Reneé Rapp has concluded her role as Leighton Murray in The Sex Lives of College Girls. (Max)
Reneé Rapp has officially left the cast of The Sex Lives of College Girls. The actress left the series in a storyline which was hailed as an “unapologetic win” for her iconic lesbian character Leighton Murray.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Season 3 of The Sex Lives of College Girls.
Mindy Kaling’s hit series follows the trials and tribulations of four fictional Essex College students: book-smart Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet), sex-positive Bela (Amrit Kaur), star athlete Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott) and, of course, wealthy legacy student and sapphic queen Leighton (Rapp).
The Mean Girls star previously confirmed that she would be leaving the series in its third season. Over the previous two seasons, Leighton’s journey of self-discovery as a closeted lesbian trying to live up to her mother’s high expectations has cultivated a devoted queer fanbase.
However, season three introduced Leighton’s final storyline. The third season launched on 21 November and saw Rapp’s character navigating the news that her advanced mathematics class was cancelled due to a lack of participants.
Her professor notified her that she would be able to take a bus to a nearby college to undergo the course, instead. However, an incident leads Leighton to consider her choices for the future. To add fuel to the fire, her girlfriend Alicia (Midori Francis) tells her that she plans to leave university to work for the mayor of Boston.
Eventually, Leighton decided to transfer to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to continue her studies. Despite not initially telling her roommates Whitney, Kimberly and Bella (they find out from Jocelyn before confronting Leighton), Leighton apologises for hiding the news, and the quartet make up before partying the night away.
The series showrunner Justin Noble said in an interview that Leighton’s exit was nothing short of an “unapologetic win” for the character.
Noble said to Variety: “Leighton Murray has never lost or conceded anything in her life. So the only way she would leave is if it’s what was unapologetically a win for herself.”
Season 3 of The Sex Lives of College Girls premiered on 21 November on Max in the US. Episodes are released weekly through 23 January. A season 3 release date is yet to be announced in the UK.
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