knew about the fucking tattoo. pic.twitter.com/bsy1xMFgQa —

Congressional Republicans are exploring whether a budget reconciliation bill could be used to drive out “wokeness” in higher education and overhaul the accreditation system that determines whether colleges and universities can access billions of dollars in federal student aid.  The effort was discussed on Thursday during a panel hosted by Defending Education. This conservative, grassroots organization argues that accrediting agencies have become vehicles for pushing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and other leftist priorities onto schools. Accreditation is a little-understood but powerful process that determines whether colleges and universities can access billions of dollars in federal student aid. Defending Education argues that some accrediting agencies have abused their authority by becoming ideological enforcers pushing requirements unrelated to educational quality.  The group pointed to the American Bar Association’s law school accreditation agency as one example. Defending Education said the ABA pushes anti-bias training mandates that universities must adopt to secure accreditation for their law schools. Republicans are now discussing whether changes to the accreditation system could be included in a budget reconciliation package, which can pass the Senate with a simple majority and avoid a Democrat filibuster. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), a leading advocate for accreditation reform, argued Thursday that the current system advances a left-wing agenda that undermines Western civilization. Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) echoed that criticism, saying, “They use forces like this [accreditation] to jam their beliefs on us. There shouldn’t be left-captured monopolies that get to decide what we believe and what we do.” The panel also featured current and former law students who argued that ideological pressure extends beyond accrediting agencies and into the classroom. Edward Goul, a second-year law student at the University of Pennsylvania, told the panel that only one right-leaning professor currently serves on the law school’s faculty. He added that many conservative students choose not to disclose their political views out of concern that doing so could hurt their chances of receiving recommendations for clerkships, law review positions, and other opportunities critical to their legal careers. The other student, a recent University of Virginia law graduate who asked not to be identified, told The Daily Wire that some professors appear to factor students’ political views into classroom interactions and grading.  

First lady Melania Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Thursday that children in foster care will be eligible for Trump Accounts, ensuring they can participate in the investment program even when no parent or guardian is available to open an account for them. Trump Accounts are designed to help children build wealth over time through tax-advantaged investment accounts seeded with an initial government contribution. Until now, participation generally required a parent or legal guardian to open an account on a child’s behalf. The new initiative, called Fostering the Future Accounts, allows states and tribal governments serving as legal guardians to open Trump Accounts for eligible children in foster care. “For the first time, children in foster care will have access to a dedicated investment and savings vehicle,” Melania Trump said during Thursday’s announcement.    NOW: @FLOTUS and @SecScottBessent announce Trump Accounts for children in foster care. This expands access for children for whom the state acts as their legal guardian. @FLOTUS says 23 governors have already agreed to set up the accounts in their states and urges all 50… pic.twitter.com/gvqeHK6Pto — Brecca Stoll (@breccastoll) June 11, 2026   The program could make roughly 400,000 foster children eligible to participate, based on federal estimates of the number of children currently in foster care nationwide. Bessent said the change ensures children will receive the same $1,000 Treasury-funded contribution available through standard Trump Accounts for children born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028. States will also be permitted to deposit a child’s Social Security survivor benefits into the account. Like other Trump Accounts, the funds will be professionally managed and invested in diversified index funds. When participants reach adulthood, they may use the money for approved expenses, including college tuition, purchasing a home, or starting a business. Mrs. Trump said 23 governors have already agreed to implement the program and urged the remaining states to participate. “Let’s put America’s children before politics,” she said.