A Netflix actress and model is making waves (and tons of cash) with her “risqué” photos intended to benefit victims of California’s wildfires.
Milana Vayntrub, an Uzbekistan-born performer best known for her role on Netflix’s Monsters and for playing cell-phone owner Lily in a string of AT&T ads, announced Tuesday on Instagram that she’s amassed a staggering $500,000 and counting through OnlyPhilanthropy, her charity-minded play on OnlyFans. After just a few months, the 38-year-old performer called the surprising venture “the best thing I’ve ever been part of.”
“I had this full-on crazy idea for an experiment,” Vanytrub wrote. “After the L.A. fires this year, I saw that what people really needed was some cash. So I wondered if you and me [sic] could try something ridiculous and team up to help the people affected,” she added of the company, the tagline of which is, “Using the male gaze to fight the blaze.”
She’s Known for Netflix’s Monsters and Project Hail Mary
In addition to her AT&T spots, Vanytrub has appeared in the movies Bad Shabbos (2024); Werewolves Within (2021); and Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters (2016), playing “Subway Rat Woman.” She’s also had guest roles on ER, Silicon Valley, Die Hart, This Is Us, Robot Chicken, and as Pam Bozanich in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. In the upcoming Ryan Gosling space drama Project Hail Mary, she plays Olesya Ilyukhina.
Vanytrub began her venture back in January, when she offered “exclusive pictures” to her fans if they made a donation to a GoFundMe established by Bridget Bradley, a single mother who lost her home in the Eaton wildfire. Vanytrub raised $170,000 in just four days, enough for Bradley to pay for a new car, a year of housing, and medical expenses for her five-year-old son, who suffers from Cerebral Palsy. Vanytrub followed that up with another campaign over the summer, which amassed $350,000.
Trading ‘Exclusive Content for Real-World Impact’
“Only Philanthropy trades exclusive content for real-world impact,” according to the company’s website. “We raise money for urgent causes quickly, by offering our generous supporters something a little flirty, a little silly, and with a whole lot of heart.”
But Vanytrub, who shares a son with her husband, has ruled out any chance of nudity, settling instead for photos which are “flirty and tastefully risqué.” After the success of this year’s campaigns, Vanytrub is now considering fundraisers to support other issues, such as justice reform, homelessness, LGBTQ+ rights, and global warming. “We’ve raised over half a million dollars together this year. Now let’s grow this into something bigger, stranger, more powerful, with more creators jumping in,” she said.
