Reneé Rapp Says She 'Definitely' Has 'Feelings' About 'Sex Lives of College Girls' Departure (Exclusive)

After the news of her step back from Mindy Kaling's hit show Sex Lives of College Girls broke in July, Renée Rapp admits that she has more to say about it — but she can't due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.

"I definitely have feelings about it and what that means for the show and me and my music," she tells PEOPLE exclusively.

"But I can't really comment on anything just due to the SAG and the WGA strike. It prohibits me from talking about it, but I have a lot of feelings about it," the 23-year-old singer-songwriter adds.

In July, a source close to production told PEOPLE that Rapp, who plays Leighton Murray on the Max show, would no longer appear as a series regular. She is still set to appear in a handful of episodes on a recurring basis.

Amid the shakeup, the "Too well" singer shared a statement on X (formerly known as Twitter) and told fans that taking on the role as Leighton had "changed my life."

"College girls moved me out to LA and introduced me to some of my favorite people. 2 and a half years later – it's given me y’all and this community," she wrote before extending gratitude to the show's creators. “Thank u Mindy [Kaling], Justin [Noble] and everyone at Max for believing in me.”

She added, "A lot of queer work gets belittled – but playing Leighton has changed my life. I love who I am 10x more than I did before knowing her. I hope she gave y’all a little bit of that too."

Though she claimed that television has a long way to go, Rapp acknowledged that the "tiny part of representation" she gave to viewers as a queer character still counted. 

“I wouldn't be half the person I am without her and y'all," the singer concluded. "I love that bitch more than you know. I'm so excited for this season and I can't wait for you to see what we have coming for her and the girls."

Rapp played Leighton Murray, a wealthy student who explored and came to terms with her sexuality as a queer individual on campus, in the show's first two seasons. Alongside her suitemates and unexpected friends, played by Pauline Chalamet, Amrit Kaur and Alyah Chanelle Scott, the group entered their first year of higher education at Essex College. 

The "In the Kitchen" artist is also set to reprise her role as Regina George in Paramount's upcoming Mean Girls The Musical movie alongside Angourie Rice, Jaquel Spivey and Auli'i Cravalho after previously starring in the Broadway adaptation. 

In December, she opened up to PEOPLE about her candid EP, Everything to Everyone, and her music career dreams coming true.

"I've been saying that [music] is my thing my whole life, without having really done it," Rapp told PEOPLE at the time. "I was like, 'This is it.' I've been professing that I wanna do this, I wanna play shows, I wanna make it, but it wasn't until about a week ago that I knew I could actually do that."

As she moves forward, Rapp is focusing on her music career with the release of Snow Angel on Friday. Then, in September, she'll kick off her Snow Hard Feelings Tour. As for her future in acting, Rapp says she has "no idea how anything will happen."

"I just want to do anything that makes me happy and makes me feel really supported," she says.

For more from Reneé Rapp, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.