diff --git a/src/background/background.js b/src/background/background.js
index 4789a18..7f374cc 100644
--- a/src/background/background.js
+++ b/src/background/background.js
@@ -176,6 +176,37 @@ chrome.runtime.onMessage.addListener((message, _sender, sendResponse) => {
       return true;
     }
 
+    case 'GOON_PROXY_FETCH': {
+      // Proxy a fetch request through the service worker (bypasses CORS).
+      // Returns base64-encoded response data. Used by the viewer when
+      // extension-origin requests to video CDNs are blocked by CORS.
+      (async () => {
+        const url = message.url;
+        try {
+          const resp = await fetch(url);
+          if (!resp.ok) {
+            sendResponse({ ok: false, status: resp.status });
+            return;
+          }
+          const buffer = await resp.arrayBuffer();
+          const bytes = new Uint8Array(buffer);
+          // Convert to base64 (btoa can only handle strings up to ~65k chars)
+          let binary = '';
+          const CHUNK_SIZE = 32768;
+          for (let i = 0; i < bytes.length; i += CHUNK_SIZE) {
+            const chunk = bytes.subarray(i, i + CHUNK_SIZE);
+            binary += String.fromCharCode.apply(null, Array.from(chunk));
+          }
+          const base64 = btoa(binary);
+          sendResponse({ ok: true, data: base64, mimeType: resp.headers.get('content-type') || '' });
+        } catch(e) {
+          console.warn('[goon-bg] proxyFetch failed:', e && e.message ? e.message : e);
+          sendResponse({ ok: false, error: e && e.message ? e.message : String(e) });
+        }
+      })();
+      return true;
+    }
+
     default:
       console.warn('[goon-plugin] Unknown message type:', message.type);
   }
diff --git a/src/viewer/viewer.js b/src/viewer/viewer.js
index 6d46a00..c4b9be7 100644
--- a/src/viewer/viewer.js
+++ b/src/viewer/viewer.js
@@ -52,6 +52,134 @@ const gridN = parseInt(params.get('grid'), 10) || 2;
 const tags = params.get('tags') ? JSON.parse(params.get('tags')) : [];
 const panelsEl = document.getElementById('panels');
 
+/** Track all Hls instances so we can destroy them on unload. */
+
+/**
+ * Custom HLS loader that proxies phncdn.com URLs through the service worker
+ * (bypassing CORS) and fetches everything else natively.
+ * Implements hls.js Loader interface: load(config), abort().
+ */
+function HlsLoader(config) {
+  this._config = config;
+  this._xhr = null;
+}
+
+HlsLoader.prototype.abort = function () {
+  if (this._xhr) { this._xhr.abort(); this._xhr = null; }
+};
+
+HlsLoader.prototype.load = function (config) {
+  this.abort();
+  this._loaderContext = config.type + ': ' + (config.url || '').substring(0, 100);
+  this._onSuccess = config.onSuccess;
+  this._onError = config.onError;
+  this._onTimeout = config.onTimeout;
+  this._timeout = config.timeout || 10000;
+
+  const url = config.url;
+  const needProxy = url.includes('phncdn') || url.includes('pornhubcdn');
+
+  if (needProxy) {
+    // Use service worker proxy to bypass CORS
+    console.log('[goon-viewer] Proxying via SW:', url.substring(0, 120));
+    chrome.runtime.sendMessage({ type: 'GOON_PROXY_FETCH', url }, (resp) => {
+      if (chrome.runtime.lastError || !resp || !resp.ok) {
+        const err = new Error('Proxy fetch failed: ' + (chrome.runtime.lastError?.message || resp?.error || 'unknown'));
+        console.error('[goon-viewer] Proxy error:', err.message);
+        this._onError(config, { url, context: this._loaderContext, body: null, stats: { trequest: Date.now(), tfirst: 0, tload: Date.now(), loadingPeriod: 0 }, error: err });
+        return;
+      }
+      // Decode base64 → ArrayBuffer
+      let binary = '';
+      const data = resp.data || '';
+      const CHUNK = 32768;
+      for (let i = 0; i < data.length; i += CHUNK) {
+        binary += String.fromCharCode.apply(null, Array.from(data.subarray?.(i, i + CHUNK) || new Uint8Array().subarray(0, Math.min(CHUNK, data.length - i))));
+      }
+      // Simpler approach: use atob on the full string
+      try {
+        binary = atob(data);
+      } catch {}
+      const bytes = new Uint8Array(binary.length);
+      for (let i = 0; i < binary.length; i++) bytes[i] = binary.charCodeAt(i);
+
+      this._onSuccess(config, { response: { headers: {}, body: bytes.buffer }, trequest: Date.now(), tfirst: Date.now(), tload: Date.now(), loadingPeriod: Date.now() - config.trequest });
+    });
+  } else {
+    // Native XHR for non-proxy URLs
+    const xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
+    this._xhr = xhr;
+    xhr.open('GET', url, true);
+    xhr.withCredentials = false;
+    xhr.onload = () => {
+      if (xhr.status >= 200 && xhr.status < 300) {
+        this._onSuccess(config, { response: { headers: xhr.getAllResponseHeaders(), body: xhr.response }, trequest: config.trequest, tfirst: Date.now(), tload: Date.now(), loadingPeriod: Date.now() - config.trequest });
+      } else {
+        this._onError(config, { url, context: this._loaderContext, body: null, stats: { trequest: config.trequest, tfirst: 0, tload: Date.now(), loadingPeriod: 0 }, error: new Error('HTTP ' + xhr.status) });
+      }
+    };
+    xhr.onerror = () => {
+      this._onError(config, { url, context: this._loaderContext, body: null, stats: { trequest: config.trequest, tfirst: 0, tload: Date.now(), loadingPeriod: 0 }, error: new Error('XHR network error') });
+    };
+    xhr.ontimeout = () => {
+      this._onTimeout(config, { url, context: this._loaderContext, stats: { trequest: config.trequest, tfirst: 0, tload: Date.now(), loadingPeriod: 0 } });
+    };
+    xhr.timeout = this._timeout;
+    xhr.responseType = needProxy ? 'arraybuffer' : 'arraybuffer';
+    xhr.send();
+  }
+};
+
+HlsLoader.prototype.destroy = function () { this.abort(); };
+HlsLoader.canSupportLoader = function () { return true; };
+
+// === CORS diagnostics — check if phncdn.com allows extension-origin requests ===
+(async function checkCors() {
+  try {
+    const resp = await fetch('https://phncdn.com/images/favicon.ico', { method: 'HEAD', mode: 'cors' });
+    console.log('[goon-viewer] CORS check phncdn.com:', resp.ok ? 'ALLOWED (status ' + resp.status + ')' : 'BLOCKED');
+  } catch(e) {
+    console.warn('[goon-viewer] CORS check phncdn.com: BLOCKED —', e && e.message ? e.message : e);
+  }
+})();
+
+// === HLS segment proxy helper ===
+// Proxies a video URL through the service worker (no CORS restrictions).
+// Returns an ArrayBuffer of the response content.
+async function proxyFetch(url) {
+  try {
+    const resp = await chrome.runtime.sendMessage({ type: 'GOON_PROXY_FETCH', url });
+    if (resp && resp.data && resp.ok) {
+      // Decode base64 → ArrayBuffer
+      const binary = atob(resp.data);
+      const bytes = new Uint8Array(binary.length);
+      for (let i = 0; i < binary.length; i++) {
+        bytes[i] = binary.charCodeAt(i);
+      }
+      return bytes.buffer;
+    }
+    return null;
+  } catch(e) {
+    console.warn('[goon-viewer] proxyFetch failed for:', url.substring(0, 120), e && e.message ? e.message : e);
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+
+// === Check if any manifest URLs require proxying (phncdn.com / cdn) ===
+function urlsNeedProxy(urls) {
+  return urls.some(u => u && typeof u === 'string' && (u.includes('phncdn') || u.includes('pornhubcdn')));
+}
+
+/** Check whether fetching a URL from the extension page works (CORS test). */
+async function corsCheck(url) {
+  try {
+    const resp = await fetch(url, { method: 'HEAD', mode: 'cors' });
+    return resp.ok;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
 /** Track all Hls instances so we can destroy them on unload. */
 const hlsInstances = new Map();
 
