Everyone is talking about Euphoria right now, but for all the wrong reasons. We had just learned that the hit teen high school show from the United States had been renewed for a third season when we got the dreadful news: Barbie Ferreira, who had played lead character Kat Hernandez for two seasons, had left the show.
Barbie’s abrupt exit followed a previously unresolved controversy with Hunter Schafer, who plays Jules, another prominent character on the program. Schafer, a trans woman, is thought to have backed an anti-non-binary Instagram post, which she “liked” and commented on with exclamation points in a convoluted issue. The message, shared by user @piggytaiwan, is critical of “enbies,” or those who identify as gender-non-binary and do not identify with a certain gender.
Some have attacked Hunter’s apparent endorsement in the comments section, accusing Hunter of “internalized transphobia” and being “trans-lite.
The tension heightened when a series of photos from her mother’s surprise 60th birthday party were shared on Instagram Stories and on her grid by star Sydney Sweeney, who plays Cassie on the show. The celebration was a hoedown (a Texas-inspired American traditional dance party), and everyone was dressed in cowboy attire and hats.
However, some Instagram users have taken issue with some of the other partygoers’ attire: one wears a Blue Lives Matter shirt, while others don “Make Sixty Great Again” hats, a parody of Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” tagline.
You guys this is wild. An innocent celebration for my moms milestone 60th birthday has turned into an absurd political statement, which was not the intention. Please stop making assumptions. Much love to everyone ♥️ and Happy Birthday Mom!
— Sydney Sweeney (@sydney_sweeney) August 27, 2022
