History Main / IWasYoungAndNeededTheMoney

--> When I was starting out, in the early 90s, I had to fake an orgasm in a room full of male ad execs at an audition for a chocolate bar ad. It was grim.

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

* In the ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' fic, [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5435947/1/%C3%9Cber-Cool Über Cool]], Sawyer and Shenhua finds an old magazine featuring a raunchy picture of Rotton. When asked about it, he claims that he was desperate and needed the money, as he hasn't managed to make a living as a Bounty Hunter.

* In 2004, it was revealed that Japanese baseball player Tadano Kazuhito, who had signed with Cleveland Indians minor league team, [[http://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=1720362 had starred in a Japanese gay porn years ago]]. He literally used this quote to explain why he did it in a press conference.

* In only the second episode of ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}'', Kari Byron (then only a background crew member) allowed Adam and Jaime to scan her butt to create a mold for a myth. She didn't have much trouble with it at the time, thinking "It's just some little cable show! No one will ever see this!" One massive explosion in popularity later, "Now, when you search for me online, what's the first thing that comes up? My butt!". Fortunately, she had a sense of humor about the situation, and more recently, has become more appreciative of the segment, as "Who wouldn't want a memento of how good their butt looked when they were in their twenties?"
* When Creator/SimuLiu was fresh out of college and decided that he didn't like being an accountant, he took a couple odd jobs, including being Spider-Man for kids' birthday parties (because the full-face mask hid the fact that he was Asian and there were no Asian superheroes kids wanted at their birthday parties), and being a stock photo model for a paltry $120 (he signed away the rights and hasn't earned any royalties since). As he's risen in fame during the run-up to ''Film/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings'', [[https://twitter.com/SimuLiu/status/1436223686256758784/ people started pointing out all of the odd places where they've seen this guy before]], including, ironically, on the cover of an accounting textbook. Liu has taken it in stride [[https://twitter.com/SimuLiu/status/1435001520660127751 and even used some of his old stock photos as reaction images]].

* In ''Fanfic/PictopiaII'', Red Bumsteer needed to bring in some money to support their kids and dogs when her husband was locked in a mental hospital, so she became a prostitute.

* This is how Creator/JackieChan justifies having once appeared in a porn flick (if ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' is to be believed, which it may not be). He's actually unashamed of it and points out that [[Creator/MarlonBrando Brando]] took his clothes off on camera.
** He started doing his own stunts because of this, but it became his calling card as he gained fame.

** Maya Angelou ''[[GrannyClassic yes, that one]]'' was one.

* Creator/SylvesterStallone, who made his acting debut in a porn flick ''Party at Kitty and Stud's'' (better known under its alternative title, ''Italian Stallion''). How much did he need the money? He had been evicted from his apartment and had been sleeping in an NYC-bus station for three weeks. He later said he was so desperate, it was either "do the movie or rob someone."
** The film's creators later edited the film and re-titled it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Md9lCfO-lo Italian Stallion]] to cash in on Stallone's newfound fame.

* Maya Angelou was an exotic dancer. ''[[GrannyClassic Yes, that one]]''.
** Same deal with Creator/ChanningTatum (who, in one magazine interview, did it because -- true to the trope -- he was young and needed money after dropping out of college. This period of his life served as the basis for ''Film/MagicMike'').

* Vanessa L. Williams's ''Penthouse'' photoshoot was explained as such. She still lost her Miss America crown over it, however. The issue featuring Vanessa Williams' photoshoot ended up being banned as the centerfold (Traci Lords) was revealed to be underage at the time she posed for her picture, rendering all her porno pics and films child pornography.
* Danny Slavin, who played Leo Corbett, the Red Ranger in ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'', only did it because he needed money for law school. Understandably, it took a lot of convincing to get him to return for the 10th anniversary ReunionShow (not helped by the fact that, during the filming of the ReunionShow between ''Lost Galaxy'' and [[Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue its successor]], the producers tried to screw Amy Miller, the actress who played ''LG'''s BigBad Trakeena, out of her paycheck; Slavin walked off the set in protest out of solidarity for Miller and only returned for the 10th anniversary as a personal favor to one of the producers). Surprisingly, he ended up returning for the finale of ''Series/PowerRangersSuperMegaforce'' years later.
* Tom Morello (of Music/RageAgainstTheMachine fame) was a male stripper for a time.

