The Idol

The Weeknd’s HBO Series “The Idol” Will Debut At Cannes Film Festival

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What can’t The Weeknd do? The Canadian pop star remains one of the most ambitious figures in pop culture these days. Projects like Dawn FM and After Hours explored an entirely different sound than what we’ve known from him. Still, his talents aren’t limited to the booth. The Weeknd expanded into film and television in recent years. He starred as himself in Adam Sandler’s Uncut Gems. Now, he’s currently plotting the release of his upcoming HBO series The Idol.

The anticipated series, Sam Levinson’s follow-up to Euphoria, has faced its fair share of ups and downs since its announcements. However, it looks like it’ll finally make its debut this year.  Cannes Delegate General Thierry Frémaux announced The Weeknd’s HBO series The Idol will debut in France as part of Official Selection Out of Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Frémaux said The Weeknd will likely appear at the Croisette, alongside co-star Lily-Rose Depp, since he’s actually a regular at the festival. At this point, details remain unclear surrounding the series. However, other series, according to Variety, has debuted two episodes for the festival.

The Weeknd Brings “The Idol” To Cannes

Although the series is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated of the year, it’s faced its fair share of controversies. There have been a number of personnel changes including director Amy Seimetz and actress Suzanna Son, who both left the show. Then, there were rumors that The Weeknd wasn’t particularly approving of the show’s direction as he felt it relied too heavily on the “female perspective” of Depp’s character rather than his own. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of it as Rolling Stone published an investigative article where sources described some unflattering details about the set, which The Weeknd later denied with a clip from the show.

At this point, there isn’t a release date set for The Idol. However, it looks like it’ll be coming to HBO before the end of the year. The Weeknd already announced the release of the score, The Idol Vol. 1, though he hasn’t set a release date for it, either. With his potential appearance at Coachella this weekend, perhaps, we could expect him to debut a song or two from the project there. Perhaps, the recently teased collaboration with Future is expected to land on The Idol Vol. 1 as well. 

The Weeknd Is Teasing New Music Ahead Of His Controversial Upcoming Show, ‘The Idol’

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It looks like the long-delayed HBO original series The Idol is finally imminent.

The upcoming series tells the story of a pop star named Jocelyn (Lily Rose Depp) who falls in love with a cult leader named Tedros (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye). Today (April 12), The Weeknd, who co-created the series with Euphoria‘s Sam Levinson, shared a tweet teasing new music ahead of the series.

“THE IDOL VOL. 1 [CD emoji] coming soon (double fantasy & jealous guy just a taste),” the tweet reads.

“Double Fantasy” and “Jealous Guy” appear to be names of songs on the show’s soundtrack, or perhaps titles of songs within the show’s score.

Earlier this week, The Weeknd took to Instagram Live to preview new music, which contained jazz-influenced sounds and featured producer Mike Dean on the saxophone.

Last year, during Coachella, The Weeknd debuted an updated version of his 2014 single, “Often,” which featured new production by Dean and Levinson.

While The Idol is one of the year’s most anticipated new shows, it is not arriving without its controversies. Last month, Rolling Stone published a scathing exposé noting the set’s alleged unprofessional conditions, and reported that The Weeknd wasn’t around much during production.

The Weeknd later responded to the piece via Twitter, with a clip from the show featuring characters Jocelyn and Tedros bashing the magazine.

The Weeknd Announces “The Idol Vol. 1”

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The Weeknd has announced a new project that will be arriving soon titled The Idol Vol. 1. The “Blinding Lights” singer teased the effort with a clip of himself in the studio on social media, Wednesday afternoon.

“THE IDOL VOL. 1 💿 coming soon (double fantasy & jealous guy just a taste),” The Weeknd wrote in the post. The clip comes after The Weeknd recently teased working on new music with Future during a rare live stream on Instagram. The two previously collaborated on “Low Life” from Future’s project, EVOL, as well as “All I Know” off of The Weeknd’s album, Starboy. During the live stream, The Weeknd also seemed to hint at making a surprise appearance during Coachella this weekend.

