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The Weeknd has reacted to a Rolling Stone article that quoted over a dozen sources as alleging that the upcoming HBO show The Idol, co-created by and starring the Canadian singer, had descended into full-blown chaos after creative overhauls. Some elements of the show were described as ‘twisted torture porn’. The article, which cited 13 anonymous sources from the crew, claimed that the show was initially written from the perspective of a young female pop star Jocelyn (played by Johnny Depp’s daughter Lily-Rose Depp) trying to understand herself sexually while navigating the difficult ways of Hollywood and the music industry. The Weeknd plays a mysterious cult leader who lures her into his shady world. But the show was allegedly turned into something else entirely, after original director Amy Seimetz departed the project.
HBO expected big results from the show, and subsequently called in Euphoria creator Sam Levinson to overhaul it. Rolling Stone reported that Seimetz did the best she could with what she had, but reshoots and delays caused the $54 million budget to balloon to $75 million.
“It was a show about a woman who was finding herself sexually, turned into a show about a man who gets to abuse this woman and she loves it,” the article quoted a crew member as saying, as another stated, “It was like sexual torture porn.” Many crew members quit after the change of hands, with one of them saying, “I was so drained by the end of it. I was like, ‘I can’t have a job make me cry every day because I have two hours to sleep, and I’m being pulled 100 directions because nobody knows what they’re doing, or nobody knows what they want because we don’t know what we’re filming.’”
Another person said that Levinson is not the best captain of the ship, adding, “I don’t think I’ll watch Euphoria again after working for him and knowing how he treats his crew.” Another anonymous crew member said that HBO continued throwing money Levinson’s way despite seeing how things were going off the rails: “This was such a strong example of just how far [Levinson] can really push HBO and they will continue to cover [him] because he brings in money.”
Meanwhile, Weeknd’s only response to the backlash has been to share a ‘scene’ in which his character is seen dissing Rolling Stone. He shared the video with a caption that simply read, “Rolling Stone, did we upset you?”
Also starring Blackpink’s Jennie, singer Troye Sivan, and Dan Levy, The Idol is said to release sometime this year.
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