The Weeknd's explicit scene in the new episode of HBO's The Idol had social media in shambles.
The Canada native plays nightclub owner and cult leader Tedros, seemingly the romantic interest to pop star protagonist Jocelyn, played by Lily-Rose Depp. The new series has been scrutinized for leaning into rape fantasies, abuse, and misogyny. The sex scene between the pair in "Double Fantasy" left fans uncomfortable as The Weeknd voiced actions he wanted the increasingly nude Jocelyn to perform while he watched.
Plenty of viewers were mortified by The Weeknd's sexual demands and phrasing, saying the scene was cringey. The show trended on Twitter throughout the night as users trolled the "Blinding Lights" vocalist. See a selection of tweets below.
The pop singer co-created the series with Euphoria's Sam Levinson and announced plans to release music in tandem with all six episodes, which air Sundays at 9 p.m.
Though the night-of viewership dipped from 913,000 in episode one to 800,000 in episode two, the week-one gains for the premiere were substantial. Deadline writes that 3.6 million subscribers viewed “Pop Tarts & Rat Tales" in the week since it debuted. That's bigger than Euphoria's 2019 arrival (3.3 million viewers in the same span of time) and The White Lotus in 2021 (3 million).
