What is Eli Roth’s net worth? Director reveals funding early films by catfishing as call girl

By 2024, Eli Roth’s career reflected both the rewards and risks of Hollywood filmmaking. His net worth had been placed at $20 million by Celebrity Net Worth, a figure shaped largely by his reputation as the director of horror hits like Cabin Fever and Hostel. In 2023, Eli Roth scored a career high point with Thanksgiving, which critics embraced as one of his best works. The slasher-themed movie earned a Certified Fresh rating and an 84% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The following year told a different story. Roth’s Borderlands, despite its cast of Kevin Hart, Cate Blanchett, Jack Black, and Jamie Lee Curtis, failed to win over audiences. It floundered at the box office and could muster only a 10% Rotten Tomatoes rating after debuting with 0%. Looking back at his journey, Roth disclosed that in his early years, he used a rather unconventional tactic to finance his projects, posing online as a call girl to generate funds.

Eli Roth admitted he funded early films by posing as an online call girl

Recently, Eli Roth admitted that his earliest films were financed in an unconventional way. During an appearance on Rob Lowe’s Literally! With Rob Lowe podcast, Eli Roth confirmed that he had worked as an online operator for Penthouse while in college, posing as a woman to chat with men. Lowe stated,

“This can’t be true, dude. Get this: To fund his films in college, Roth worked as an online cybersex operator for Penthouse, posing as a woman.”

To which Eli Roth replied,

“I did. Now you would call that catfishing.”

He then explained how in 1992, a friend introduced him to a computer modem and revealed that Penthouse was paying $12 an hour for people to create female personas online.

“You just have to make up a character. Pretend you’re a girl and these people want you to type dirty messages to them,” Roth explained.

According to Roth, customers at the time were often wealthy professionals with terminal access to the early internet, spending up to a dollar a minute for chats.

“So these guys were spending, like, hundreds of dollars a night,” he shared.

The Hostel director remembered typing at lightning speed while surrounded by college friends offering suggestions. When his parents later asked about his fast typing skills, Roth told them it was from writing screenplays. He even developed elaborate alter egos, including Moira, a French bisexual who clashed with topless laws in Central Park; Tammy, a heavy metal fan linked to Guns N’ Roses and Poison; and Allison, a divorced writer whose conversations often turned unexpectedly wholesome.

Eli Roth shared his final penthouse chatroom moment:

While working for Penthouse, Roth often encountered repeat clients who came back to speak with his invented characters. As the experience drew to a close, he and his friends chose to tell the truth.

“The last night we went on and we’re like, ‘We’re gonna tell them. We’re telling them we’re guys,’ and we did it,” Roth shared.

He added what happened when they tried to come clean, saying,

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“I remember us sitting there like Dr. Strangelove, hitting the button. Like, we typed out the full confession and we were like, wrestling … and we hit send and we told them, ‘We are guys, Penthouse only hires guys,’ and the guy goes, ‘Ha, you’re so funny, Tammy, shut up. Tell me what you’re wearing.’ We’re like, ‘No, I’m serious dude. We’re actually guys.’ It’s like, ‘Tammy, you are the best.’ … They wouldn’t believe it.”

The strange side job marked only the beginning of Roth’s journey. He later emerged as a successful director, known for horror films that earned both box office attention and cult followings.

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