The Idol (HBO) | Rolling Stone (First Exclusive Scene) | The Weeknd, Lily-Rose Depp

‘The Idol’: How HBO’s Next ‘Euphoria’ Became Twisted ‘Torture Porn’ Thirteen sources tell Rolling Stone that The Idol — Sam Levinson’s new show with The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp — has gone wildly, disgustingly off the rails.

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LILY-ROSE DEPP AS a glamorous, troubled pop star. The Weeknd as a slimy, modern cult leader. Supporting roles for Blackpink’s Jennie, Troye Sivan, and a handful of other buzzy stars. And in-demand director Sam Levinson at the helm. For months, the hype machine has been at full tilt for HBO’s upcoming series The Idol, which is being billed as a darker, crazier, and more risqué version of Levinson’s smash-hit Euphoria.

Levinson and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye are the “sick and twisted minds” behind the “sleaziest love story in all of Hollywood” (HBO’s words) that follows pop superstar Jocelyn (Depp) as she navigates the seedy underbelly of the music industry and falls under the spell of Tedros (Tesfaye), a mysterious owner of a popular L.A. nightclub who secretly runs a cult reminiscent of NXIVM and Scientology.

Though the show was ordered to series in November 2021, it’s been months since HBO gave a concrete update about when The Idol will debut. One source with knowledge of the production schedule tells Rolling Stone the network initially hoped for The Idol to premiere last fall, taking over the Sunday time slot left open by House of the Dragon, which ended in October. Yet three teaser trailers have come and gone, and HBO can still only offer a vague “later this year.” (A rep for the network declined to comment on when the show will air.)

Now, production sources tell Rolling Stone that even they are in the dark on when the show will make it to air, and have little idea about what the final version will look like, claiming the production was plagued by delays, reshoots, and rewrites. “It was, let’s just say, a shitshow,” one says.

The first public inkling of trouble came last April, when director Amy Seimetz, of The Girlfriend Experience and She Dies Tomorrow, suddenly exited with roughly 80 percent of the six-episode series finished. HBO addressed the news by confirming The Idol was set to have a major creative overhaul and would be adjusting the cast and crew. There was little explanation for the shakeup, except for reports that Tesfaye, who is co-creator, felt the show was heading too much into a “female perspective.”

In interviews with 13 members of the show’s cast and crew, Rolling Stone has learned the drastic delay was caused by Levinson taking over as director and scrapping the nearly-finished $54-75 million project to rewrite and reshoot the entire thing.

With Seimetz out of the picture, HBO handed the reins to Levinson, only to have him weaken the show’s overarching message, many sources say, by dialing up the disturbing sexual content and nudity to match — and even surpass — that of his most successful show, Euphoria.

“What I signed up for was a dark satire of fame and the fame model in the 21st century,” one production member explains. “The things that we subject our talent and stars to, the forces that put people in the spotlight and how that can be manipulated in the post-Trump world.” However, they add, “It went from satire to the thing it was satirizing.”

Four sources say that Levinson ultimately scrapped Seimetz’s approach to the story, making it less about a troubled starlet falling victim to a predatory industry figure and fighting to reclaim her own agency, and more of a degrading love story with a hollow message that some crew members describe as being offensive.

“It was like any rape fantasy that any toxic man would have in the show — and then the woman comes back for more because it makes her music better,” one production member explains of Levinson’s version.

Levinson and Tesfaye did not respond to requests for comment, however after this story published, Tesfaye posted a clip from The Idol, writing, “Rolling Stone did we upset you?”

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[bluxverse]

We can't wait for this show to finally premiere on HBO!!!! Subscribe for more! #BLUX

[Lord_Vadr]

This feels like commercial level acting. It feels like a comedic commercial. Specifically like a local access one, with a decent camera.

[layplum]

This is the first time I’ve ever heard Abel talk in a full sentence lmao

[gloriaemon]

Dan Levy is TRYING guys. Carrying the scene with all he got !

[wiiplaya]

Abels voice is jarring to hear in a normal conversation haha

[midkay]

Wow Abel needs some acting lessons, stat

[saige.]

u can tell they came up with the script like 5 mins after the article came out 💀💀 this show is a mess

[shisea]

They did my boy Abel dirty with that wig 😭😭 free him

[JustWhattaRuLookinAt]

I know it’s a short scene, but you’re telling me this is the acting we will mainly be seeing with a lot of the scenes of other characters cut short? 💀 And also Lily barely has any lines here.. I—
(lol maybe it’s too soon for me to judge tho idk)

[anabelanguyen]

I mean, it wasn’t that bad. If Lily and The Weeknd are trying to be unrelatable influencers, it makes sense why the scene feels so awkward. It’s an awkward conversation. I think it’s the point. His facial reaction in the beginning was a bit much but other than that, I don’t see anything egregious here

[doedee]

So, is this scene not in the show? I couldn't help but notice there's a lot of scenes in the trailers that we have yet to see in the show, and now we are at the season finale

[stephyfra]

This feels like a real conversation that could actually happen unlike euphoria, which I do love but a lot of the lines a teen would never say.

[smokerscough]

Horrible acting and writing. It's giving Scarface ripoff without the flare.

[uxvwmbk]

I think this is too short of a scene to be judging Lily's acting just yet. Still gonna watch the show and decide from there if it's good or not.

[mimilook]

Poor Lily, she was trying hard, she was very excited about this show. I hope she and all other actors besides Weeknd get a better chance to show off their talent

[TheChosennn]

This has to be one of the cringiest things I’ve ever seen

[jackhawk]

The amount of people I see who are going apeshit on this show fail to realize it's a work of fiction...they're acting, that's the whole point, lol

[puppiestgirl]

this show is an excuse for abel to make a pass at lily

[emmasamantha]

Isn't she supposed to be an up and coming artist? How does she have 78M followers. Does the weekend even have that many 😂

[TRIADYA]

This must be a parody with symbolism, otherwise I can't think why would Abel do this