@@ -682,9 +810,23 @@ function playHls(video, manifestUrl, panel) {
     return;
   }
 
+  // Check whether this manifest URL needs proxying (phncdn.com without CORS headers
+  // blocks extension-origin requests from the viewer page).
+  const needProxy = manifestUrl.includes('phncdn') || manifestUrl.includes('pornhubcdn');
+  if (needProxy) {
+    console.log('[goon-viewer] Manifest needs proxying via service worker');
+  }
+
   destroyHls(video);
 
-  const hls = new window.Hls(HLS_CONFIG);
+  const config = Object.assign({}, HLS_CONFIG);
+
+  if (needProxy) {
+    // Custom fetch loader that uses the service worker proxy for phncdn URLs.
+    config.loader = window.Hls.DefaultConfig.loader || HlsLoader;
+  }
+
+  const hls = new window.Hls(config);
   hlsInstances.set(video, hls);
 
   hls.on(window.Hls.Events.MANIFEST_PARSED, () => {
@@ -810,6 +952,36 @@ async function init() {
   overlay.style.cssText = 'position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;background:rgba(0,0,0,0.85);color:#fff;padding:8px 16px;font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;z-index:999;';
   document.body.style.position = 'relative';
   document.body.insertBefore(overlay, document.body.firstChild);
+
+  // === DIAGNOSTIC: Check storage + CORS ===
+  console.log('[goon-viewer] Viewer ID:', id, 'Grid:', gridN + 'x' + gridN);
+  console.log('[goon-viewer] Raw stored data:', JSON.stringify(videoUrls));
+
+  if (videoUrls.length > 0) {
+    for (const entry of videoUrls) {
+      const src = (entry.src || '').substring(0, 120);
+      console.log('[goon-viewer] Entry:', {
+        src: src,
+        mediaType: entry.mediaType,
+        hlsManifest: (entry.hlsManifest || '').substring(0, 120),
+        poster: (entry.poster || '').substring(0, 80),
+      });
+    }
+
+    // Test CORS on all video URLs
+    const urlsToTest = videoUrls.map(v => v.src || v.hlsManifest || 'none').filter(u => u !== 'none' && typeof u === 'string');
+    for (const url of [...new Set(urlsToTest)]) {
+      const corsOk = await corsCheck(url);
+      console.log('[goon-viewer] CORS', corsOk ? 'OK' : 'BLOCKED:', url.substring(0, 120));
+    }
+
+    // Check if any URLs point to phncdn.com (proxy will be needed if CORS blocked)
+    const needsProxy = urlsToTest.some(u => u.includes('phncdn') || u.includes('pornhubcdn'));
+    console.log('[goon-viewer] Proxy required:', needsProxy);
+  } else {
+    console.warn('[goon-viewer] No video entries in storage for ID:', id, '— data may have been cleared or never saved');
+  }
+
   overlay.textContent = `Found ${videoUrls.length} video URL(s) in ${gridN}x${gridN} grid`;
   statusElRef = overlay;