* Subverted by Creator/JessicaBiel, who did a topless magazine shoot in late 2003. She didn't need the money at all, having just come off of the very successful remake of ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre2003'' and also having signed onto ''Film/BladeTrinity'', but her '''agent''' (who she fired not long afterward) apparently negotiated a very nice chunk of the money for himself. Biel did it mostly for PlayingAgainstType (she was on the end of her long stretch on ''Series/SeventhHeaven'') and to go for some indie cred.

** Similarly used by Wrestling/ShawnMichaels in the [[Wrestling/DGenerationX DX]] reunion on Wrestling/WWERaw 1000 to explain why he posed for Playgirl.

* Creator/NeilGaiman, now an award-winning fantasy author, got his first published book with a decidedly non-literary biography of Music/DuranDuran. Worse yet, the publisher folded shortly afterward and he didn't even get the money. He says it taught him that selling out isn't worth it. On the plus side though the band itself said that they thought it was their favorite biography.
* Actually inverted for actress Creator/ValerieLeon, who appeared in several ''Film/CarryOn'' films and other cheeky British comedies in the Seventies; she steadfastly refused to appear nude but has said in some recent interviews that she actually regrets that she was too shy to do so because she understands now what a great figure she had back then.

* It's an urban legend that Creator/JoanCrawford did a "stag film" early in her career before she became a star. She always denied them, however.

* Creator/ChrisPratt was utterly embarrassed to reveal that he used to be a stripper (a very low-rent one, he admits) before he became famous.

* Actually inverted for actress Valerie Leon, who appeared in several ''Film/CarryOn'' films and other cheeky British comedies in the Seventies; she steadfastly refused to appear nude but has said in some recent interviews that she actually regrets that she was too shy to do so because she understands now what a great figure she had back then.

* In violet-quill's Harry Potter fic, ''Wolf Masterson in The Naughty Professor IV: Prefect's Revenge'', Remus Lupin once made films. Naughty, naughty films.
* In multifandom parody vid [[http://go-devil-dante.deviantart.com/art/L-is-sick-of-walking-19823583 "L is sick of walking"]] [=by GoDevilDante=], [[Anime/SamuraiChamploo Jin]] posed for "ukelicious" nude photos because [[MemeticMutation he needed the monies]].

* In ''Film/TheNakedGun'', during their dine-in date, Lt. Frank Drebin tells Jane Spencer, at the time a secretary to BigBad Vincent Ludwig, that he has found some interesting pictures. She immediately replies with this phrase verbatim.

* ''Series/{{Monk}}'': PlayedForDrama on an episode. Sharona posed for nude pictures when she was in her late teens because she needed money to [[SingleMomStripper support herself and her son Benjy]]. When the photos are unearthed by a suspected murderer in an attempt to blackmail her and Monk into not pursuing his case, she is forced to explain to Benjy about the photos and [[IDidWhatIHadToDo why she did what she did]]. She then says that she and Monk are planning to pursue the investigation anyway, which will result in the photos being sent to newspapers and Benjy probably [[KidsAreCruel getting made fun of at school for it]]. Benjy's response? Not to let a bad guy get away just because he might have a bad day at school.

