Andrew Bonomolo packed his bags, left New York City, and relocated to his North Carolina hometown for a fresh stage role in the musical Bright Star. One hour before his first call time—and just one day before rehearsals were set to begin—he was abruptly fired.
He claims the Cape Fear Regional Theatre terminated his contract after informally discovering his past life as “Troye Jacobs,” an adult film actor with a massive OnlyFans following.
“I’m more disappointed that it’s 2026 and we’re still firing people based on whether or not they’ve done porn,” Bonomolo remarked in an Instagram video detailing his dismissal.
The Glaring Irony of Bright Star
The Fayetteville theater offered no official, documented reason for his sudden dismissal. But the thematic parallels between the production Bonomolo was hired for and his abrupt firing are impossible to ignore.
“There’s an irony here I can’t ignore,” Bonomolo noted about the situation. “Bright Star is about someone who is shunned and punished for being sexually active and making their own choices.”
The narrative mechanics of the musical practically mirror his real-life ordeal. “And the villain in the story shames them because he’s afraid someone else’s truth will ruin his own reputation,” Bonomolo continued.
He was cast to tell a story about sexual judgment, only to be subjected to it himself. “And here I am, let go from that very production because of my own past,” he said.
He isn’t looking to burn the theater down, but he is pointing a spotlight directly at the hypocrisy. “I’m not trying to place blame, but you can’t help but notice the show they’re producing is telling the exact story that just happened to me,” Bonomolo reasoned.
The Stage’s Purveyor of Double Standards
Live theater has long branded itself as an inclusive sanctuary for marginalized voices. Bonomolo points out that this welcoming attitude seemingly evaporates when a performer’s sexual history involves actual financial survival.
“We award people who play strippers, sex workers, and hypersexualized icons…for the bravery it takes to bring these characters to stage,” he observed.
Playing a sex worker earns an actor standing ovations and critical acclaim. Living as one, however, is a fast track to unemployment.
“But the second they find out that actors actually have a history in adult entertainment or sex work, suddenly you’re a liability,” Bonomolo stated. “Suddenly you’re unprofessional.”
The cultural dissonance is staggering when you examine events like Broadway Bares, an annual charity burlesque show raising money for HIV/AIDS. “Every year, literally hundreds of actors strip down to their G-strings for charity, and it’s hailed as artistic and liberating,” Bonomolo noted.
This contradiction reveals how the performing arts industry actually processes sexuality. “So let me get this straight,” Bonomolo challenged. “Turning your body into art for a fundraiser makes you a hero, but doing it to pay your rent and make a living makes you unemployable?”
Consuming the Art, Punishing the Artist
The core conflict isn’t about the morality of adult entertainment; it is about how we categorize acceptable nudity. “The truth is we love the art of sex work when we can consume it safely,” Bonomolo explained.
Once the performance crosses the line from simulated fantasy to real-world commerce, the industry’s tolerance vanishes. “But we punish actual human beings that survive in that industry,” he added.
Bonomolo hasn’t filmed adult content in over a year, shifting his focus entirely back to stage acting. During his time as Troye Jacobs, he built an audience of around 400,000 followers on X, mastering the mechanics of digital self-promotion.
Yet his past still dictates his professional future because of a lingering stigma. “It is my firm belief that sex work is work and there should be no world in which that allows jobs to terminate you based on their prejudice,” he declared.
A Refusal to Be Silenced
Bonomolo alleges that Cape Fear Regional Theatre explicitly attempted to keep the real reason for his termination quiet. “I can tell you right now, that is not going to happen,” he stated firmly.
Instead of hiding, he is leveraging his platform to hold the supposedly progressive theater community accountable. “If the theater community is truly as accepting as it claims to be, I ask those in it to step forward,” he said.
He wants this incident to force a long-overdue reckoning regarding how artists are vetted and valued. He implored his peers to “lift up sex workers, and stop this unjust behavior.”
Until then, the people upholding these contradictory rules “should be ashamed of the double standard they’re hiding behind.”
