History Main / IWasYoungAndNeededTheMoney

* 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 violet-quill's ''Literature/HarryPotter'' fic, ''Wolf Masterson in The Naughty Professor IV: Prefect's Revenge'', Remus Lupin once made films. Naughty, naughty films.

* Cam of ''Series/{{Bones}}'' was strapped for cash starting at med school and so agreed to play a role in the low-budget ''[[BMovie 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.

* ''Series/{{Castle|2009}}'': Detective Kate Beckett worked as a teenage model once. Her shoot is more cheesy than sexy: she's shown modeling tennis clothes while jumping into the air

* 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.
* 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 an end-of-the-pier entertainer, which is amusing to the rest of the household but cringemaking for him.
* 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.

* 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/HermansHead''. [[SayingTooMuch Heddy responds with this]] when asked about her prior magazine experience.
* 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.]]
* In ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', Robin uses this line to define her past career. Of course, Barney slap-bets Marshall that it was porn. This results in Robin revealing the whole truth, saying "Porn? I wish. It would be less embarrassing." Turns out she was a teenage pseudo-'80s Canadian pop star.
* 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...
* 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".]]

** In "Mr. Monk Meets Dale the Whale," Sharona goes undercover as a new night nurse for the titular villain, a DiabolicalMastermind who's made a fortune as an InformationBroker and blackmailer. At one point, he taunts Sharona by remarking "I know how you paid the rent back in Florida"--and given that he was just talking about his extensive pornography collection, it's clear what he means by the comment.
** In another episode, Sharona's nude photos are unearthed by a suspected murderer in an attempt to blackmail her and Monk into not pursuing his case. Sharona decides to confront the issue head-on by telling Benjy about the pictures 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.

* From ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', "My Best Friend's Baby's Baby":

'''Perry:''' And, did you tell him not since the '80s when you were trying to make it as an "actress"?

-->'''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...\\

* Unsurprisingly, Karen on ''Series/WillAndGrace'' once starred in an adult film called ''Next to Godliness'' in which she plays a neat-freak dominatrix. Grace eventually tracks down every copy and gives all but one (which Grace keeps to show to Will) to Karen to destroy.

--> I was young and I needed the money\\

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':
** ''VideoGame/Fallout2'': The player character can act in porn at one point, and excuse it with needing money.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''Webcomic/UserFriendly'', this was Greg's justification for once having worked for Creator/{{Microsoft}}.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Gloria in ''Blog/OffThePageAndIntoLife'' gives this excuse for having done nude photos for a magazine in college. Her best friend, Emily, gently teases her about it, but otherwise doesn't seem to care. (College is expensive, after all.) But considering how conservative Pageson is, you can't blame Gloria for wanting to keep it under wraps.
[[/folder]]

* 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.

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', [[TheAhnold Rainier Wolfcastle]] is getting rid of old stuff in his home, and Homer spots the old porn movies he did years ago. He notices that there's only gay porn, and when Homer asks if there's any hetero stuff, Wolfcastle simply replies, [[ItCantBeHelped "What's there is there."]]
* 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.

* Creator/AnnaMayWong in her early career had to do a lot of roles playing either a DragonLady or else providing exotic {{Fanservice}} - due to Hollywood being reluctant to cast an Asian woman as the lead. By the time ''Daughter of the Dragon'' came along, she refused to play them anymore and took her career to Europe and Australia to play more varied roles.

* ''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.

* Creator/LeonardNimoy once gave this answer word for word when asked about ''Zombies of the Stratosphere''.

The classic stock excuse for the discovering of OldShame, usually if it's either loaded with {{Fanservice}} or is so lame 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.

Compare MoneyDearBoy, which is when the performer's ''current'' choice of work is so bad that he or she is only in on it to get money from it. Compare BleachedUnderpants, where a non-acting creator achieves success with more respectable works after starting out with erotica/porn/hentai, or a work that started out as erotic in nature achieves wider success in bowdlerized form.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': Detective Kate Beckett worked as a teenage model once. Her shoot is more cheesy than sexy: she's shown modeling tennis clothes while jumping into the air

* Subverted by Wrestling/EvaMarier when her racy pictures were uncovered on ''Series/TotalDivas''. She had been battling alcoholism and depression at the time.

* It's an urban legend that Creator/JoanCrawford did a "stag film" early in her career before she became a star. She always denied it, however. [[note]] She did admit to a "frenemy' of hers (you can guess who!) that she appeared in a short that was "perilously close to what they described. Luckily I played the decieved prude, so nothing happened there!" [[/note]]

* It's an urban legend that Creator/JoanCrawford did a "stag film" early in her career before she became a star. She always denied it, however.
* Subverted by Wrestling/EvaMarie when her racy pictures were uncovered on ''Series/TotalDivas''. She had been battling alcoholism and depression at the time.

* This becomes a scandal for Creator/JuliaRoberts' character in ''Film/NottingHill''.

* 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.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': Detective Kate Beckett worked as a teenage model once.

* 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".]]

* Melanie from ''Series/QueerAsFolkUS'' 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.

* In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', your companion [[Creator/FeliciaDay Veronica]] will say this when you talk to her sometimes. Used as a joke, because she always cuts off whatever you were going to ask.
** This, in turn, was a nod to a line from ''VideoGame/Fallout2'', in regards to the player's choice of becoming a porn star.

* In ''Fanfic/PictopiaII'', as in the Creator/AlanMoore comic it's based on, [[Comicstrip/{{Blondie}} 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.

* ''Literature/TheCemeteriesofAmalo'': The second book features a murder suspect who posed for a pornographer when she was "desperate and destitute" after her father died and is willing to do anything to keep her potential employers from knowing this.

* Back before [[Creator/SquareEnix Enix merged with Square]], among the projects it had under its belt were at least two really old H-games.
** 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. Creator/{{Nintendo}} 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.

* 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.

* Creator/ChanningTatum says this is why he ended up doing ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra''. He signed a lucrative studio contract after ''Film/CoachCarter'', thinking it'd help his career, but didn't realize until later that this meant he'd be unable to pass on certain stinkers.

* In ''Webcomic/UserFriendly'', this was Greg's justification for once having worked for [[AcceptableTargets Microsoft]].

* 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.

* In ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', Robin uses this line to define her past career. Of course, Barney slap-bets Marshall that it's porn. This results in Robin revealing the whole truth, saying "Porn? I wish. It would be less embarrassing." Turns out she was a teenage pseudo-'80s Canadian pop star.

* ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'': Yamcha once sang a song in an old cat food commercial, which his friends eventually discover. When they inquire him on this, he responds, "I was desperate and needed the money. And no, it was not worth it."

* In ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', Robin uses this to explain her past career. Of course, Barney slap bets Marshall that it's porn, resulting in Robin revealing the whole truth by saying "Porn? I wish. It would be less embarrassing." Turns out she was a teenage pseudo-'80s Canadian pop star.

* ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'': Yamcha once sang a song in an old cat food commercial, which his friends eventually discover. When they inquire him on this, he responds, "I was desperate and needed the money. And no, it was not worth it."

* 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.

* 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.

* In ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' Robin uses this to explain her past career. Of course, Barney slap bets Marshall that it's porn, resulting in Robin revealing the whole truth by saying "Porn? I wish. It would be less embarrassing." Turns out she was a teenage pseudo-'80s Canadian pop star.

* 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.

* Yamcha's excuse for his "Cat loves food" song in ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged''. "And no, it was not worth it."