Actor Says Theatre Fired Him from “Bright Star” Over His Adult Entertainment Past

by Chris Peterson

If Andrew Bonomolo’s account of what happened is accurate, I have a real problem with how Cape Fear Regional Theatre treated him.

Bonomolo, a North Carolina-raised musical theatre performer, says he was hired for the theatre’s upcoming production of Bright Star. He relocated back to North Carolina for the job, only to be let go the day before rehearsals began. He says the meeting happened about an hour before his first scheduled call. He shared some of this information on a video posted to Instagram.

Bonomolo says he wasn’t given an official reason for the termination, but was told informally that the theatre had discovered his previous work in adult films and on OnlyFans. He performed adult content under the name “Troye Jacobs” and had built a sizable social media following, about 400k followers on X, around that work. He told Out Magazine that he has not filmed adult content in more than a year and had also stopped using the X account.

Cape Fear Regional Theatre had not responded to its request for comment. But assuming his account is accurate, what exactly are we doing here?

Bonomolo was hired to act in a musical. Unless something about his previous adult work violated a specific term of his contract, affected his ability to do the job, or involved behavior we haven’t been told about, I don’t understand why it should suddenly make him unemployable.

And then there’s Bright Star, the show itself.

Cape Fear Regional Theatre itself describes the musical as a story about “heart, hope, and the power of second chances.” 

You really couldn't script the irony much better.

The Steve Martin and Edie Brickell musical revolves around Alice Murphy, whose life is permanently altered after becoming pregnant as a teenager. Much of what happens to her comes from other people’s obsession with reputation. Mayor Dobbs is so terrified of the scandal surrounding his son and Alice that he takes extraordinary, horrific measures to make the problem disappear.

Bonomolo noticed the parallel, too. He told Out that Bright Star is about someone being punished for being sexually active and making her own choices, while another character worries about what her truth might do to his reputation. 

That is what makes this situation particularly ironic. A theatre is preparing to tell audiences a story about sexual judgment and second chances, while one of its contracted performers says he was removed because the theatre learned something about his sexual past.

Cape Fear Regional theatre deserves the opportunity to explain its side, especially since it has not publicly confirmed Bonomolo’s stated reason for being terminated. We will update this story as needed.