Barbie, who portrayed Katherine “Kat” Hernandez in Seasons 1–2 of Sam Levinson’s HBO teen drama Euphoria, made headlines when it was revealed that her character wasn’t returning for the third and most likely final season.
Barbie’s appearances in Season 2 were less than her character’s primary role in Season 1, which sparked rumors that she clashed on set with the series creator.
In a 2022 interview with Insider, Barbie weighed in on the speculation, saying, “What’s interesting about this season is there are so many more eyes on it that even the news cycle has been so interesting to see. I’ve seen so many different things and a lot of it is untrue and some of it’s kind of like mundane little things.”
On a March 19 episode of The Viall Files, Barbie addressed the rumors further now that Season 3 of Euphoria has begun. “I never walked off set,” she said. “There was never anything like that. That was like a whole thing. I absolutely never did that. You could ask the hundreds of people that were there every day.”
Barbie explained that after realizing Kat’s direction, her departure from the HBO series was the best option as plans for Season 3 began.
“It wasn’t just my choice,” Barbie said. “I think after having a lot of conversation and after Season 2, there was just nowhere to go. Instead of me lingering around for nine months, it was best for both of us that we just kind of ended it there.”
Season 3 is expected to focus on the main cast, including Zendaya as Rue Bennett, Hunter Schafer as Jules Vaughn, Maude Apatow as Lexi Howard, Alexa Demie as Maddy Perez, Sydney Sweeney as Cassie Howard, and Jacob Elordi as Nate Jacobs.
Although Kat won’t be a part of the third season, Barbie acknowledged the impact of portraying the high school student.
“Kat means the world to me,” Barbie shared. “I spent so many years pouring everything into her, but you don’t wanna ruin a good thing. It was a mutual decision. It was absolutely not just me.”
“With acting, things happen all the time and you just have to have thick skin and just make the right decisions for you and your career,” she said. “It was hard. I was really young and it was tough, obviously. There was a lot of discourse about it that wasn’t true.”
If you remember, it’s been three years since the Season 2 finale. The sophomore season earned three Emmy nominations, including Zendaya’s second win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
But since that 2022 finale, behind-the-scenes drama and unforeseen events led folks to believe that a Season 3 might not actually happen with or without Barbie.
Reports accused the show’s creator of a “toxic” environment. Minka Kelly criticized the writing of the show and excessive onscreen nudity.
Actors Storm Reid and Nika King, who played Rue’s sister and mother, will not reprise their roles in the third season.
Angus Cloud, who starred as Fez, tragically died of an accidental overdose at 25 in July 2023.
The series producer Kevin Turen died from multiple heart issues in November 2023.
Finally, an article about a falling out between Sam and Zendaya was released, citing her conflicts with her roles in Dune: Part Two and Challengers, the SAG-AFTRA, and WGA strikes as possible reasons.
In the summer of 2024, HBO confirmed that Euphoria was returning and made it official with a single image of Zendaya as Rue in the upcoming season.
Without Barbie and so many people from Seasons 1–2, it will definitely be a different show, but I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next in the streets of East Highland.