-->'''Ian''': ''The Grinning Americans''. I was living in Florida. Flat broke. No direction. I saw an ad in the newspaper. They were holding auditions, it was fast money. You get sucked into the life, Henry. Now you know.
-->'''Henry''': So wait a minute, you would rather have people [[EmbarrassingCoverup think you were in a mental institution]] than...\\

* From ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', "My Best Friend's Baby's Baby":
-->'''Jordan:''' Nice job, Perry. Your son just asked me if ''my'' vagina's ever been on television.\\
'''Perry:''' And, did you tell him not since the '80s when you were trying to make it as an "actress"?
* Apparently Wilson, from ''Series/{{House}}'', was in a porno back in college. He swears that [[HurricaneOfExcuses it wasn't a porno when they were shooting it, and he was doing it as a favor to a friend that he had]] ''no idea'' would become an ''actual director'', [[HurricaneOfExcuses and said friend added some scenes in afterward so he could release it as a porno...]] The fact that Wilson is entirely absent from all the sex scenes does lend credence to his story. House just wanted to see him squirm.
--> '''Young Wilson:''' [[Funny/{{House}} Be not afraid. The forest nymphs have taught me how to please a woman.]]
* Creator/StephenColbert was once a male prostitute, but classy. Actually, that was his street name: [[{{Pun}} Butt Classy]].
* Melanie from ''Series/QueerAsFolk'' appeared nude in a magazine to get money for college after her parents had cut her off for being gay. They apparently changed their minds after about three weeks, but by then she had already paid that year's tuition and the next.
* ''Radio/GoodnessGraciousMe'' parodied this trope in a sketch where Bollywood superstar Chunky Lafanga is exposed as having starred in "a hardcore porn film" (using the exact phrase "I was young and needed the money" to justify his actions.) We then see a clip from the film in question, the joke being that because this was Indian cinema, the scene is more like saucy ''Film/CarryOn''-style innuendo than explicit porn.
* Played lightly in ''Series/DowntonAbbey'' where Carson is blackmailed over an apparently scandalous secret from his past. It turns out that he used to be a pierside entertainer, which is amusing to the rest of the household but cringemaking for him.
* Another example, in ''Series/GreysAnatomy'', Izzie gets humiliated when Alex discovers pictures of her as a lingerie model. However, it turns out that those photoshoots paid for med school - so she comes out on top.

* [[Series/{{Castle}} Detective Kate Beckett]] worked as a teenage model once.
* Erin in ''Series/BlueBloods'' worked as a cocktail waitress at Roxy's (a famous NYC nightclub). She told her parents she worked at a roller skate rink. The part about wearing roller skates was true...
* Cam of ''Series/{{Bones}}'' was strapped for cash starting at med school and so agreed to play a role in the low-budget "The Invasion of the Mother Suckers". It's hard to tell whether the film was more embarrassing or the fact that it featured her in 70's clothing with an afro.
* Parodied on ''Series/InLivingColor'', during the "Anton at the Recruiter" sketch.
-->'''Recruiting Corporal''': I am in the business of signing up real-life soldiers, maggot!
-->'''Anton''': [[SustainedMisunderstanding Maggot? I ain't no maggot!]] Hey, I ain't never been with another man before! Who told you that? Clarence? He's lying! He's lying! I'm telling you--alright once, I was desperate, I needed the money, I was drunk and dying out! Don't hold it against me...
* ''Series/BombGirls'' has Kate who, having recently gotten a job at the factory after escaping her abusive father, needs fake documents to keep her job since she has assumed a false identity. She poses for racy pictures that are to be sold to World War II Soldiers overseas.
* The killer in the ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' episode "The Long Fuse" turns out to be the female CEO of a PR firm, who was being blackmailed by one of her employees with the secret video of them having sex many years ago, while she was in college and worked as a prostitute on the side. Franchise/SherlockHolmes admits that he sees nothing wrong with prostitution, as sex is just a commodity. However, he's fully aware that most people don't see it that way.
* In an episode of ''Series/SteptoeAndSon'', Harold finds an old ''What the Butler Saw'' machine. The nude couple in the film are Albert and his sister-in-law.
* Rebecca's sister in ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' is okay with the low-budget slasher movies she ''currently'' stars in, but there's at least ''one'' she isn't proud of.
* This is what was behind Catherine Willows being a stripper in her younger years on ''Series/{{CSI}}''. Something of a subversion, in that she's pretty open and sometimes rather proud of it.
* One episode of ''Series/{{Borgen}}'' has a hyped-up political scandal when lingerie modeling shots of a (fairly young and attractive) female minister are rediscovered by the press. She brazens it out with almost literally this response.
* PlayedForDrama in an episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'', where a female college student makes rape fantasy porn videos to pay for college; she ends up being raped for real, with video proof, but the rapist's defense attorney uses her porn career to cast doubt on her accusations, saying "the only difference between this video and the rest is you weren't being paid". [[spoiler:The judge ends up throwing out the rapist's guilty verdict based on this, which causes her to vault headlong over the DespairEventHorizon, becoming a porn star full time with the sobering remark "at least here, when I say stop, they stop".]]
* ''Series/LessThanPerfect'': In one episode, Will gives Claude a videotape with instructions to destroy it, explaining it by quoting the trope title verbatim. Curiosity gets the better of her, however, and she and Ramona watch the tape... which turns out to be a Canadian soap opera he once starred in.

