The first episode of the new series of Sam Levinson mind behind “Euphoria”, “The Idol” premieres this Sunday (4), at 9 pm, on HBO and arrives on HBO Max at 10 pm.
The plot accompanies a young artist in crisis who enters the underworld of the music industry and becomes involved with the owner of a popular Los Angeles nightclub, who secretly runs a cult.
The series is starred and produced by The Weeknd, and features names like Lily-Rose Depp , jennie by the k-pop group BLACKPINK, troye sivan and more in the cast.
The work had two episodes shown at the Cannes Festival and caused astonishment in viewers. However, even before the exhibition at the event, Sam Levinson’s production had already given what to talk about in the media and social networks months ago.
See below the controversies of The Idol
change of direction
In April 2022, the principal Amy Seimetz left the production, which was scheduled to premiere at the end of that year, with about 80% of the series ready.
Levinson took over “The Idol” and, as HBO said at the time, the production would undergo a major creative overhaul and tweak the cast and crew. With that, the release was delayed and news of the series became scarce.
There was little explanation for the change, except for reports from the co-creator. Abel Tesfaye formerly called The Weeknd, saying he felt the show was going too far for a “female perspective.”
“torture porn”
News about the series began to circulate after a report by the magazine “Rolling Stone”, from March 2023, which claims to have heard 13 sources who worked on the set of recordings.
According to the publication, the sources claim that the program had “gone wildly and disgustingly off the rails”.
While Seimetz approached the story through the lens of Lily-Rose Depp’s character — imagining a tale about the twisted effects of fame and a meat-eating industry — Levinson’s approach was more focused on a toxic romance, the report said.
Sources who spoke to the magazine stated that the production was chaotic, full of incomplete scripts and re-shots.
Also according to the report, three sources said that Levinson’s scripts contained sexual and physically violent and disturbing scenes between Depp and Tesfaye’s characters.
In one episode of the draft, there was supposedly a scene where Tesfaye hits Depp in the face, and her character smiles and asks to be spanked more, giving Tesfaye an erection.
According to the source, this scene was never filmed, the magazine reported.
According to the publication, another proposed scenario was for Depp to carry an egg in her vagina and without dropping or breaking it. The sources said the scene was also not filmed because the production couldn’t find a way to realistically film the scene without Depp physically inserting the egg.
“It was like, ‘What is this? What am I reading here?’”, says one of the sources to the Rolling Stone report. “It was like sexual torture porn.”
reaction to the report
In response to “Rolling Stone,” HBO released a statement saying that the show’s “creative team is committed to creating a safe, collaborative, and mutually respectful work environment, and over the past year, the team has made creative, casting and casting changes. and crew that they considered to be in the best interest of the production and the audience.”
Also in response to the report, The Weeknd posted a scene from the series on Twitter, in which Depp’s character refuses a cover of “Rolling Stone” because the magazine is too “irrelevant”. He captioned the clip with “[Rolling Stone] did we upset you?”.
“It’s always a little sad and disheartening to see mean and untrue things said about someone you care about. It didn’t reflect my experience at all,” Depp said, responding to the magazine’s article.
Repercussion in Cannes
The response from viewers after the premiere of the series in Cannes was negative. While some praised some of the actors’ performances, Levinson’s direction – and the story in general – were criticized.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the production has a 25% approval rating after showing at the event.
The Weeknd defended the production at Cannes, saying, “Initially we wanted to take a dark, twisted fairy tale with the music industry and everything I know about it, and heighten it.”
At the festival press conference, Sam Levinson quoted the Rolling Stone report again and said that when his wife read the article, he told her, “I think we’re about to have the biggest show of the summer. [dos Estados Unidos]”.
watch the trailer
*With information from Leah Asmelash of CNN
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
