Denise Richards says OnlyFans is no different from Playboy, Maxim photoshoots: 'I don't know why people make such a big deal out of it'

Denise Richards returns to “Bravo, Bravo, f***ing Bravo” Tuesday night, more than four years after she exited The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Her new docuseries, Denise Richards & Her Wild Things, gives the world a glimpse into her “wild, crazy family” beyond the headlines, and yes, she tackles everything from joining OnlyFans with daughter Sami to co-parenting with Charlie Sheen.

“The girls were really excited about doing [the show]. Lola was a little bit more hesitant [at first], but Sami was very excited.” Richards told Yahoo Entertainment. “They’ve always lived in the shadow of their parents and have been known as ‘the daughters of,’ and it was a great opportunity for them to have their own voice and have people get to know them for who they are.”

Richards shares daughters Sami, who turns 21 on March 9, and Lola, 19, with Sheen. She and husband Aaron Phypers are parents to 13-year-old adopted daughter Eloise.

Some people may be familiar with Sami, who made headlines in 2022 when she joined OnlyFans after turning 18. Richards joined her on the online platform to be supportive, but Sami didn’t take it that way and was “pissed” at first.

“After I joined, she was getting upset, and I asked her why, and I thought she would’ve been like, ‘Thank you, mom, for being so supportive.’ But I guess it sounds weird,” Richards laughed. “She was saying I took away her subscribers, and I was like, ‘I think we’re in two different age groups. So you don't have anything to worry about.’”

Richards, a former Bond girl, doesn’t get what the fuss is all about. The actress, 54, sees OnlyFans as a new evolution of the Playboy, Maxim bombshell era of the ’90s that she was very much a part of early in her career. It’s lucrative, so what’s the big deal?

“That’s how I feel! I don’t know why people make such a big deal out of it. I control what’s on there,” she said. “No one else is doing it.”

Richards said her husband is “definitely very supportive of” her business venture.

“He trusts me. He knows I’m not gonna put something on there that is inappropriate. I run stuff by him and ask him, ‘What do you think about this? Do you like this?’” she said. “And he knows his wife by now.”

This isn’t Richards’s first docuseries about her life. In 2008, she did Denise Richards: It’s Complicated, which was filmed after her messy split from Sheen. She filed for divorce in March 2005, and the two had a years-long, very public battle. Navigating the breakup while raising Sami and Lola at the height of tabloid culture “was really difficult,” she told Yahoo.

“There are times when I really think about everything I went through, and a lot of it happened, actually, after we were separated and divorced. All the craziness. It was hard,” she recalled.

Richards said she tried to “be in a bubble and not read anything.”

“I didn’t wanna hear about anything unless I had to comment on it. Going through my divorce at first, it was so hard because people misunderstood what my intentions were. And to have it also affect my career — to have different lies out there and have people believe certain things. It’s a really hard thing. I was trying to protect my kids and raise them,” she said.

“Back then, people thought I was trying to take down a huge TV star,” she explained, referring to Sheen, who was on Two and a Half Men at the time and was TV’s highest-paid actor for years. “It was definitely hard for me to deal with.”

Richards said her career took a hit because of their divorce.

“My mom always said, ‘This too shall pass.’ And she was right,” the Wild Things star said. “It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure.”

Now, Richards and Sheen have a productive co-parenting dynamic. She’s even friendly with Sheen’s ex-wife, Brooke Mueller. Sheen and Mueller, who were married from 2008 to 2011, both make cameos on the show.

“Brooke and I, we definitely had our differences over the years and it’s been an up-and-down relationship,” she said. “When you have a blended family, I want there to be peace and have it be healthy and positive for the kids. The kids don’t ask to be born into parents that split up and then are so public with everything. It can’t be easy for them either. So when things are in a good, healthy spot, I think the kids benefit from that so much.”

Richards said she’ll “always be there for her and for her boys.” Sheen and Mueller share twin sons Bob and Max, who turn 16 later this month.

“At the end of the day, we’re still a family and she’s the mom to the girls’ brothers. So I try to keep it peaceful with all of us. The same with Charlie — it’s been up and down over the years, but we will forever be Sami and Lola’s parents, so we have to try to keep that connection,” she continued. “I want to, because it’s not healthy when there’s any discord. It’s not fair to kids, no matter how old our daughters get.”

Denise Richards & Her Wild Things premieres with two back-to-back half-hour episodes on March 4 at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.