The lowdown on the controversy surrounding HBO's 'The Idol' starring The Weeknd

Since HBO announced The Idol, there has been significant buzz all over social media about the show’s release date — and plenty of controversy surrounding its plot. It has been reported that the dark and twisted series will premiere in June on HBO Max. While we have a clearer idea about when the show will premiere, the exact release date hasn’t been revealed yet.

The show has also been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. It has been reported that Euphoria creator Sam Levinson (who’s the producer and director) and lead actor-producer The Weeknd helped foster a toxic workplace environment. Reportedly, the original scripts also featured a lot of violent scenes that, according to Rolling Stone, could be described as someone’s ‘rape fantasy’.

Co-created by musician The Weeknd, also known as Abel Tesfaye, Levinson and Reza Fahim, The Idol is based on the music industry. According to the plot description by Variety, the story revolves around a modern-day cult leader who eventually develops a complicated relationship with an up-and-coming pop idol.

What is HBO’s The Idol about?

HBO’s The Idol will have six episodes. The pop idol is being played by Lily-Rose Depp, while the cult leader is being essayed by The Weeknd. The trailer of the series opens with the words “From the sick and twisted minds of the Creator of Euphoria Sam Levinson and Abel ‘The Weekend’ Tesfaye,” and describes the story’s romance as “the sleaziest love story”.

Who is in The Idol‘s cast?

Besides Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd, the cast of The Idol also includes Suzanna Son, Troye Sivan, Moses Sumney, Jane Adams, Dan Levy, Jennie Kim of BLACKPINK, Eli Roth, Rachel Sennott, Melanie Liburd, Tunde Adebimpe, Elizabeth Berkley Lauren, Nico Hiraga and Anne Heche (who tragically passed away last year).

The series was first in development in June 2021, when news broke out that The Weeknd has been writing and planning to work on a TV series. A few months later around September 2021, Depp was cast and in November 2021, HBO took over the project.

The show will also feature the debut of BLACKPINK’s Jennie

K-pop fans in particular have something to look forward to as BLACKPINK’s Jennie will also make her acting debut with The Idol. Speaking about how this role came to her in an interview with Yonhap, Jennie explained that she found the script intriguing and wanted to be a part of the series.

What we know about the controversy surrounding The Idol

According to Rolling Stone, the show underwent a major upheaval last April, when its original director Amy Seimetz abruptly quit despite the series being almost finished. Levinson took over and decided to rescript and reshoot the whole project, resulting in delays. Rolling Stone’s sources described how he also “[dialled] up the disturbing sexual content and nudity” and kept editing the script. The show was plagued with disorganised schedules too— partly due to The Weeknd’s music tour schedule — and crew members were constantly left in the dark about script changes.

After the Rolling Stone exposé went viral, The Weeknd took a jab at the allegations with a Tweet.

.@RollingStone did we upset you? pic.twitter.com/Uyx06lyRgx

— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) March 1, 2023

Will The Idol eventually get released despite all the controversy around it? We can’t wait to see how things unfold.

This story first appeared on Augustman India

(Main and featured images: IMDb/ The Idol)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)