Sam Levinson’s Team Bizarrely Tries To Blame Zendaya for ‘Euphoria’s Problems

Sam Levinson’s team seems to be trying to blame Zendaya for Euphoria‘s numerous struggles and the team’s odd decision to single out Zendaya is already backfiring.

While Euphoria became one of the best TV series on HBO upon its premiere in 2019, it began unraveling after season 2. It has been over two-and-a-half years since season 2 concluded, but filming for season 3 hasn’t even begun. The show has faced numerous problems, including the tragic loss of producer Kevin Turen and star Angus Cloud. On top of that, it was impacted by the summer labor strikes and its cast members’ busy schedules. However, another part of the problem seems to be that showrunner Levinson can’t find an angle for the third season.

Levinson has seemingly been endlessly working on and rewriting the scripts for season 3. He doesn’t seem to have much to show for his work, though, aside from a few unhinged rejected ideas, including Rue Bennett (Zendaya) suddenly becoming a detective. A new report from The Hollywood Reporter has put further scrutiny on Levinson, who allegedly had a falling out with Turen and Zendaya and put all his focus on the highly controversial The Idol rather than producing Euphoria scripts. However, sources close to Levinson are trying to paint a different picture, singling out Zendaya as the sole reason for all the show’s problems.

Why did Sam Levinson’s team single out Zendaya?

As mentioned above, much of the THR report was devoted to exploring the alleged tension between Levinson and Zendaya. While the pair used to be extremely close, inside sources claim Zendaya is distancing herself from the showrunner and say the fallout occurred because of Levinson’s decision to take on another show while still tied to Euphoria. Zendaya was allegedly so upset about the disproportionate amount of time he was spending on The Idol that she held a meeting with HBO to voice her concerns. Then the numerous controversies surrounding The Idol reportedly only further drove a wedge between them.

However, the most shocking part of the report is when one source decides to pin the blame on Zendaya. The source stated, “It was all about her [Zendaya]. Everybody wanted to make it about Sam, but it was her.” The source failed to provide much evidence to support this statement but claimed Zendaya was “dragging her feet” regarding season 3 because she was preoccupied with the Spider-Man franchise and Challengers. It sounds like Levinson’s team, and potentially even Levinson himself, are trying to clear his name by labeling Zendaya as the problem. The source’s statement makes very little sense, though.

After all, what exactly is the source blaming Zendaya for? It’s well-known that Euphoria‘s delays were partially out of either Zendaya’s or Levinson’s control because of the strikes and tragedies. Meanwhile, even if she was hesitant to sign on to Euphoria, it sounds like she had a right to be. How can she commit to a show that didn’t have any season 3 scripts? It seems like the source is trying to say that Zendaya’s involvement in other projects caused the show’s delay. However, it’s odd that only she is singled out for her other projects, despite Jacob Elordi, Sydney Sweeney, and Hunter Schafer all pursuing other projects, too.

In fact, her slate of projects since Euphoria looks relatively sparse in comparison to the seven movies Elordi has starred in or will star in since Euphoria season 2. If anyone doubted the claims of friction between Zendaya and Levinson, his team’s decision to single her out adds greater weight to those allegations. On social media, countless users came to Zendaya’s defense and pointed out the unfairness of THR‘s source criticizing her for having a career outside of Euphoria.

Unfortunately, it seems like Levinson is carrying on the Hollywood trend of finding a woman to scapegoat whenever executives drop the ball on an important project.