The Weeknd defends new show amid ‘torture porn’ controversy: ‘The Idol’ drama explained

Abel “the Weeknd” Tesfaye responded to this Rolling Stone‘s coverage of his highly anticipated HBO show, the idol, “is wild, disgustingly out of joint.” But the superstar hasn’t refuted some of the article’s troubling claims – allowing him and his co-creator, euphoria‘s Sam Levinson, are making a series showing “sexual torture porn” — but instead fired off a video the publication called uncool. While sources tell Yahoo Entertainment that some of the content in the RS story is “pretty accurate,” others paint a different picture of what’s going on behind the scenes.

On Wednesday afternoon, Tesfaye tweeted a clip of the idol from his and Lily-Rose Depp’s characters RS “irrelevant.” In the series, the singer plays a modern day cult leader named Tedros, while Depp is Jocelyn, his pop star love interest. The clip shows them talking to an agent guy (played by Dan Levy) who is trying to convince Jocelyn to do a cover for the magazine.

“I feel like it’s past its prime,” says Jocelyn.

“Yeah, nobody cares Rolling Stone‘ adds Tedros.

Tagged Tesfaye, who has over 17 million followers on Twitter RS and wrote, “Have we upset you?”

Depp shared the same video on her Instagram account.

So what exactly got the actors upset? Let’s unpack all the drama the idol.

Rolling Stone Expectations the idol is in turmoil – and the content is disturbing

on Wednesday morning, RS posted his story”the idol: How HBO is coming next euphoria Became Twisted ‘Torture Porn’.” The article featured interviews with 13 members of the show’s cast and crew, all of whom remained anonymous. They spoke about the alleged chaos that has ensued since Levinson took over the reins from director Amy Seimetz during a reorganization last spring.

“It was, let’s just say, a damn show,” one person claimed.

While the article detailed how production was plagued by re-recordings and rewrites, causing serious delays, the troubling allegations relate to the shifting of content.

The story goes on

Four sources claimed Levinson created a degrading love story that several crew members found offensive. Rather, Seimetz’s version was “about a troubled starlet who falls prey to a predatory industry figure and struggles to reclaim her own agency.” Now, a production member claimed, “It was like any rape fantasy any toxic man on the show would have — and then the woman comes back for more because it makes her music better.”

Here’s one of the more worrying excerpts from the story:

Yes, the idol was “pretty messy”

A source familiar with production issues over the past two years admits to Yahoo that the set was “pretty messy” at times, causing some cast and crew members to become “increasingly frustrated.” Yahoo spoke to two people who called RS Article “pretty accurate,” with one emphasizing, “Yes, it was A s*** show sometimes.”

However, a network source hit back, telling Yahoo that while some of what was written for the show “pushes boundaries”, it is “unfair” to categorize the show as “sexual torture porn.”

“Sure, it makes a good headline, but there’s no way all of those 13 ‘sources’ have seen any finished product,” the insider explains.

This isn’t the first time Levinson has been criticized

Last year, in the middle euphoria‘s hugely successful second season, Levinson drew scrutiny, with critics claiming the show featured too much unsubstantiated teenage nudity. The days on the set were reportedly long and tiring. It was two years before viewers got their hands on a second season as the season’s direction seemed to change wildly in real time. Even Levinson has authorized his “writing process is quite bizarre”.

Actress Barbie Ferreira, in whose body positive character Kat played a major role euphoria‘S first season, reportedly”stormed off‘ and Levinson cut her screen time after they disagreed over Kat’s Arc. Actress Sydney Sweeney told a reporter she had to push back unnecessary shirtless scenes and guest star Minka Kelly confirmed that she asked Levinson to alter a scripted nude scene because she wasn’t “comfortable” with it.

The Weeknd “is happy” with Levinson and the new direction of the idol

A source tells Yahoo that there is “no conflict” between Tesfaye and Levinson. In fact, the musician thinks Levinson’s vision for their show is better than the direction Seimetz took the idol.

That agrees somewhat with a meeting Report in April, which spilled the first signs of internal conflict, which claimed Tesfaye wanted a creative overhaul because he felt the show was leaning too much toward a “female perspective.” However, the production-related insider tells Yahoo “it’s not entirely accurate” to categorize the issues it’s had in that way.

“The show is still very much about that [Lily-Rose’s] character and she was an integral part of the creative process,” adds the source.

Lily-Rose Depp speaks up

Aside from sharing the clip, the actress issued a statement of support for Levinson RS Theatre.

“Sam is the best director I’ve ever worked with for so many reasons. I’ve never felt so supported, respected, valued for my contributions and opinions in a creative environment,” she told Yahoo. “Working with Sam is a true collaboration in every way – he cares more than anything, not just what his actors think of the work, but how we feel about it. He hires people whose work he values ​​and has always created an environment where I felt seen, heard and valued.”

HBO is ready the idolto

A spokesman for the network made the following statement to Yahoo:

And Rolling Stone stands by his report

Editor-in-Chief Noah Shachtman responded to Tesfaye’s tweet Did we upset you?”.