Euphoria is one of HBO’s biggest series, having cultivated a very devoted audience while also becoming a critical darling that has been nominated for — and won — some of the television industry’s most prestigious awards. The show has done all of this with only two seasons under its belt, earning a third season renewal soon after the Season 2 finale. And that’s when things began to take a turn for the series. Season 2 concluded in 2022, and while recent reports have indicated Season 3 will premiere in 2025, it has been a long road to the much-delayed third season, thanks to emerging film careers, difficulty finding the right narrative direction and, according to a new report, a fractured relationship between star Zendaya and series creator Sam Levinson.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, the situation behind the scenes of Euphoria hasn’t been exactly pleasant. Since the end of Season 2, the relationship between Zendaya and Levinson has reportedly changed significantly. The pair were once so close that they collaborated on the film Malcolm & Marie during the pandemic, when Season 2 of Euphoria was delayed. The relationship between the duo has allegedly become strained, due in large part to Levinson taking more interest in his critically maligned series The Idol over Season 3 of Euphoria, and Zendaya prioritizing her film career over the series.
Zendaya Reportedly Had Issues With Sam Levinson’s Focus on HBO’s The Idol
Regarding The Idol, which was supposed to be a grand acting debut for musician The Weeknd, the report says that Levinson began spending more time developing that series and not handing over scripts for the third season of Euphoria. Zendaya grew so frustrated with this turn of events that she allegedly called a meeting with HBO bosses Casey Bloys and Francesca Orsi to address the issue. Zendaya’s main concern was that HBO allowed Levinson to focus on another one of their shows while putting an established hit like Euphoria second. The matter grew more concerning when reports emerged that The Idol was a mess behind the scenes, with Levinson fostering a toxic work environment and allowing the show to go extremely over budget. Due to the masochistic tone of the stories popping up about the series production, reports suggest that Zendaya’s fans wanted her to distance herself from Levinson. For someone with 183 million Instagram followers, that call to action had to be deafening for the actress.
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On the other end of the spectrum, some are blaming the Euphoria delay on Zendaya, at least from the perspective of Levinson. One part of the report cites Zendaya’s increasingly demanding film career, which has included franchise hits like the Spider-Man films and Dune, as well as the recently released Challengers, which has earned her some of the best reviews of her career.
“A source close to Levinson blamed Zendaya for dragging her feet with an eye toward a burgeoning film career that would soon include not only the studio franchises Spider-Man and Dune, but Luca Guadagnino’s Cannes entry Challengers. “It was all about her,” says one source. “Everybody wanted to make it about Sam, but it was her.”
Blaming Zendaya’s film career seems odd since most of the stars of the show have seen their film profiles grow considerably since the series began. Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, Hunter Schafer, and Colman Domingo all have busy movie careers with many film projects in various stages of development. Yes, as the star of the show and arguably the highest-profile of the bunch, it’s easier to point the finger at Zendaya, but Euphoria is also an ensemble, and it would be essential for at least most of the cast to be available for a third season.
Other issues hampering Euphoria are more personal and sadly tragic. Producer Kevin Turen, who was once a good friend of Levinson and worked on Euphoria, passed away at the age of 44 — after the relationship between Turen and the Euphoria creator completely fell apart. Levinson and his wife Ashley were reportedly told they could not attend his funeral, with the main point of contention being that Turen lost his deal with HBO, possibly because of Levinson, and because Turen, as a Hollywood producer, had other projects he was prioritizing, including one with The Idol’s The Weeknd and Jenna Ortega. Zendaya also reportedly had issues with Levinson’s wife, who took over Turen’s job and was allegedly much more combative when it came to work. The situation apparently has been so tense that the Dune actress requested that Levinson’s wife not be the lone executive producer on the series, a sentiment reportedly shared by others involved with the show.
With The Idol becoming a critical and ratings misfire for HBO and more stories leaking about Levinson’s behavior on both sets, the team also had to deal with the tragic passing of Angus Cloud; the actor, who played Fezco on the series, died last summer. Many of these issues have been cited as a reason for Euphoria Season 3 not coming together. Before it was announced that Season 3 would premiere in 2025, another report suggested that Levinson couldn’t crack the right story for the upcoming season. A time jump was announced and Levinson pitched the idea of having Zendaya’s Rue become a private detective, which was rejected by the actress and the network. Zendaya’s idea of Rue being a surrogate mother was also a non-starter, but this new report indicates that the relationship between the actress and Levinson is getting to a place where they can collaborate on an idea that might work. Either way, it appears that not all the drama on Euphoria has been playing out on screen.
All seasons of
Euphoria
are currently streaming on Max.