Sydney Sweeney responds to “Euphoria” ‘cast drama’ rumors after heavily maligned final season

Key Points

• Sydney Sweeney has opened up about Euphoria‘s final season.

• The actress responded to a question about “cast drama” heading into season 3.

• She also reacted to narratives about herself that she doesn’t like, which she called “clickbait.”

After a heavily maligned final season of Euphoria, series star Sydney Sweeney has responded to a question about “cast drama” and rumored scheduling issues that have long buzzed through the show’s fandom.

“Well, I mean, we all grew up together on this show,” the 28-year-old said in a new interview with Vanity Fair, summarizing her relationship with the cast — including Zendaya, Alexa Demie, Jacob Elordi, Hunter Schafer, and more — across three seasons of the HBO drama.

She continued, in response to a question about speculative “cast drama” that has followed the ensemble since the Sam Levinson-created project first launched in 2019.

“It’s honestly crazy to watch how much social media and the press spin things,” she said, reacting to speculation that the cast’s schedules led to a four-year gap between seasons 2 and 3. “I was in first position to HBO. So the moment they say, ‘Hey, this is the first day of filming,’ I’m legally not allowed to do anything else. So my schedule doesn’t affect the show. And so that was funny to watch everybody spin narratives on it. All of us were in first position, so it wasn’t like any of our schedules were holding it up.”

In the entertainment industry, “first position” means that, contractually, talent is obligated to prioritize that project before anything else. Per Sweeney, this was the case for the full cast.

Later in the conversation, Sweeney also replied to an inquiry about a “narrative” she’s “wanted to correct” about herself, as she’s weathered several controversies in the past — including her divisive American Eagle jeans ad and speculation that, after she was spotted at a family party where attendees wore MAGA-branded clothing, she supported Donald Trump.

“I think what’s really hard is I’m spoken for through journalists. So, whatever I say now will be rewritten and posted,” she said. “The thing is people like headlines and not everybody reads an article, not everyone listens to a podcast. They want the easy clickbait and whatever is the most digestible, most interesting. And that’s all they see and that’s what they run with. And then all of a sudden, crazy things just spin from it.”

She finished, “At this point, I think it would be so tiring having to correct everything and everyone. And I am so happy with my life and my coworkers and the characters that I get to play, and that’s what’s important. And the people who are in my innermost circle, my family, they truly know who I am. And if I’m a good person to people who are around me, then that’s what matters.”

Euphoria season 3 debuted in April, with HBO touting it in promotional materials as simply the third season of the popular show.

However, after its final episode in May, it was revealed that season 3 was actually the final season, with five major characters dying throughout the course of its run — including lead actress Zendaya’s Rue Bennett in the series finale.

“In terms of the story that we set out to tell, which is the story about addiction and its consequences, this feels like the end to me,” Levinson told the New York Times‘ Popcast show. “It was such a fulfilling journey in terms of this cast, the crew, what we were able to accomplish.”

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Outside of Euphoria, Sweeney has found success as a leading actress, including in The Housemaid and the rom-com Anyone But You. Entertainment Weekly exclusively reported earlier this year that she also filmed a three-minute cameo in The Devil Wears Prada 2, though it was ultimately cut from the final version of the film.

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