Sydney Sweeney's Euphoria character, Cassie Howard, has sparked controversy after the first episode of the latest season left HBO viewers totally divided.
Season three premiered on Monday (13 April), with the seven remaining episodes set to air weekly every Monday from now until June 1st.
Episode one, which picks up after a five-year jump, packed quite a punch with Cassie and Nate Jacobs, played by Jacob Elordi, now engaged.
In order to help make a little extra cash for their upcoming wedding, Cassie tries her hand at adult content creation and enters the world of OnlyFans to make a little extra cash for their upcoming wedding.
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One scene saw Cassie dress up as a dog to engage in some version of 'pup play', donning a plunging brown bodysuit alongside dog ears, a collar, a lead, wrist cuffs and a drawn-on nose to complete the canine get-up.
Really committing to the bit, Cassie crawled about on all fours and drank from a water bowl for a video.
Her soon-to-be hubby, Nate, wasn't entirely happy with the idea at first, prompting Cassie to try to persuade him, showing off her ensemble and saying: "This brand might sponsor me… It’s called monetisation."
Some HBO viewers were not fond of the character arc, claiming that the storyline was completely 'degrading'.
"I thought it was AI but it’s real, my God, what did they do to Sydney Sweeney in the third season of Euphoria," one viewer wrote, per The Sun.
Another chimed in: "But, how Sydney Sweeney can agree to do something like this? It’s like a humiliation ritual."
And a final critic echoed: "Sydney Sweeney in season 3 is literally just humiliating her. I don’t get how they don’t see that it’s not about this, her role is reduced to basically HUMILIATING HER, she’s not gonna win any awards like that."
Meanwhile, one fan defended: "I don’t know why Sydney is being blamed for Cassie’s hypersexuality when she did not create the character or the scripts. What do people want her to do?"
"The criticism of Cassie as a character and the shaming of the character’s actions is 100% valid, but blaming Sydney is absurd. She’s an actress playing a character and a talented one at that. The hate she gets is so unwarranted," a second added.
Like it or hate it, the OnlyFans storyline paved the way for Sweeney's lingerie brand, SYRN, getting a load of product placement in season three.
As Cassie, the 28-year-old actress, can be seen wearing the brand’s Date Night Satin Corset, which will set you back a cool $269.
"I wanted to create a place where women can move between all the different versions of who we are," Sweeney's SYRN website states. "SYRN is our playground for self-expression."
Sweeney, who set up her lingerie brand back in January, previously revealed that the corset is one of her favourite looks.
"I could not find a top that made me feel hot without being too much," she said, via The Sun. "But this is perfect. You can tie it as tight as you want, so you can make 'em pop as much as you want!
"I was inspired by this corset a designer made me. I wanted to bring it into a commercial piece because I hadn’t seen anyone make commercial pieces of the types of corsets I wear on carpets."
Where can I watch Euphoria season 3 in the UK?
The first episode of Euphoria season 3 landed in the UK on Monday (13 April).
Only the premiere drops on that date, as the rest roll out weekly.
You can stream every episode on HBO Max in the UK.
It will also air on Sky Atlantic and be available via NOW, as with previous seasons.
When will the rest of Euphoria season 3 arrive in the UK?
As an HBO original, season 3 drops one episode at a time.
There are eight episodes in total, with the final instalment due on 1 June.
Here is the full UK release schedule for season 3 of Euphoria:
- Episode 1: Monday, April 13
- Episode 2: Monday, April 20
- Episode 3: Monday, April 27
- Episode 4: Monday, May 4
- Episode 5: Monday, May 11
- Episode 6: Monday, May 18
- Episode 7: Monday, May 25
- Episode 8: Monday, June 1
Topics: Sydney Sweeney, Celebrity, TV And Film, Euphoria, HBO, Social Media, Money
Rhiannon Ingle