‘The Idol’ Is Built on Controversies

Following the success of Euphoria, Sam Levinson is back with another controversial show that, while also filled with sex, violence, drugs, and alcohol, is attracting more scrutiny than its predecessor.

The Idol was co-created by Levinson, Abel Tesfaye (a.k.a. The Weeknd), and Reza Fahim. It stars Lily-Rose Depp as a troubled pop star attempting to recover her career the the wake of a mental health crisis and the loss of her mom. Tesfaye co-stars as a cult-like figure and Depp’s onscreen love interest.

Let’s take a dive down the BIG rabbit hole of controversies attached to The Idol.

A timeline of The Idol‘s controversies

April 2022: It’s reported by Deadline that director Amy Seimetz (The Girlfriend Experience) left the series. HBO declined to comment on the situation, but it is suggested that Seimetz left due to a “major creative overhaul.” It was then expected that Sam Levinson would take over as director.

HBO issued a statement on the change-up:

“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. The production will be adjusting its cast and crew accordingly to best serve this new approach to the series. We look forward to sharing more information soon.”

Two days later, one of the cast, Suzanna Son (Red Rocket), left for unknown reasons.

Variety subsequently reported that Tesfaye was “unhappy” with the way that the show was going (by this point, the majority of the series had reportedly been filmed), and did not like that the show was leaning so much into the “female perspective”… yeah, we know. The Idol then apparently underwent quite a few reshoots.

March 2023: Rolling Stone published an exposé on the series, in which numerous people involved with production elaborated on the creative overhaul and reshoots. The Idol had become “a shitshow” according to one crew member, and instead of being about a woman reclaiming her agency who falls victim to a predator and the evils of the industry, it was now a series heavily reliant on misogyny, and was described by those who worked on it as “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,” another person told Rolling Stone.

Tesfaye responded to the exposé by sharing a pointed clip from The Idol, in which Tedros and Jocelyn dismiss the publication as “irrelevant.”

Looking cocky and unamused, Tedros says, “Rolling Stone? Aren’t they a little irrelevant?” before Jocelyn (Depp) chimes in with, “Yeah, I don’t know, I think it might be past its prime, you know what I mean?” “Who cares about Rolling Stone?” Tedros asks, as he pulls up the publication’s Instagram page and looks at its follower count. “Half of them are probably bots,” he says to the interviewer, played by Dan Levy.

May 2023: Following the series’ premiere at the Cannes film festival, Levinson and Depp defended The Idol and responded to Rolling Stone‘s exposé.

“I just wanna say that it’s always sad and disheartening to hear mean, false things about someone you care about, and it wasn’t my experience shooting the show,” said Depp.

Levinson, as expected, was a little smug. He acknowledged that The Idol is “provocative,” and said that after his wife read him Rolling Stone‘s article, he told her, “I think we’re about to have the biggest show of the summer.”

He continued by saying, “When I read the specifics, however, it just felt completely foreign to me. But I know who I am. There’s the work, and there’s the managing of the persona. And that is not interesting to me, because it takes away from the work.” Levinson concluded with, “They’re free to write whatever they want. My only gripe is that they intentionally omitted anything that didn’t fit their narrative. But there’s been a lot of that lately.” 

Two of the show’s supporting actors, Jane Adams and Hank Azaria, also defended the series.

“I’m getting very upset in this society,” Adams told the Los Angeles Times. “Can we just create? Can we get messy and be free to think?” Azaria, a fellow industry vet, added, “I’ve been on chaotic sets before, and this was the opposite of that. Sam is a brilliant filmmaker.”

(featured image: HBO)