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Fans Are Heartbroken That Reneé Rapp Is Leaving The Sex Lives Of College Girls
“Playing Leighton has changed my life,” Rapp wrote in a post.
The Sex Lives of College Girls Season 2 ended on a major note of change for the Essex roomies: between Bela planning to transfer schools, and Whitney opting to move out after Kimberly secretly kissed Canaan. Now, there’s also a major real-life change happening behind the scenes: Reneé Rapp is leaving The Sex Lives of College Girls ahead of Season 3.
Deadline reported on July 10 that Rapp will reprise the role of Leighton “in a handful of episodes” of the upcoming installment, “but will not be a series regular and will depart the show after those episodes.”
Rapp herself took to social media to expand on her departure from the series. While she didn’t explain why she was leaving the show, she had nothing but gratitude for having been a part of it. “A lot of queer work gets belittled — but playing Leighton has changed my life,” she wrote. “I love who I am 10x more than I did before knowing her. i hope that she gave y’all a little bit of that too. she’s such a tiny part of representation but even the tiny parts count. i wouldn’t be half the person I am without her and y’all. i love that bitch more than you know. I’m so excited for this season and I can’t wait for you to see what we have coming for her and the girls.”
Viewers will be able to see Rapp in the upcoming Mean Girls: The Musical movie, where she is set to reprise her role as Regina George from the Broadway musical. Rapp also recently announced her Snow Hard Feelings Tour, which begins this fall. But for many fans, nothing’s quite the same as having Leighton back at Essex College — especially since the character’s coming-out storyline was such a powerful part of Sex Lives.
Several fans also voiced their concerns for the future of the show without Rapp.
Co-creators Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble both voiced their support for Rapp’s next steps on Instagram. “We love @reneerapp so much and of course will be so sad to say goodbye Leighton Murray!” Kaling wrote in a story post. “But we can’t wait to see our friend on tour!!”
Noble, for his part, recalled Rapp’s audition for Leighton and said “it barely took two minutes” to know she was right for the part. “I’m so proud of her story,” he continued. “And how @reneerapp brought her to life with such a nuanced and real and funny and award-winning performance — and we will miss both Reneé and Leighton.”