The Weeknd On His “After Hours Til Dawn” Tour

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 27: In this image released on December 7, The Weeknd performs during his “After Hours Til Dawn” tour at SoFi Stadium on November 27, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Live Nation)

A new project for The Weeknd will mark his first since 2022’s critically acclaimed Dawn FM. With “Vol. 1” in the title, there’s also the implication that more projects will be on the way. The announcement comes as HBO prepares to release The Weeknd’s new series of the same name at some point this year. The show has dealt with numerous behind-the-scenes issues which were detailed by Rolling Stone in an exposé, earlier this year. They cited 13 sources close to the production who described it as a “shit show,” mentioning constant delays, reshoots, and rewrites.

HBO later addressed the piece in a statement. “The creators and producers of The Idol have been working hard to create one of HBO’s most exciting and provocative original programs. The initial approach on the show and production of the early episodes, unfortunately, did not meet HBO standards so we chose to make a change,” the statement read. “Throughout the process, the creative team has been committed to creating a safe, collaborative, and mutually respectful working environment.” The Weeknd also fired back at Rolling Stone with a video on Twitter featuring himself in character discussing the outlet.

The Weeknd’s Announcement

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HBO’s ‘The Idol’: Here’s A Timeline Of Everything That’s Happened So Far

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HBO’s The Idol first came about in July 2021, and a lot has happened since that first announcement. Anticipation was high since the beginning, considering The Weeknd was starring in it as well as serving as a co-writer and a co-executive produce the series alongside Reza Fahim and Sam Levinson.

Things started getting weird in April of last year, when HBO shared a statement about the show taking on “a new creative direction.”

“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,” HBO said in a statement at the time. “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.”

However, a trailer lifted the spirits of fans in July 2022, and so did a second, more convincing trailer in August. It revealed a star-studded cast: Moses Sumney, Jennie Ruby Jane of Blackpink, Troye Sivan, Ramsey, Mike Dean, Dan Levy, Hank Azaria, Suzanna Son, Jane Adams, Rachel Sennott, and more. Another trailer arrived in October, really capturing the intensity of the series.

Today, March 1, Rolling Stone published a massive report on the alleged “sh*tshow” of The Idol. Anonymous sources say that The Weeknd was unhappy with the focus on the “female perspective,” leading to the departure of director Amy Seimetz. Levinson’s role subsequently intensified. A source says the direction of the show has turned into “any rape fantasy that any toxic man would have in the show.”

Anonymous sources spoke about the disturbing nature of the new material. According to Rolling Stone:

“At various points, Levinson’s scripts contained disturbing sexual and physically violent scenes between [Lily-Rose] Depp and Tesfaye’s characters, three sources familiar with the matter claim. In one draft episode, there allegedly was a scene where Tesfaye bashes in Depp’s face, and her character smiles and asks to be beaten more, giving Tesfaye an erection. (This scene was never shot, the source says.) Another proposed scenario was for Depp to carry an egg in her vagina and if she dropped or cracked the egg, Tesfaye’s character would refuse to ‘rape’ her — which sent Depp’s character into a spiral, begging him to ‘rape’ her because she believed he was the key to her success. (This scene also was not filmed because production couldn’t find a way to realistically shoot the scene without having Depp physically insert the egg, another source explains.)”

The source added, “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.”

Apparently, The Weeknd’s busy music schedule didn’t help either. “It was really frustrating because they were working so hard to make it possible to shoot and be released with his concert or whatever his timeline was [and] it all got thrown out the window,” a source said.

Of course, The Weeknd merely responded with a snarky tweet, sharing clip from the show in which a character calls Rolling Stone “irrelevant.”

HBO’s ‘The Idol’: Everything To Know Including The Release Date, Cast, Plot, And More

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A lot has recently been revealed about the forthcoming HBO show The Idol, known for being spearheaded by Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd. He co-created it alongside Euphoria director Sam Levinson and Reza Fahim, and there’s a lot to unpack about the controversial, long-awaited series. From intensely spicy trailers to a confusing timeline of its release, find information about The Idol below.

Release Date

There remains no release date. In Rolling Stone‘s new bombshell report about the show, it was reported, “One source with knowledge of the production schedule tells Rolling Stone the network initially hoped for The Idol to premiere last fall, taking over the Sunday time slot left open by House of the Dragon, which ended in October. Yet three teaser trailers have come and gone, and HBO can still only offer a vague ‘later this year.’ (A rep for the network declined to comment on when the show will air.)”

