Euphoria's Nika King Reacts To Cut Season 3 Cameo

by Stephanie SoteriouBuzzFeedBuzzFeed StaffI’m an innately nosey and chronically online celebrity and pop culture journalist, with my specialist areas including deep-diving lyrics and calling out Terrible Men™.

It’s no secret that the controversial HBO series Euphoria has been responsible for putting a whole new wave of actors’ names on the map since its Season 1 premiere in 2019.

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While Zendaya was, of course, already incredibly famous before she landed the lead role of Rue in the series, her performance no doubt catapulted her career — and has even earned her two Emmy awards.

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Meanwhile, stars like Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Elordi were almost entirely unknown in the mainstream before they were cast as Cassie and Nate, respectively.

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However, not everybody has been able to break out from the show, with Nika King one of the most vocal cast members when it comes to this matter. For reference, 47-year-old Nika plays Rue’s mom, Leslie, in Euphoria, and featured pretty heavily in the show’s first two seasons.

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As I am sure you know, after the Season 2 finale in 2022, it took a long old time for Season 3 to come along. For almost four years, production was repeatedly delayed for a whole slew of reasons — including showrunner Sam Levinson focusing his attention on his other HBO show, The Idol, alleged behind-the-scenes drama, and the heartbreaking deaths of producer Kevin Turen and cast member Angus Cloud.

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And in 2024, Nika poked fun at how long it was taking for Season 3 to get off the ground during a standup set at LA’s Improv Lab, which she shared to her TikTok account at the time. Urging fans to stop asking her about Euphoria’s future, she said: “Season 3 is coming out… I don’t fucking know. Don’t ask me. I don’t know!”

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“People are like: ‘We need Season 3!’ and I’m like: ‘Bitch, I need Season 3!’” Nika then joked before candidly giving some insight into her financial situation as a result of the show’s hiatus. “I haven’t paid my rent in six months, and Zendaya’s over in Paris at Fashion Week, and I’m like: ‘Bitch, come home! I need you!’”

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“I’m serious. I haven’t booked nothing since Euphoria,” Nika added as the audience burst into laughter. “This is some bullshit. I thought my career was on the rise after Euphoria; I thought I was good. It don’t work that way. I called Taraji [P. Henson] and she was like: ‘Bitch, get used to it.’”

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Then, in February 2025, Nika revealed that she’d now been told that Leslie will not be featured in Season 3. In a video post, the star explained: “Unfortunately, I'm not [returning]. My character is not coming back to the show, but I am forever grateful to HBO, Zendaya, and Sam Levinson for giving me the opportunity to come on set. Without Euphoria, I was not able to step into who I am as an actor."

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Taking the news in her stride, she followed up with a video of herself cleaning a restaurant kitchen, captioning the clip: “When ppl ask me if I'm filming S3 of Euphoria?" adding: "A job is a job." It later transpired that Nika and her mom actually own the restaurant that she was cleaning, with the video linked to Blue Tree Cafe, which is a vegan soul food restaurant.

Nika King / Via instagram.com

But there was a major twist in October, when Nika excitedly returned to her TikTok page to confirm that she actually will be returning for Season 3, explaining to her followers: “I did not lie to you guys; I was off the show. When they made the announcement in February, I was no longer a part of the cast.”

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She spoke even more candidly about how much she needed the Euphoria job at the Season 3 premiere last month, recalling what it was like to meet Zendaya for the first time all those years ago. In a red carpet interview with Variety, Nika joked: “She was like: 'You too young to be my mama.' 'I'm your mama. Be quiet, OK? We’re getting a check today, OK? Be quiet, I'm your mama.' After that, the chemistry was natural and authentic."

> Nika King on meeting Zendaya for the first time: "She was like 'You too young to be my mama.' I'm your mama. Be quiet, okay? We getting a check today, okay? Be quiet, I'm your mama. After that, the chemistry was natural and authentic." pic.twitter.com/QTmCNthoEa

— Pop Snacks X (@PopSnacksX) April 8, 2026

Variety / Via Twitter: @PopSnacksX

Nika spent last week promoting her upcoming episode, which aired on Sunday, on her Instagram account — and when Nika and her loved ones realized that she had been mercilessly cut in the final edit of her highly-anticipated appearance, they couldn’t help but see the funny side.

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In case you missed it, the most recent episode of Euphoria features a lengthy phone conversation between Rue and her mom. However, viewers only see and hear Ru