After Euphoria dropped its latest episode on Sunday, May 17, viewers were left outraged, slamming the show for yet another controversial moment involving Sydney Sweeney’s character.
The series has faced major backlash this season, much of it centered on the “degrading” treatment of her character, Cassie Howard, who once again bared it all in one of the show’s most unsettling scenes yet, this time alongside a massive python.
Highlights
- Sydney Sweeney stunned viewers after posing nearly bare with a giant python in one of the series's most bizarre scenes yet.
- The controversial moment sparked wild fan theories linking the snake to betrayal, revenge, and Cassie Howard’s possible dark fate.
- Fans quickly connected the unsettling scene to Britney Spears’ iconic 2001 python performance, while others slammed it as “trashy” and disturbing.
Social media quickly exploded with wild theories linking the snake scene to Britney Spears and a chilling urban legend, with many fans convinced the moment foreshadows a grim fate for Cassie.
“Yes, it’s symbolic for the slimy, slithering, bottom crawling producers & directors behind this garbage,” one furious viewer fumed online.
Sydney Sweeney posed almost completely bare while wrapped in a giant python during one of the most bizarre and unsettling scenes yet
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The highly controversial American teen drama has ruffled feathers online, as netizens have been largely displeased with the trajectory of Sydney Sweeney’s iconic character, Cassie Howard, since the new season premiered on April 12.
Cassie, one of the central figures in the storyline, has taken a controversial turn following her introduction as an adult-content creator in the latest season.
In previous episodes, the character was shown filming content for her account while dressed as an infant, complete with pigtails and a pacifier.
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Another sequence featured Cassie in a brown dog costume, crawling on the floor and drinking from a bowl while her partner, Nate Jacobs, played by Jacob Elordi, held a leash around her neck.
She was also shown in a photoshoot montage posing completely bare for provocative pictures while licking a melting ice cream cone, with the dessert dripping down her breasts.
These scenes drew criticism not only from viewers online but also from several professionals in the adult industry, many of whom argued that the portrayal was highly problematic.
The latest episode sparked wild theories about Sweeney’s character’s fate on the show, fueled by a chilling story tied to the python
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Among them was Sydney Leathers, who told Variety, “There’s just a lot that’s ridiculous and cartoonish about it.”
She added, “There’s so much that they have her doing that is not even allowed on Onl**ans... the age-play stuff where she’s dressed as a baby in a diaper, for example.”
Amid the ongoing backlash, the latest episode, titled Stand Still And See, showed Sydney’s character participating in a provocative photoshoot orchestrated by her former best friend, Maddy Perez, played by Alexa Demie, at a s*rip club called the Silver Slipper.
The club belonged to Almo Brown, portrayed by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Cassie appeared in revealing pink lingerie alongside fellow dancers and models Magik and Kitty, played by Rosalía and Anna Van Patten.
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During the solo portion of the photoshoot, Cassie posed nearly bare while wearing a beige thong and wrapping herself in a large yellow-and-white banana python to create attention-grabbing content for her subscribers.
Viewers quickly pointed out that the visual appeared to reference Britney Spears’ iconic 2001 performance at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, where the pop star famously performed with a live albino Burmese python draped across her shoulders during I’m a Slave 4 U.
As Spears performed the jungle-themed routine, she danced with the 7-foot-long, 25-pound snake wrapped around her body, creating one of the most memorable moments in pop culture history.
One user wrote online, “This is beyond sad! Hollyweird is turning this girl out and she is allowing it for fame and money”
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Still, many viewers criticized Sweeney’s latest scenes, with some calling them “trashy” and others accusing the production of exploiting the animal for "shock value."
Even People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) criticized the latest episode, issuing a strong public statement on social media.
In an Instagram post, the organization wrote, “When Rue said, ‘WTF is that?’ in last night’s episode of Euphoria, we’re asking the same thing! It’s exactly how we feel about TV productions STILL exploiting snakes for shock value.”
Agreeing with the sentiment, one netizen commented, “What is it with celebrities using live animals as a prop or some sort of twisted fashion statement.”
Another user said, “This is cruelty to that python. Shame on all of them.”
“… and when something goes wrong, it’s the snakes fault, never the humans,” remarked a third.
“This girl just can't seem to keep her clothes on… She ought to be made aware that overexposure can be as bad as underexposure.”
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Others focused less on the controversy and more on the symbolism behind the scene. One critic wrote, “I think its foreshadowing Cassie's d**th cuz when Lexi was talking about k*lling someone off on the show, it cuts to Cassie.”
Another viewer agreed, writing, “I think the snake is a person more than a metaphor like a betrayal from someone she wouldn't expect.”
These theories surrounding Sydney’s character’s fate stem from a monologue delivered by Bishop, played by Darrell Britt-Gibson, to Zendaya’s character Rue while the two feed the snake at the club.
Sydney’s raunchy scenes have sparked outrage not only among viewers but also among several professionals within the adult-content industry
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During the episode, Bishop reveals that a former dancer named Sugar used to sleep with the snake.
When the snake suddenly stopped eating, a vet warned her that the python wasn't sick; it was starving itself to prepare for a much larger meal and coiling around her at night to size her up as prey.
The snake, therefore, served as a dark metaphor and warning: "You never really know a mothe**ucker's true intentions."
Many fans now believe the monologue foreshadows betrayal within the storyline.
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While Demie’s character Maddy appears to have put aside her hatred to help Cassie manage her lucrative adult-content account, viewers suspect the snake story implies Maddy is merely “sizing Cassie up” while plotting long-term revenge.
Later in the episode, Cassie stunned viewers by deleting her adult-content account after unexpectedly landing an acting role.
However, moments after shutting down the page, she received a disturbing mystery package containing a note reading “Answer the phone,” alongside Nate’s severed finger, setting up what many fans believe will be an even darker trajectory for the remaining episodes of Euphoria.
One user theorized online, “...I definitely think someone’s gonna dye [sic] because of someone’s betrayal”
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