Reneé Rapp is exiting our TV screens as she gives up her role as Leighton in MAX’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls” after announcing her unexpected departure from the show.
The 23-year-old actress, who grew her fan base after portraying the character of a lesbian who was initially afraid to be proud of her sexuality in the first season, will finally depart from the series after appearing in a few episodes in season three.
Following this unforeseen development, co-creator Mindy Kaling expressed her thoughts on the social media situation.
Mindy Kaling Cheers On Reneé Rapp As She Exits From Sex Comedy Series
Notwithstanding that things wouldn’t be the same as Rapp bids farewell to her fellow co-stars on the show, executive producer and co-creator Kaling seems to be hoping for the best for the actress/singer as she focuses on her singing career.
Taking to her Instagram Story to address the news, she reposted the headline of a media outlet that read, “Reneé Rapp To Exit Max’s ‘The Sex Lives Of College Girls,”’ alongside a posted image of the actress.
On her part, Kaling revealed in a highlighted caption, writing, “We love @reneerapp so much and of course will be so sad to say goodbye Leighton Murray! But we can’t wait to see our friend on tour!!.”
She also added colorful heart emojis over the post to convey her sincerity to the singer who won the 2018 Jimmy Award for Best Performance by an Actress. While it seems all parties are on good terms as Rapp sets to take her leave from the series, Page Six reported that the “Mean Girls” actress hired a top Hollywood attorney to get her off the show.
An insider source revealed that “both sides have been working to resolve things,” adding, “There are a lot of egos at play.” However, a different source insisted that there were no ego–driven issues between either party. Still, they confirmed that Rapp breached an agreement by announcing a big music tour without getting permission from her show boss.
They revealed, “Reneé wanted to leave the show to tour, and they’re currently working out the best creative solution for her departure, but she announced the tour without having clearance from the show.”
“Mindy is a multi-hyphenate and is supportive of people who want to do different things and play to their talents, but she has to figure out what happens to Reneé’s character. This is not how anyone would have wanted [Rapp’s exit] to happen,” added the anonymous source.
Addressing her fans and the show’s producers, the 23-year-old actress posted a statement to her Instagram on Monday, writing, “Thank you, Mindy… and everyone at Max for believing in me. A lot of queer work gets belittled – but playing Leighton has changed my life. I love who I am 10x more than I did before knowing her… I love that bitch more than you know.”
Since her exit from the show seems inevitable, she is preparing for her tour, which will start in September and takes her through the US to Europe, the UK, and Ireland.
The North Carolina Native Opened Up On The Struggle To Accepting Her Sexuality
While Rapp’s role as Leighton in “The Sex Lives Of College Girls” series might have been mere entertainment for her audience and fans, playing the character struck a chord.
The actress revealed during a friendly chat with “Call Her Daddy” podcaster Alex Cooper that she “hated” filming the show’s first season. She described her upbringing as a “super a**-backwards and very conservative area of Huntersville in North Carolina.” She added, “Everyone was super f**ked and homophobic. It just sucked.”
Revealing that she had difficulty accepting her sexuality at 14, the singer recalled “full-blown crying” and having a “panic attack” after she realized she liked women.
Unfortunately for the promising star, her initial denial of her sexuality hindered her acting skills when she joined the HBO series, admitting she completely “freaked out” on set. In her words,
“[it affected my self-worth] horribly. ‘The First Year Of College Girls’ was terrible. It sucked so bad, because at the time, I was in a heteronormative relationship. I hated going to work because I was like ‘I don’t think I’m like good enough to be here. I don’t think I can be here. I don’t think I can be doing this.’ I was like, ‘Maybe I’m just trying too hard.’ And then I would come home and I would psych myself out, literally.”
She continued, “I will never forget I sat on my front porch and called one of my friends, and was like, ‘I’m straight, I think I’m straight. I can’t do this, I can’t do this, and they were like, ‘What the f**k is going on with you”?
The Huntersville native noted that she panicked constantly and was so freaked out by the idea of her sexuality “not being finite or people laughing at me or me laughing at myself that I hated my first year of filming.”
Rapp also disclosed that her imposter syndrome was compounded by intrusive questioning on set; she recalled, “I’m doing these scenes and also having gay men came up to me and be like ‘Are you gay.”’ She explained that the questions pissed her off and made her second-guess everything about herself. She added, “I was beating myself up so much. It was so wild.”