People Are "Pissed" After Learning This Former "Euphoria" Star Is Now Cleaning Kitchens To Make Ends Meet
Nika King is widely known for playing Leslie Bennett (aka Rue and Gia's mom) on the hit HBO series for the first two seasons.
Related:
Three years after Season 2 debuted in January 2022, it was announced that Season 3 had finally begun filming. It even included a photo of Zendaya on set for additional proof.
Delays in production were due to a slew of reasons, which ranged from the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes in 2023 to alleged behind-the-scenes drama with claims of a "toxic" work environment and grueling "18-hour" workdays. During this delay, Euphoria producer Kevin Turen died in November 2023 from multiple heart issues, and Angus Cloud, who starred as the beloved Fez, tragically died of an accidental overdose at the age of 25 in July 2023.
On top of all that, two cast members revealed they had no plans on returning to the show: Barbie Ferriera announced the shocking news shortly after Season 2 ended, while Storm Reid revealed she would be focusing on other things, like graduating from USC and working on projects through her production company.
The delays also caused strain and stress for some of the cast members, including Nika. In March 2024, during one of her stand-up comedy shows posted on her TikTok, the actor and comedian admitted she was having trouble paying her rent because filming for Euphoria was taking so long to commence.
'People are like, 'We need Season 3.' I'm like, 'Bitch, I need Season 3. I haven't paid my rent in six months. I thought my career was on the rise after Euphoria. I thought I was good. It don't work that way. I called Taraji [P. Henson} and she was like, 'Bitch, get used to it.''
While she recently starred in the American drama film Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot, we should note that filming for it began back in 2022.
Fast forward to February 2025, Nika announced her "character is not coming back to the show," after she received tons of DMs and comments asking about Season 3. "Unfortunately, I'm not [returning]," she said in a video posted online. "My character is not coming back to the show, but I am forever grateful to HBO, Zendaya, and Sam Levinson for giving me the opportunity to come on set."
Fans showered her with words of encouragement on her future endeavors, while also expressing sadness that they won't see her in future episodes.
Related:
But concern for Nika grew when she recently shared a video of her cleaning what appeared to be a restaurant kitchen. She captioned the clip, "When ppl ask me if I'm filming S3 of Euphoria?" while the caption for the post read, "A job is a job."
Reactions ranged from saying how "fucked up" it is that her promising acting career led her to a non-Hollywood position, to applause for her vulnerability in sharing the realities of being a struggling actor in the industry:
Related:
At first glance, I had similar thoughts, but I quickly found out there was more to her post than meets the eye. After noticing she tagged an account on the post I checked the page out, and discovered Nika not only works in that kitchen, but she co-owns the establishment it's located in.
The account is linked to Blue Tree Cafe, a vegan soul food restaurant run by Nika and her mother, Sharon Allen. The page was a pleasant surprise because the food looks delicious, and their playful relationship shines in their videos.
And once others caught on as well,
Related:
But owning a restaurant is no easy feat either. Nika hopped on a popular social media trend where people show how they mask their true emotions while dealing with a crisis — and for Nika, that was the current status of the restaurant. Nika and her mother also set up a GoFundMe as a way to help the establishment from closing.
I truly appreciate the transparency, even if it's done through laughter. I don't know about you, but I'm wishing Nika success in all of her passions — acting, comedy, and restaurateur.
Also in Celebrity:
Also in Celebrity:
Also in Celebrity: Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CNET
a minute ago
- CNET
I Tried AI as My Astrologer. It Told Me Something Profound
If you're cosmically inclined, in tune with all the retrogrades and speak in star signs, you'll love an artificial intelligence-generated interpretation of your natal chart. This is one of the most fun use cases of AI. Birth charts are notoriously difficult to interpret but ChatGPT can help you make sense of it and allow you to ask specific questions about your reading. You can use AI as a self-discovery tool, to supplement therapy sessions, as a tarot card reader and to get career guidance. Have a conversation with your higher self, with ChatGPT. While you should avoid making any major life decisions from this conversation alone (especially during Mercury Retrograde), it can serve as a mirror to better understand yourself. Get a down-to-earth birth chart analysis using AI. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.) Prompt your way to future predictions Because AI is known to convincingly hallucinate -- that is, make things up based on bad information on the internet -- it's better to get your natal chart from a specific astrology website so you know it's accurate, then feed the report into ChatGPT. There are plenty of websites out there, like Café Astrology and Co-Star. You'll need to input your location of birth, date of birth and time of birth. Make sure the time is right, because guessing it will skew the results. These websites usually generate long reports so I downloaded the PDF option. I ended up using Café Astrology because Co-Star didn't have a PDF download option. Over to ChatGPT to help me decipher what this means: Café Astrology/Screenshot by CNET First, I asked ChatGPT to give me a tailored astrology reading based on my birth chart, then attached the PDF. The devil is in the details with astrology and out of the gate, ChatGPT got an important detail wrong: it switched around my birth month/day (I think because I wrote it in the American format but said I was born in Australia -- so it read the date in the Australian format). I corrected it and it generated a new chart. First of all, I love how ChatGPT describes what the dominant houses mean. For example, your rising sign is how the world sees you vs. your sun sign, which is how you see yourself. My sun sign is in Taurus, so I crave loyalty, longevity and consistency, yet my moon sign (emotional world) is Sagittarius, so I need freedom and variety. I asked which part of me is more important to nurture -- the security or the freedom -- based on my chart. This is where AI shines, because you