All the Controversy Behind HBO's 'The Idol,' Explained

The Idol is not off to a good start. 

Not only did the show cause quite a stir at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in May, but it also dealt with previous reports about the set being a  toxic environment. 

The new drama, created by Sam Levinson and starring Lily-Rose Depp and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, debuts on HBO on June 4. The audience at Cannes already got a preview of the first two episodes and the reviews have been almost uniformly negative, citing a lack of substance and a full-frontal assault of gratuitous nudity and depraved, demeaning sex. 

"[It feels] nasty, brutish, much longer than it is, and way, way worse than you’d have anticipated," a Rolling Stone review said. "So much of it amounts to tawdry clichés lifted from Sidney Sheldon novels and softcore porn,” says Variety. One of the more withering assessments came from Time, whose review said that the show "only pretends to expose exploitation, while actually reveling in it." 

It begs the question: Did the creator intend for this result in full awareness of his hypocrisy? Or is this artistic malpractice—as if someone set out to film a subversive critique of the porn industry, and accidentally made porn?

Regardless, the controversy almost assures that The Idol will draw in eyeballs and ratings for the same reason that some people can’t look away from a car wreck. How did it come to this? And what implications does this have for HBO and for the creators, actors, and personalities involved in its creation? 

Here is everything you need to know about the controversy behind HBO's The Idol, ahead of its debut.

The Idol is a six-episode dramatic series about a pop star named Jocelyn (Depp), who recently suffered a nervous breakdown and is trying to elevate her profile in the public eye. Jocelyn meets Tedros (Tesfaye), a cult leader who seduces her and attempts to ingratiate himself into her life. The show explores Jocelyn's developing sexuality, as she discovers a kink for loss of control and humiliation. This exploration unfolds in explicit, discomforting detail.

Lily-Rose Depp, daughter of actor Johnny Depp and model Vanessa Paradis, stars as struggling pop star Jocelyn. Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye co-stars as cult leader Tedros. These characters inhabit an insular world—the remaining supporting characters are mostly hanger-ons, cult members, or personal assistants to either Jocelyn or Tedros. 

The casting for these ancillary characters is a cross-section of young Hollywood, and includes Jennie Kim from girl group Blackpink, YouTuber Troye Sivan, Red Rocket star Suzanna Son, Bodies Bodies Bodies’ Rachel Sennott and Transparent’s Hari Nef, as well as music producer Mike Dean. 

The creators behind the show are The Weeknd, nightlife entrepreneur Reza Fahim, and Sam Levinson, who is best known as the creator behind HBO’s hit series Euphoria. They hired director Amy Seimetz (The Girlfriend Experience, She Dies Tomorrow) to direct, but Seimetz left the project following a radical change in creative direction. 

The changes that garnered the most attention and controversy were disturbing and sexual content added to the scripts. According to sources, the show, which began as a satire of Hollywood exploitation with a feminist lens, has now become a sort of male sexual fantasy, and an example of the very thing it satirized. "Torture porn" is how one source cited by Rolling Stone described it.

We know, from the reviews that came out of Cannes, that within the first two episodes, there is a scene where Depp chokes herself for self-gratification, and partakes in explicit scenes of sex and sado-masochism. It seems that sexual degradation positively affects her character's music, and so she begins to seek it out.

How depraved will this get in future episodes? One scene, which was proposed but never used, involved Depp's character begging Tesfaye's character to "rape" her.

This isn't the first time that Levinson has come under fire for his excessive use of sexual content, or for the stressful conditions of his sets.

The filming for Euphoria Season 2 was reportedly chaotic, with 15 to 17-hour work days due to constant revisions and delays while on set. Levinson proposed more nudity than what made it on screen. Sydney Sweeney, however, felt it was unnecessary, and Levinson did not press the matter. Euphoria regularly depicts sexual acts between actors playing underaged teens.

Levinson has made a couple of quips regarding the negative backlash The Idol has received. “When my wife read me the [Rolling Stone] article, I looked at her and I said, ‘I think we’re about to have the biggest show of the summer,’” Levinson said. 

At a Cannes press conference, when asked if the sexual content in The Idol went too far, Levinson responded, “It’s funny, sometimes things that might be revolutionary are taken too far. We live in a very sexualized world. I can’t speak to other countries, but especially in the States, the influence of pornography is really strong in terms of the psyche of young people. And we see this in pop music, and how it sort of reflects the kind of underbelly of the internet."

The actors have defended him. At the same press conference, Depp said, “I just want to 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.” 

And in an earlier, published statement, Depp defended Levinson more specifically, stating, "Sam is, for so many reasons, the best director I have ever worked with. Never have I felt more supported or respected in a creative space, my input and opinions more valued. 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. He hires people whose work he esteems and has always created an environment in which I felt seen, heard, and appreciated."

The Weeknd initially addressed the Rolling Stone report with a simple, flippant tweet: "Rolling Stone did we upset you?" But he also chimed in at the Cannes press conference, saying the show is supposed to be provocative. “[Sam and I] wanted to really see if we could create our own pop star, using my experiences, using his experiences, using Lily’s experiences from her point of view, to create something special, daring, exciting, fun, to make some people laugh and to piss some people off,” he said.

It hasn't, so far. The third season of Euphoria is set to begin filming in the second half of 2023 and is set to arrive in 2025. This was delayed from its original target date of 2024, because according to HBO drama chief Francesca Ors, the scripts aren't finished, and Levinson is still completing post-production work on The Idol.

Euphoria is another show to be affected by the ongoing WGA writers strike, and Levinson reportedly does not want to cross the picket line.