Laura Prepon Is Not Leaving ‘Orange Is The New Black’ Now … Maybe

So Laura Prepon is not leaving the hit Netflix show Orange Is the New Black. Maybe. We don’t know.

We reported earlier this week that the 33-year-old actress won’t be returning for Season 2, despite the fact that her character is one-third of a veritable triumvirate of main characters (and even saying that does a terrible disservice to the motley crew of colorful and complex personalities in the show) and that her character arc still has quite a ways to go.

Or so we thought?

When asked by Vulture if she’s coming back, Prepon said “Yeah, of course. It’s just scheduling. It’s all scheduling, girl,” but an editor’s note before the interview says that Prepon was interviewed before BuzzFeed announced her departure from the show. So maybe “scheduling” didn’t work out like the next day?

Anyway, the original rumor is that Prepon’s lesbian drug dealer Alex Vause “will come back for a limited number of episodes in the show’s 13-episode second season in order to resolve her story. And the door will be left often for her to return in the future. But the actress did not sign a contract tying her to the show for the upcoming season.”

Netflix execs ambiguously said, “our season is still developing and nothing is confirmed.”

The Hollywood Reporter‘s Lesley Goldberg said, “It remains unclear whether Prepon’s exit was her decision or a creative direction from executive producer Jenji Kohan.”

Maybe we’re just all overreacting. The show was such a major media and critical darling that we’re all feeling a little overprotective, right? Maybe Prepon’s Vause was always meant to be paroled or killed off in Season 2.

But they’re filming right now, so… we think it’s safe to assume that in the vacuum of real information, Prepon is probably back in her prison scrubs for now.

We’ll let you know if we hear anything more about Laura Prepon’s Orange Is the New Black status, but my advice for now is wait for confirmation before losing your marbles.