can't have a conversation like this with a PDF chart (and it would cost a lot of money to have a conversation with an astrologist). Here's what it said: ChatGPT/Screenshot by CNET ChatGPT/Screenshot by CNET ChatGPT shared a powerful perspective I hadn't considered: My need for stability vs. adventure aren't opposites but rather complementary. But I need a secure foundation in order to feel free. I always thought of it as a battle but, in fact, I can have both. The foundation enables freedom. Pretty insightful stuff. I like how it breaks down action steps to tend to both sides of my psyche: ChatGPT/Screenshot by CNET Next, I asked what's interesting about my chart that's not obvious to me. ChatGPT revealed that my need for security vs. surprise also comes through in my love life. I need love to feel surprising and non-traditional, even if I crave long-term connections. It even told me about how I interpret and show love. ChatGPT/Screenshot by CNET Not surprised that banter is important, as Aussies love good quips. It also picked up that I require freedom and impact in my work, even suggesting women's health advocacy, which is a growing passion of mine (after coming out and trying to conceive via IVF). ChatGPT even touched on past-life tendencies and then gave me some themes for the year: ChatGPT/Screenshot by CNET Relinquishing timelines -- a powerful lesson for me this year, as I navigate infertility. As I chatted with my AI astrologer, two big questions came up for me: What the second half of 2025 will bring. When I'll get pregnant. Here's some of my reading, which was filled with an impressive amount of info and predictions: ChatGPT/Screenshot by CNET It also gave me a "thematic timeline" for the rest of the year, and "themes to lean into." Can AI use astrology to predict your future? I asked ChatGPT when I will get pregnant and, to its credit, it said it can't predict exact events. One point for ethics! But it can help identify windows of emotional readiness, karmic timing and cosmic support based on my chart and current planetary transits. Here's what my AI astrologer predicts: ChatGPT/Screenshot by CNET ChatGPT/Screenshot by CNET I asked one final question: When should I do an embryo transfer based on my transits? It gave me two windows: Oct. 28-Nov. 22, 2025, and Feb. 7-Feb. 20, 2026. It described why those windows would be strong according to the planets and stars, and which would be the best transfer days within those windows. I even asked what was happening in June, when my latest embryo transfer failed. It explained what was going on in the planets and how the Capricorn Moon isn't a fertile placement. I ended the chat here on a high note: ChatGPT/Screenshot by CNET The verdict? Time will tell whether this comes true but I felt empowered and excited about my future after my AI astrology session. I won't be surrendering all control to the cosmos (or ChatGPT for that matter), but it's an insightful exercise to add to your self-discovery toolkit.

Washington Post
3 minutes ago
- Washington Post
On Saturday, millennials play mah-jongg
Last February, my friend Fiona texted a question to me and two other friends: Who wants to learn how to play mah-jongg? None of us — a group of millennial moms in our late 30s and early 40s — had ever played the game, often thought of as a retirement community pastime for Asian and Jewish grandparents. But we love a good pretext for cocktails and gossip. And we'd heard rumblings of a resurgence among women our age, won over by mah-jongg's combination of luck, skill, and socialization. So Liz ordered a cheap set of tiles. We DoorDashed dinner from Chang Chang, then sat down to memorize a chart of Chinese numerals and watch a YouTube tutorial. A few rounds later, we were hooked, and before long, our group text had a new name: Momjong.
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Netflix Announces Major Wednesday Update – And 1 Exciting Hint About It's Future
If you were one of the millions of fans who helped make Wednesday the most-watched English-language Netflix show of all time, there's some very good news about the future of the series. With season two of the award-winning reimagining of The Addams Family starring Jenna Ortega coming this August, there's now even more cause for celebration as Netflix has renewed for a third season. The streamer confirmed the news on its social media this week, sharing a post of Wednesday holding a spooky crystal ball with the number three on it, along with the tagline 'bad things come in threes'. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Wednesday Netflix (@wednesdaynetflix) The caption added: 'Season 2 awakens in two weeks. Season 3 is the next omen, already in motion, already inevitable.' And not only has Wednesday been confirmed for season three, but it looks like a spinoff series is in the early stages of discussions. As revealed in a new joint interview with star Jenna and director and executive producer Tim Burton in The Hollywood Reporter, showrunner Alfred Gough said a secretive spinoff is 'something we're definitely noodling; there are other characters we can look at'. She would never leave you hanging. Wednesday has been officially renewed for Season 3. Season 2 awakens in two weeks. — Netflix (@netflix) July 23, 2025 Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria also hinted that 'there's a lot to explore in the Addams Family'. While further details about the future of Wednesday remain under wraps for now, showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar added in a statement (via Deadline): 'It's been a dark delight to watch Wednesday cast her spell over audiences across the globe – one deadpan quip at a time. We're beyond thrilled she'll be returning to stalk the halls of Nevermore in Season 3. 'This time, she'll unearth more of the school's sinister secrets – and descend even deeper into the Addams family crypt. Or, as Wednesday would say: 'Nothing brings a family together like a good exhumation'.' In a statement to Netflix's Tudum, Alfred did give one hint that we will be 'seeing more Addams Family members and learning more family secrets in Season 3'. The news comes after fans learned last year that Lady Gaga was reported to be in a guest role for season two. Other new additions to the season two cast include Billie Piper, Thandiwe Newton, Joanna Lumley and Steve Buscemi. Part one of season two is set to drop on 6 August, with part two arriving on 3 September. Related... Will There Be An Untamed Season 2? Here's Everything We Know So Far Lady Gaga Has Joined The Cast Of This Absolutely Massive Netflix Show Stranger Things Creator Sets The Record Straight On 1 Major Rumour Ahead Of Season 5