* Ray from ''Webcomic/{{Achewood}}'' paid major hush money to cover up his past as... a hip-hop dancer.

* In the first Halloween episode of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', Cartman claims to his friends that the reason why his mom posed for ''Crack Whore'' magazine was because "...she was young and needed the money," but Stan points out that the photographs were taken just the previous month - granted, Cartman's mom doesn't seem to have any source of income beyond whoring herself.
* Part of a chain of excuses in ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'' when Daffy markets Bugs' design for an automatic carrot peeler.

* Death himself (as in, the Grim Reaper from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'') claims he once "did some films I'm...not especially proud of" when he was young, to explain his ability to swallow the meat off a turkey leg in one gulp.
* In ''WesternAnimation/HarveyBirdmanAttorneyAtLaw'', Apache Chief turned to adult films after he was fired by the Super Friends and needed a source of income. He isn't proud of it.

** This has happened a lot with Japanese game makers, the hentai industry there is not nearly as stigmatized as its equivalent is in the United States, though usually once a company makes it big they no longer go back to making hentai. UpToEleven with Creator/{{Nintendo}}, who ran "{{love hotels}}" during UsefulNotes/TheFifties and early [[UsefulNotes/TheSixties 60s]], before Creator/GunpeiYokoi made the Ultra Hand toy and changed the direction the company went in from then on out.

* ''ComicBook/{{Touch}}'': Allison was a cowgirl-themed showgirl before going to Law school.

* Legendarily, Creator/MarilynMonroe had some nude pictures taken of her by an acquaintance of hers in May of 1949, being told that they were for a "tasteful" art calendar. This was back at the beginning of her modeling and acting career, where she was practically still unknown, low on personal funds, and and very much living hand-to-mouth (in fact, Marilyn used the money from the shoot to narrowly prevent her car from being repossessed). By her own and others' accounts, the shoot itself was, despite the content, very much a perfectly professional and controlled experience, since she knew the photographer, and his wife was present for the whole shoot. Said pictures would be later be rediscovered and cause a scandal and happened to be featured in the first issue of Playboy. Upon the rediscovery, Marilyn was called in front of a panel of executives of Fox, the holders of her contract, and asked point-blank if the woman on the calendar was her. She replied, just as frankly, that it was indeed her in the pictures, and that she was quite embarrassed that they had resurfaced... [[BaitAndSwitchComment because the photographer]] [[DeadpanSnarker hadn't managed to capture her from her best angle]].

* Ask any former drug dealer, nine times out of ten, they will respond with this trope.

The classic stock excuse for the discovering of OldShame, usually if it's either loaded with {{Fanservice}} or is so lame or [[TastesLikeDiabetes cutesy]] that it may ruin someone who thinks what they were involved in is beneath them. Usually given for a lot of mainstream performers once their past in "glamour photography" or softcore pornography is discovered.

** This has happened a lot with Japanese game makers, the hentai industry there is not nearly as stigmatized as its equivalent is in the United States, though usually once a company makes it big they no longer go back to making hentai. UpToEleven with Creator/{{Nintendo}}, who ran "{{love hotel}}s" during UsefulNotes/TheFifties and early [[UsefulNotes/TheSixties 60s]], before Creator/GunpeiYokoi made the Ultra Hand toy and changed the direction the company went in from then on out.

