Zendaya hit back after the creator of “Euphoria” reportedly blamed her for postponing Season 3 of the HBO show.
“I will say, I have been off for a couple years, so not delayed because of my [schedule]. … I’ve been open, just waiting,” the actress told Vanity Fair with a laugh in an interview published Wednesday.
Zendaya, 28, pointed out that while she had two major movies premiere this year, “Dune: Part Two” and “Challengers,” she filmed both in 2022.
“I haven’t been on a set in, like, two years almost,” she said, admitting she is “rusty” and sometimes wonders whether she can “even do this anymore.”
The Emmy winner confirmed “Euphoria” is still on track to resume filming in January, though she does not have any additional details.
“I haven’t read anything yet, but I’m excited to see what everyone has been working on, and what the future looks like for ‘Euphoria,’” she told the magazine, ᴀssuring fans that she will “do justice by the people who love and care about” her character, Rue Bennett.
Zendaya’s comments come less than four months after a bombshell report about the future of “Euphoria” claimed the star had been “dragging her feet with an eye toward a burgeoning film career.”
A source close to “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson told the Hollywood Reporter in July, “It was all about [Zendaya]. Everybody wanted to make it about Sam, but it was her.”
The story also stated that Zendaya’s once-close relationship with the controversial showrunner, 39, had “cooled” down, which caused him to “resent her.”
“Euphoria” premiered in June 2019 to critical acclaim but has not aired a new episode since February 2022.
HBO repeatedly postponed production on the eight-episode third season — which will feature a time jump so that Zendaya and her co-stars, including Jacob Elordi and Sydney Sweeney, no longer play high school students — before announcing in July that shooting would finally begin at the top of 2025.
However, sources told Page Six exclusively earlier this year that the series is likely to end with Season 3, with the network being “keen on going out with a bang.”
