HBO
The third and final season of Euphoria premiered on Sunday night, but it did so without one of its lead actors, as Fezco performer Angus Cloud passed away from an accidental overdose at the age of 25 years old back in 2023. In the episode, Euphoria provided an in-universe explanation for why Fezco will no longer appear in the show.
Angus Cloud, who played the beloved drug dealer across the first two seasons of the popular yet divisive HBO series, died in July 2023 at age 25 due to an accidental overdose of methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, and benzodiazepines.
Euphoria season three dealt with the death of Angus Cloud by saying that his character Fezco is serving a 30-year prison sentence
Controversial creator Sam Levinson addressed his absence through a conversation between the Rue (Zendaya) and Lexi (Maude Apatow) characters during the season’s five-year time jump, revealing that Fezco is alive but serving a 30-year prison sentence following the Season 2 raid.
FEZCO has been in prison for years and he still thinks about lexi in euphoria i’m sick pic.twitter.com/dcfU7Xmhtz
— ؘ (@rhaenyrarchives) April 13, 2026
are you telling me lexi thought for 5 YEARS that fezco didn’t just show up to the play she dedicated to him?? i’m gonna kms pic.twitter.com/hrYJ6JWiPu
— lily (@maudescat) April 10, 2026
According to Levinson has, prior to Cloud’s death, he originally planned Fez as the backbone of Season 3, and that keeping the character alive off-screen was his way of honoring Cloud rather than killing him off definitively.
Like much of season three thus far, the reaction to Fezco’s storyline has been divided. While some fans have praised the restraint of keeping Fez alive as a tribute, others have argued that a clean off-screen death would have been more dignified than writing the character off into a three-decade prison sentence.
seria mais justo fazer uma homenagem e informar que o fezco morreu, visto que o angus cloud MORREU
que falta de respeito https://t.co/dB28nJEA4K
— sarah, occasionally. 🐝 🏒 (@vaughnfalcone) April 13, 2026
so instead of honoring fez’s character in death the had him go to jail for 30 years and now lexi’s a prison wife? that’s what yall wanted? #euphoria
— erinspresso (@riverindaIe) April 13, 2026
The debate surrounding Fezco debate is just one of several controversies surrounding the new season, which has drawn particular widespread backlash for a storyline involving Sydney Sweeney’s character Cassie selling adult content while dressed as a baby.
The situations that Levinson has put Sweeney’s character in has led to calls for him to “have his laptop checked.” Perhaps series lead Zendaya could sense the incoming backlash against Levinson, as the premiere also went viral for a moment in which Zendaya appeared to actively avoid taking a photo with Levinson on the red carpet.