The Weeknd Made a TV Show. It's a Complete Disaster.

The Idol directed by Euphoria's Sam Levinson starring pop phenom Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye and Lily-Rose Depp is now available on HBO and Max. I kind of wish it wasn't!

0:00 - intro
3:07 - over before it started
8:36 - the idle
32:17 - ♫ reviews are bleak, yeah ♫
35:22 - conclusion

[maddiequill]

“Too much of a female perspective” only to write a female character and have the audacity to say she likes “rapey men”. absolutely insane

[taylorgayhart]

For me, the fact that Sam, who is a man, thought he was better suited for telling a woman’s story about rape culture, than a woman, tells me everything I need to know about him as a person.

[evil-yn]

The fact that they were worried about there being “too much of a female perspective” when the main character is a woman is rather concerning

[KaWiReloaded]

I can’t get past the fact that Sam, who literally got grilled because of all the nudity in euphoria, thought it would be OK to have a whole scene and narrative in the show about how intimacy coordinators are bad or negative. Especially when Sydney Sweeney literally praised her intimacy coordinator in order defend Sam. He is showing us exactly who he is. Let’s believe him please. All of us.

[siobhan]

'He's so rapey'
'Yeah, I kinda like that about him'

Absolutely insane, I actually felt physically ill when you played that clip.

[lemonies]

I said it once and I’ll say it again - this show feels like a sad excuse to see Lily Rose Depp as naked as possible for as long as possible

[galaxyghost]

How much do you want to bet that Sam Levinson has some sort of weird beef with an intimacy coordinator from euphoria or something. And included the character in the idol, just so he could live through his revenge fantasy of locking the coordinator in a bathroom. I’m willing to put real money on that.

[hirudineadentes]

The intimacy coordinator isn't just there for the model/actor/person being intimate, they're also there for EVERYONE ELSE who did not necessarily consent to seeing a woman fully nude at the shoot. It's not all about her!!

[virginia]

That fact that there was a woman director originally and she was “let go” for fucking SAM LEVINSON tells me everything I need to know about this show

[emilyh.]

Anyone else find it weird that they didn’t want the show seen from too much of a female perspective yet it’s supposed to be a show about tackling corrupt ideals in Hollywood… you know.. like how in Hollywood women aren’t taken seriously and ostracized/sexualized and not given room for their own ideas. The irony and lack of self awareness is insane.

[ava_marie_v]

The fact that the show, which is directed by someone known for putting lots of nudity and sexual stuff into his productions, starts out with a scene kind of mocking and putting down nudity contracts and intimacy coordinators, a VERY vital part of this industry that is full of exploitation, is concerning. Like, is the take away supposed to be that it's more empowering to dismiss the literal safety measures put in place to lessen the amount of sexual

[bestkoi]

the minute they decided to villainize the intimacy coordinator I knew this show was a red flag. Something about sam Levinson villinaizing an intimacy coordinator after euphoria raises several questions

[Rebecca-egbm]

the fact that, by the second episode, we've seen nearly every part of Lily Rose Depp's body, but have barely seen a chest hair from the weeknd, or any other man says everything you need to know about the show.

[methecat]

so far i think the idol is one of the best examples of how the male gaze is not only culturally damaging but can also actually ruin art. there was an interesting concept and story here, but it was ruined by the men who can’t seem to see women and our pain as anything other than sexual objects. i’d kill to see the original idea with amy directing.

[marisolschickenwing]

I keep seeing people judge this show as “a guided map-quest through Sam Levinson’s perverted kinks.” and it’s just super fitting it’s uncomfortable 😭

[deseraynicole]

That child actress story line for Jocelyn is 100% based on Jennette McCurdy’s memoir. It’s honestly so disgusting that they gave Jocelyn if not based a lot of her background on Jennette’s actual growing up (having an incredibly troubled co-dependent relationship with her mom, her mom essentially giving her an eating disorder, losing her mom to cancer) I MEAN WHAT THE HELL SAM LEVINSON

[toastedpeaches]

Not really that surprising that this show, which was supposed to be about misogyny in the industry, would also be a breeding ground for the exact thing they’re criticising. Especially with the blatantly sexualised and terribly written female characters. The fact they fired the female director for shoving too much of a ‘female perspective’ cements this.

Plus... getting Sam Levinson of all people to critique misogyny is rich💀

[sarahslayy]

The fact that this show was supposed to be about the misogyny of show business and sadly turned into exactly that behind the scenes
edit: what i meant was the show itself turned into what it was originally trying to make a commentary about. the first comment was confusingly worded

[devonelias]

The whole “it’s suppose to feel corny/uneasy” excuse doesn’t even work because the show obviously takes itself too serious for this to even come across as such.

[FortuitousOwl]

Sam Levinson is a creepy weirdo and I'm glad more people are realizing this. And the Weeknd seems to not be as much of a facade as its just who Abel is. Also, the two main actors being the most vocal about how great Sam is to work with gives me the same vibes of celebrities defending Ellen. Like of course it was nice for YOU.