HBO’s Euphoria has captured audiences’ attention with its unflinching portrayal of teenage life and addiction. At the show’s heart features Zendaya, who earned critical acclaim and an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Rue Bennett. Created by Sam Levinson, the show explores themes of trauma, love, and identity which has successfully premiered two seasons.
As it prepares for its third season, the buzz surrounding the show has only intensified. However, among the excitement, recent reports hint at some behind-the-scenes drama involving its leading star and creator.
Reported Fallout Between Zendaya & Sam Levinson Ahead of Euphoria Season 3
Since the first two seasons have already created immense buzz among audiences, fans have been eagerly anticipating the third season, especially since its early announcement noted that it would begin production in early 2025.
But things have been far from good, with a recent report by The Hollywood Reporter hinting at a possible tension between show creator Sam Levinson and lead actress, Zendaya.
The report reflected on the duo’s bonding which is seemingly falling apart. Initially, the Spider-Man: No Way Home actress used to be quite close with the creator, even spending time at his house, but has reportedly distanced herself from him. This change reportedly led to resentment from Levinson towards Zendaya.
After Euphoria Season 2 concluded in February 2022, HBO allowed the main cast members to take on other projects during the wait for the new season. Even the creator’s focus shifted to another HBO project, The Idol, which too garnered infamous attention, due to its themes.
Sources told THR that the creator-star duo was “thick as thieves” initially but his decision to focus on The Weeknd series seemingly affected their friendship.
Sources added that the Dune actress was infuriated over the fact that the writer-creator was taking his attention off of Euphoria and putting in on The Idol in the first place.
Despite having no involvement with the critically panned show, she was swept up in the fans’ backlash. As the actress keeps an eye on social media to understand how fans perceive her projects, Lily-Rose Depp’s show’s negative image threatened her “pristine” image as an executive told the outlet.
Fans Reacted to the Behind-the-Scenes Drama Ahead of Euphoria Season 3
All these factors have reportedly strained her relationship with Levinson. Reports added that the creator is yet to submit the Season 3 scripts which have been a work in progress since the last season’s conclusion.
Although the studio tried to mend their broken bonds in another meeting which aimed to discuss creative issues, it went to no avail. A source told the outlet, “They went from being so close, and they couldn’t fix it.”
This alleged behind-the-scenes drama is getting loads of attention online, with fans taking it to X to express their thoughts on the same. While some are expressing their frustration over the season 3’s delay, others are just taking a back seat to react to the BTS drama, which seems much more entertaining than the series itself.
Check out the tweets here.
What’s more to the story is Levinson’s perspective as a source alleged that the actress was delaying her commitments to Euphoria due to her expanding film career, thus straining her relationship with the creator.
This career includes major projects like the Spider-Man and Dune franchises, as well as Luca Guadagnino’s film Challengers. One source alleged,
It was all about her. Everybody wanted to make it about Sam, but it was her.
This perspective completely painted the actress in a less favorable light, alleging that she prioritized her movie roles over the TV series. This led the fans to support the actress.
Whereas, others are keeping an optimistic approach that the duo will resolve their reported issues and return with the third season. Since the show has always thrived to tackle setbacks and controversies and brought fresh content to audiences, this too, might settle away.
Nonetheless, it is a certain fact that Levinson’s vision and her powerful performance have contributed to the success of the acclaimed show, which will be crucial for the upcoming season as well.
Euphoria is available on Max.
