According to The Hollywood Reporter, Renee Rapp (Mean Girls) left The Sex Lives of College Girls on the second episode of the third season. Even though fans knew Rapp was exiting the show, no exact reason was given.
The main reason was that the decision aligns with Leighton, Rapp’s character, and her personality as a winner. She has decided to transfer to MIT to pursue a career in finance.
Previously stated in a Hollywood Reporter interview, co-showrunner Justin Noble (Never Have I Ever, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) discussed how the writers wrote Rapp’s departure from the show. “We kind of landed on this pretty quickly. I mean, when you start to think about ways that college students leave, you’re pretty limited. It’s not like Reneé’s character was gonna go on a hike, and then Kimberly’s like, ‘You mean the rocky, dangerous hike near the cliff?’ And then, she falls off or something. Really, the only thing that could happen was that she would transfer to a different school.”
“But as we started talking about it, Mindy and I were chatting, we’re like, ‘This is Leighton Murray we’re talking about. The only thing Leighton Murray does is win,’” he continued. “So there’s no world where she would leave other than to take a massive step towards what would be her best, most powerful life moving forward.”
As The Hollywood Reporter recaps, Leighton’s exit from The Sex Lives of College Girls can first be seen in the debut episode of the third season. She walked into an empty classroom for a high-level math class taught by Professor Tocchini, played by John Pirrucello (Barry, The Valet). The class was canceled because she was the only student who passed the placement exam. However, Tocchini offers an alternative option since she teaches at The University of Vermont, which has more advanced math classes Leighton can take. That plan ended shortly, but there was no last alternative. Tocchini then called a friend who works at MIT to transfer her as she will get all of the math classes she needs.
The second episode shows Leighton making the decision to transfer to MIT after receiving an offer to start as early as next week, per THR. Her girlfriend Alicia also lives in Boston, which wasn’t the reason for her transfer; she did it for the math program. She struggled to tell her friends, given they had been beside her since freshman year. They find out through another person but are supportive. Before leaving for MIT, she had parties and pregames with her friends in Essex.
In a previous THR interview, Rapp shared how hard it was for her to leave the show. She shared how she was discovering her personal sexuality along with her character. She also tells how hard it was filming the first season.
The news of Rapp’s departure was announced during the summer of 2023. Mxdwn touches on when she appeared as a guest star rather than a series regular, building up to her departure.
The Sex Lives of College Girls releases episodes on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Max.