** This has happened a lot with Japanese game makers, the hentai industry there is not nearly as stigmatized as its equivalent is in the United States, though usually once a company makes it big they no longer go back to making hentai. UpToEleven with Creator/{{Nintendo}}, who ran "love hotels" during UsefulNotes/TheFifties and early [[UsefulNotes/TheSixties 60s]], before Creator/GunpeiYokoi made the Ultra Hand toy and changed the direction the company went in from then on out.

-->'''Henry''': So wait a minute, you would rather have people think you were in a mental institution than...\\

* Played with in ''Series/StarkRavingMad'': an episode focused on Ian's extreme reluctance to discuss what he was doing during a particular year and a half of his life, going so far as making up a cover story about having spent it in a mental institution. After insistent prodding by Henry, he finally snaps and starts closing all his blinds, orders Henry to lock the door, warns him that what he's about to see "will disgust [him]" and produces a tape that he's "deeply ashamed" of and that he only keeps as a "reminder of how far [he] can fall". And when the tape starts playing we see that it's... [[spoiler:a cheesy musical]].
-->'''Ian''': ''[[spoiler:The Grinning Americans]]''. I was living in Florida. Flat broke. No direction. I saw an ad in the newspaper. They were holding auditions, it was fast money. You get sucked into the life, Henry. Now you know.

''[Cut to more [[spoiler:musical]] scenes]''\\

'''Henry'''...I understand.

This doesn't necessarily have to involve porn -- it's just as likely to be a cheesy-as-all-hell children's show that or low-budget sci-fi movie -- just something the performer, who might have been a StarvingArtist, saw as a humiliating but necessary stepping-stone to their current career. In these situations, they might outright state that they ''wish'' it had been some kind of pornography because that would have been a much less embarrassing and degrading experience.

* ''Series/{{Monk}}'': PlayedForDrama on an episode. Sharona posed for nude pictures when she was in her late teens because she needed money to support herself and her son Benjy. When the photos are unearthed by a suspected murderer in an attempt to blackmail her and Monk into not pursuing his case, she is forced to explain to Benjy about the photos and [[IDidWhatIHadToDo why she did what she did]]. She then says that she and Monk are planning to pursue the investigation anyway, which will result in the photos being sent to newspapers and Benjy probably [[KidsAreCruel getting made fun of at school for it]]. Benjy's response? Not to let a bad guy get away just because he might have a bad day at school.

The classic stock excuse for the discovering of OldShame, usually if it's either loaded with {{Fanservice}} or is so lame or [[TastesLikeDiabetes cutesy]] that it may ruin someone who thinks what they were involved in is beneath them. Usually given for a lot of mainstream models and actresses once their past in "glamour photography" or low-rent soft-core pornography or sexploitation is discovered.

This doesn't necessarily have to involve porn -- it's just as likely to be a cheesy-as-hell children's show or a terrible sci-fi movie -- just something the performer, who might have been a StarvingArtist, saw as a humiliating but necessary stepping-stone to their current career. In these situations, the character might outright state that they sincerely ''wish'' they had done some kind of pornography instead because they find the job to have been an even more embarrassing and degrading experience.

This doesn't necessarily have to be sexual -- it's just as likely to be a cheesy-as-hell children's show or a terrible sci-fi movie -- just something the performer, who might have been a StarvingArtist, saw as a humiliating but necessary stepping-stone to their current career. In these situations, the character might outright state that they sincerely ''wish'' they had done some kind of pornography instead because they find the job to have been an even more embarrassing and degrading experience.

* In ''Roleplay/DCNation'', Hotshot's teammates discover that he "starred" in a film called "Bi The Shore" while in college. The females on the team rent it out and have a screening, [[{{MST}} throwing every bit of snark they can in the process]].

[[folder:Film]]

** This has happened a lot with Japanese game makers, the hentai industry there is not nearly as stigmatized as its equivalent is in the United States, though usually once a company makes it big they no longer go back to making hentai.