Louise Thompson blasts Euphoria over stoma bag scene: ‘That’s pretty rank’

Louise Thompson has taken fierce aim at Euphoria over a controversial moment that features a stoma bag, describing it as ‘upsetting’ and ‘pretty rank’.

The final season of the drama – which came to an end last week – has made headlines throughout its eight-episode run, with viewers criticising its ‘disturbing’ and ‘vulgar’ scenes.

In the penultimate episode, crime kingpin Alamo Brown (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) is speaking to his employee Big Eddy (Kadeem Hardison), who has a stoma bag after surviving a gunshot to the abdomen.

A stoma bag is a medical device that’s used to collect bodily waste and is worn over the stoma, an opening that’s been made in the abdomen.

There are several reasons why a person might need to wear a stoma bag, such as if they’ve been diagnosed with colon cancer, if they’ve suffered an injury to the abdomen or if they have a severe case of inflammatory bowel disease.

In the Euphoria scene, Big Eddy reveals that his stomach has been stapled closed and that he’s now wearing a stoma bag, with Alamo calling the device a ‘s**t bag’ and telling his associate: ‘Don’t be showing that to no motherf***er. Nasty.’

In April 2024, former Made In Chelsea star Louise revealed that she was wearing a stoma bag, having previously been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.

At the time, she wrote: ‘Isn’t it bizarre that this little grey pouch is the price I pay for good health! I say good riddance to that nasty menacing colon!’

Two years later, she has spoken out against Euphoria’s depiction of a character mocking and insulting the use of a stoma bag, questioning if it’s a ‘tad irresponsible’.

Speaking in an Instagram video, she explained that while she’s never watched the drama before, many people have sent her the clip of the scene between Alamo and Eddy.

‘I’m going to direct quote some of the lines in this series, because I’d love to get your thoughts on them. So, he says, “That there’s a s**t bag, huh? All these staples look like railroad tracks, cover that s**t up, that’s nasty. Don’t be showing that to no motherf***er,”’ she said.

‘Obviously, my acting is not very good, and these aren’t exactly words that roll off my tongue, but I’ve been thinking about how I feel about it, because I don’t think it’s that simple.’

The 36-year-old acknowledged that in her opinion, it’s ‘quite progressive’ for HBO to have featured a stoma bag on a major TV show.

‘I don’t know whether that would have kind of existed on TV 10 years ago. I think that it’s important for people to be exposed to these sorts of things that over 100,000 people in this country live with,’ she stated.

However, Louise then continued: ‘I don’t think that the terminology that is used is very appropriate. The framing, the disgust, the “cover that s**t up”, instead of it feeling like representation and fair representation, instead it slightly feels like we’re using someone’s horrendous medical circumstances as a punchline, and I’m not sure how that sits with me, because I only have to think about my former self.’

Louise explained that she was ‘incredibly insecure’ when she was a teenager and ‘struggled with body confidence’, so if she’d had her surgery when she was younger and then seen this scene, it would have ‘made everything 10 times worse for me’.

‘And I also wonder whether it encourages certain people who don’t know better, who might watch that show, to kind of nod along and be like, “Yeah, that is really disgusting.” And then there’s maybe the risk that those people will go and actually feel that in public when faced with meeting somebody that does have a stoma bag,’ she continued.

‘Ultimately, I do think that it does more damage than silence does, because essentially you’re telling everyone that has a stoma bag or that has horrendous scars to cover them up, and that they shouldn’t wear them with pride. I think that’s pretty rank. I’d love to know what your thoughts are on this.’

In the caption that accompanied her video, Louise stressed to her followers: ‘Just a reminder that your life-saving medical device is NOT nasty and does not need to be hidden away or fill you with shame!!!’

She added that the scene in question felt ‘quite jarring and a little upsetting to watch’ given how scarcely stoma bags are shown on TV, adding: ‘I wonder if it’s a tad irresponsible?!?!’

Louise was flooded with responses to her video, with some people agreeing with her and others saying Alamo is supposed to come across as cruel and insensitive.

‘Hear hear (as the proud owner of an ileostomy that saved my life 28 years ago) 👏👏👏,’ Dr Liesel commented on Instagram, while Helen wrote: ‘I have one too and completely agree 👏.’

‘I think it’s about the character not having any grace or empathy. We aren’t meant to be thinking that’s the way to behave. 💜,’ Zoe shared

‘I agree but I think in this instance that was the point of that character, he shows no empathy or compassion to what the previous character has been through,’ Zahra commented.

Metro has contacted HBO for comment.

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