'The Idol' Cast Reacts to Backlash, Controversial Sex Scenes

In protection of Jocelyn. Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd have been sharing their ideas in regards to the backlash to The Idol, which premiered on HBO in June 2023.

The collection — wherein Depp performs troubled pop star Jocelyn — began making headlines a couple of 12 months earlier than it premiered. In April 2022, director Amy Seimetz exited the mission, reportedly after finishing six episodes. At the time, Deadline reported that The Weeknd (actual title Abel Tesfaye) felt the present was leaning an excessive amount of right into a “female perspective” with its concentrate on Jocelyn.

“The Idol’s creative team continues to build, refine and evolve their vision for the show and they have aligned on a new creative direction,” HBO advised Variety in a press release on the time. “The production will be adjusting its cast and crew accordingly to best serve this new approach to the series.”

Nearly one 12 months later, Rolling Stone revealed an exposé that described manufacturing on the collection as a “s–tshow.” According to the article, the present was unexpectedly rewritten to embrace extra intercourse and nudity after Sam Levinson took the reins following Seimetz’s departure.

In response, The Weeknd tweeted a clip from the present wherein Dan Levy‘s character suggests a Rolling Stone profile to Jocelyn. Before she can answer, the “Blinding Lights” singer’s character, Tedros, solutions for her. “Rolling Stone? Aren’t they a little irrelevant?” he asks. In his caption for the clip, The Weeknd added, “@RollingStone did we upset you?”

HBO, in the meantime, denied the report, claiming that the preliminary model of the present “did not meet HBO standards,” so the community went again to the drafting board. “Throughout the process, the creative team has been committed to creating a safe, collaborative and mutually respectful working environment, and last year, the team made creative changes they felt were in the best interest of both the production and the cast and crew,” a rep for the community advised Variety in a press release in March 2023.

After The Idol premiered in June 2023, debate about whether or not the present is misogynist continued on-line. One Vulture critic described the intercourse scenes as “like faint rape-fantasy porn,” whereas The Playlist known as The Idol “crude, gross and sexist.”

Levinson, for his half, isn’t bothered by the criticism. “That’s what makes it exciting, that these discussions are fraught,” the Euphoria creator advised The New York Times in June 2023. “I think running headfirst into that fire is what thrills us all.”

Depp has additionally expressed her admiration for the present in addition to her fellow creators. In response to Rolling Stone‘s article about The Idol, the King actress declared Levinson “the best director” she’s ever labored with. “Never have I felt more supported or respected in a creative space, my input and opinions more valued,” she advised E! News in a press release in March 2023. “Working with Sam is a true collaboration in every way — it matters to him, more than anything, not only what his actors think about the work, but how we feel performing it.”

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