Barbie Ferreira left Euphoria after season two. She didn’t want to play the 'fat best friend' anymore.

After four years of playing 'Kat Hernandez' on Euphoria — the edgy high school melodrama on HBO — Barbie Ferreira made a quiet announcement that she was retiring the character.

On her Instagram story, in August 2022, the model and actor wrote: 

"After four years of getting to embody the most special and enigmatic character Kat, I’m having to say a very teary-eyed goodbye. I hope many of you could see yourself in her like I did, and that she brought you joy to see her journey into the character she is today."

She continued: "I put all my care and love into her and I hope you guys could feel it. Love you, Katherine Hernandez."

Image: Instagram @barbieferreira.

It should have come as a shock that one of the most fascinating characters on Euphoria left after just two seasons, but fans who had been watching everything unfold online weren't surprised at all. 

There are plenty of articles that argue Kat Hernandez is the antithesis of the "fat best friend" trope. She's mean, she's cunning, she's fearless in her exploits and frank in her sexual desire.

When we met her in season one, she was a scrappy and insecure teenager who lacked confidence. By the time the last episode rolled around, we watched her kick friends while they were down, stop a bunch of teenage boys from distributing child porn and make a successful income while being an underage dominatrix.

She had, in her own way, liberated herself. She was a complex and sometimes unlikeable character.

Like many others, I was just enchanted by Kat when she discovered her sexuality and just how "desirable" she could be when she pretended to be confident. We watched her shame men for money and dream of bleeding their bank accounts dry. 

One of her most iconic speeches came in season one, episode five when she lamented: "I spent my whole life afraid people were going to find out that I was fat. But honestly, who gives a s**t. There’s nothing more powerful than a fat girl who doesn’t give a f**k."

Only, she does give a f**k — because you can't outrun the "fat best friend" trope no matter how well-dressed, confident or desirable you are.

Barbie Ferreira in Euphoria. Image: HBO.

But in season two, she was haunted; by her self-loathing, her questionable decisions, who she was becoming and the sad reality of just how difficult it is to love yourself when you are fat. 

It's a confronting, dark storyline — one that probably shouldn't have been explored considering it's not the message Barbie wants to put out about being a fat woman. 

Because eight months after announcing she was leaving Euphoria, the actor finally revealed why she chose to walk away from the series that cemented her fame. 

“I think my character, who I love so dearly, I don’t think there was a place for her to go,” she said on the podcast Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard.

“I think there were places she could have gone, I just don’t think it would have fit into the show.

"I really wanted to be able to not be the fat best friend. I don’t want to play that, and I think they didn’t want that either."

Reading between the lines, it's fair to assume being asked to play a character who found liberation in season one but unravelled in season two didn't sit right with Barbie.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by barbie ferreira (@barbieferreira)

In season two, Kat realises she doesn't love her smaller but well-meaning boyfriend because she genuinely hates who she is. The character plot follows familiar advice and the voice in the back of your head that says, "No one can love you until you love yourself."

It doesn't matter if Kat's feelings are real or not, or true or not, because we don't get to watch the end of her story on Euphoria. It's likely we'll never know what becomes of her, because the character progression of Kat Hernandez was a slow burn that flickered out when Barbie Ferreira quit the show altogether.

Rumours travelled to the ears of Deuxmoi, an anonymous gossip account, who alleged that Barbie was not "vibing" with Sam Levinson (the show's producer) ahead of the season premiere.

"New season of Euphoria is going to be real DARK," a source shared. "So much so that some actors, especially Barbie Ferreira, were not vibing with the director's vision."

"Barbie got into it with him on set and left one day. He then cut a lot of her lines," the continued.

Listen to The Spill, Mamamia's daily entertainment podcast. Post continues after audio. 

According to Barbie, the rumours simply are not true.

"For me, when people ask me about season two, usually they come at me with, like, I was some sort of victim to season two and I’m always like, ‘No, it’s okay, promise. It’s good,'" she said. "I kind of got sucked into this drama that I never asked to be in and that I’ve never talked about.

"I’m of the mindset that if it doesn’t exist, I’m not going to address it because then I’m adding fuel to it.

"It’s taken on a life of its own. Don’t believe everything you read."

Feature Image: Getty/Mamamia/HBO.