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25 August 2022 11:12 AM

Euphoria’s Barbie Ferreira won’t be returning to the HBO show’s third season

"I love you Katherine Hernandez," Ferreira wrote in her farewell.

By Emily Maskell

Words: Emily Maskell; pictures: Eddy Chen/HBO

Is this the beginning of the end for Euphoria? Star Barbie Ferreira has announced her departure from the show ahead of season three in a “teary-eyed” goodbye statement with fan art from co-star Hunter Schafer. 

Sharing the news with fans on her Instagram story on Wednesday (24 August), the 25-year-old actor who played Kat Hernandez in the coming-of-age teen drama bid farewell to her character.

 
 
 
View this post on Instagram

A post shared by barbie ferreira (@barbieferreira)

“After four years of getting to embody the most special and enigmatic character Kat, I’m having to say a very teary eyed goodbye,” Ferreira’s message read, “I hope many of you could see yourself in her like I did and that she brought you joy to see her journey into the character she is today.”

“I put all my care and love into her”, she continued. “I hope you guys could feel it. I love you Katherine Hernandez.”

(Photo: Instagram @/barbieferreira)

Ferreira’s message is paired with her “first Kat fan art” done by Hunter Schafer, who plays Jules on the show. 

Schafer also shared Ferreira’s post on her own Instagram with the wide-eyed face and heart emojis.

Ferreira offered no exact reasoning as to why she is departing from the show, however, there have long been rumours circulating that the actor has had on-set disagreements with show creator Sam Levinson on the direction he wanted to take her character.

 

Many fans are devastated at Ferreira’s announcement, one writes on Twitter: “im sorry but kat is one of the best characters of euphoria…barbie ferreira deserved better”.

Another Tweeted: “Sam Levinson slept on Barbie Ferreira’s talent and he’ll 100% regret it when she becomes a huge star”.

With Ferreira’s departure, what does that mean for the show? 

Having played Kat since Euphoria’s first season in 2019, her character took a back seat in the latest season as the drama mainly surrounded her friends compared to the first season where Kat navigated her first relationship and online sex work.

It seems possible that with Ferreira leaving there are narrative gaps for the stories of other characters to be further explored such as fans’ long-desired exploration of Schafer’s Jules as a young transgender woman.

While information about season three of the hit HBO show is minimal, earlier this month Zendaya revealed that she wanted to “explore the characters out of high school” and “see what Rue looks like in her sobriety journey”. 

So far, it has been confirmed that Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney and Dominic Fike will reprise their roles in Euphoria season 3, the show does not yet have an announced release date. 

The Attitude September/October issue is out now.

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