CULTURE

Drake Gave the Euphoria Cast Enough Cash to “Buy a Couple Cars”

Algee Smith describes Euphoria’s appropriately extravagant wrap party.


2017 NBA Awards Live On TNT - Inside
Michael Loccisano

The NBA may have asked Drake to rein in his overt Toronto Raptors fandom—going so far as to request that he not attend a game in Oakland—but the cast of Euphoria probably isn’t going to ask him to dial back his antics any time soon. At the wrap party for the HBO drama, which Drake executive produced, the Toronto-based rapper reportedly doled out enough cash to buy several cars, according to the actor Algee Smith, who plays Chris McKay in the show.

In an interview with TMZ, Smith described the rapper’s involvement with the series, right down the festivities celebrating the end of the shoot. “Drake came on set a few times,” he said. “He threw us a wrap party; he gave away, I don’t want to say how much bread he gave away but he gave us some money at the wrap party,” he went on, smiling coyly. “It was hefty. You could buy a couple cars, I’ll say that.” Seems appropriate for a show that’s already being touted for its over-the-top, Skins-like hedonism.

In the show, Smith stars alongside Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Alexa Demie, and models turned actors like Hunter Schafer (who’s also been an outspoken activist for trans individuals) and Barbie Ferreira. “This is the first of its kind, period,” Smith told TMZ of the show, which has, among other things, a reportedly very high penis count. Drake’s involvement has come up as a talking point throughout the series’ introductory press run; though Zendaya told Entertainment Tonight she wasn’t quite sure how involved the rapper was in the whole production, she did tell the site that “we’re lucky to have someone who believes in the show.”

When he’s not recklessly doling out cash to the young actors or freaking out about basketball, Drake’s still moonlighting making music (including some featuring, somewhat questionably, Chris Brown). Actually, the basketball part is pretty unavoidable: His latest batch of releases, the singles “Omertà” and “Money in the Grave,” part of the Best in the World Pack, were put out in celebration of the Raptors’ first championship win.

Related: Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, and the Euphoria Cast Are Already the Coolest Teens in TV History