'Euphoria' Actor Says She Hasn't Paid Rent For 6 Months Amid Season 3 Delay

Euphoria  may have garnered Nika King and her castmates critical praise and some awards season love, but the actor is feeling the financial squeeze more than two years after the HBO series second season aired. 

King, who plays Leslie Bennett on Euphoria, said during a recent stand-up show that she doesnt know when fans can expect new episodes of the show. 

Season 3 is coming out I dont f**king know, the actor and comedian said, as seen in a TikTok video she shared Monday. Dont ask me, I dont know. Its one of those things. People are like, We need Season 3. Im like, Bitch, I need Season 3. I havent paid my rent in six months. 

King then took a playful dig at her co-star, Zendaya , who plays her characters daughter, Rue Bennett.

Zendayas over in Paris at Fashion Week, she quipped. Im like, Bitch, come home! I need you. Mama needs you! 

A two-time Emmy winner, Zendaya has been making the red carpet rounds on both sides of the Atlantic to promote Dune: Part Two , which also stars Austin Butler, Timothe Chalamet and Florence Pugh. 

Although Kings bit about Zendaya was meant in jest, she said her recent lack of steady employment was no laughing matter: I havent booked nothing since Euphoria. This is some bullshit.

Euphoria was officially renewed for a third season in early 2022. In November, however, HBOs CEO Casey Bloys clarified that that the series wouldnt return until 2025, partly as a result of the actors and writers strikes that brought most of Hollywood to a standstill last year. 

Since then, many of the shows actors, including Colman Domingo and Jacob Elordi , have shared their thoughts on the delay. 

[Creator Sam Levinson] is a person who writes and rewrites and writes and rewrites again, because I think hes wrestling with whats important, Domingo, an Oscar nominee for Netflix s Rustin, told GQ last month . Hes responding immediately to what the ills of the world are. I know that the one thing I can tell you is that hes very much interested in the existential question of who we are right now. Our souls. Thats what he wants to figure out with Season 3.

Elordi, who plays teen jock Nate Jacobs, joked to Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon in January that the Euphoria creative team might have to find a way to de-age him if the production delay was extended. 

Theyre going to have to Benjamin Button me or something, he said. Im going to have a bad back walking down the hallway.

As for King, shes apparently found some solace after reaching out to Taraji P. Henson . The Empire actor has become increasingly outspoken about the professional inequity shes faced as a Black woman in Hollywood even after achieving major success on television and in film.  

I called Taraji, she explained. Shes like: Bitch, get used to it.