Cast

The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp are the leads. Other actors include Suzanna Son, Troye Sivan, Moses Sumney, Jane Adams, Dan Levy, Jennie Kim, Eli Roth, Rachel Sennott, Melanie Liburd, Tunde Adebimpe, Elizabeth Berkley Lauren, Nico Hiraga, and the late Anne Heche. There will also be a feature from Jennie of Blackpink.

Plot

The Idol, in six episodes, follows the story of “a self-help guru and leader of a modern-day cult, who develops a complicated relationship with an up-and-coming pop idol.” The trailer boasts it as “the sleaziest love story” from “the sick and twisted minds of the Creator of Euphoria Sam Levinson and Abel ‘The Weekend’ Tesfaye.”

Drama

In April of last year, they announced a “new creative direction,” which included the departure of director Amy Seimetz. Still, The Weeknd teased trailers during his After Hours Til Dawn Tour last summer.

An anonymous source told Rolling Stone that Tesfaye was not happy with the story’s “feminist lens.” “It was like The Weeknd wanted one show that was all about him — Sam was on board with that,” they told the publication. Another source said, “What I signed up for was a dark satire of fame and the fame model in the 21st century. It went from satire to the thing it was satirizing.”

“It was like, ‘What is this? What am I reading here,’” the source added. “It was like sexual torture porn.” Leaked scripts portrayed disturbing, violent scenes involving physical abuse and rape fantasies. “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 source said.

When Does HBO’s ‘The Idol’ Come Out?

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It feels like it’s been ages since Variety first reported The Weeknd was co-creating a forthcoming HBO series, The Idol, with Euphoria‘s Sam Levinson. Enough nonsense has happened since July 2021 — scratch that, enough has happened just today, March 1 — to satisfy a six-episode arc, making it even more confusing to identify when The Idol‘s first season will actually premiere.

The Idol was already off to a rocky start. It was reported last April that the series was undergoing “an overhaul” due to a “new creative direction,” including the departure of director Amy Seimetz.

And today, Rolling Stone published a very long bombshell report detailing some very disturbing (alleged) turmoil, which one source called “a sh*tshow.” Across interviews with 13 unnamed members of The Idol‘s cast and crew, reporter Cheyenne Roundtree learned that The Weeknd “felt the show was heading too much into a ‘female perspective.’” When Levinson replaced Seimetz as director, he allegedly threw out “the nearly-finished $54-75 million project to rewrite and reshoot the entire thing.”

Roundtree added, “With Seimetz out of the picture, HBO handed the reins to Levinson, only to have him weaken the show’s overarching message, many sources say, by dialing up the disturbing sexual content and nudity to match — and even surpass — that of his most successful show, Euphoria.”

The publication additionally provided an update on when any of us might be able to watch The Idol: “One source with knowledge of the production schedule tells Rolling Stone the network initially hoped for The Idol to premiere last fall, taking over the Sunday time slot left open by House of the Dragon, which ended in October. Yet three teaser trailers have come and gone, and HBO can still only offer a vague ‘later this year.’ (A rep for the network declined to comment on when the show will air.)”

For now, all we have is a scene shared by The Weeknd in response to Rolling Stone‘s scathing report:

And Rolling Stone‘s Editor In Chief Noah Schachtman dunking on it:

After all of that, the plot of The Idol feels like a footnote, but The Weeknd stars as Tedros, “a self-help guru and leader of a modern-day cult” who “enters a complicated relationship with a rising pop idol, Lily-Rose Depp’s Jocelyn (as noted by IMDb). Dan Levy, Suzanna Son, Troye Sivan, Moses Sumney, Jennie Kim, and Jane Adams are among those also listed in the cast.

The Weeknd Responded To ‘Rolling Stone’s Report About ‘The Idol’ With A Scene From ‘The Idol’ Dissing ‘Rolling Stone’

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Earlier today, Rolling Stone published an article detailing some of the production changes to the anticipated HBO drama The Idol in which members of the crew deride the production as a “sh*tshow” and criticize its new direction, which has been reportedly guided by co-creators Sam Levinson and The Weeknd, who also stars.

Well, The Weeknd clearly wasn’t going to take that criticism lying down and the perfect response ready to go, straight from the show itself. On Twitter, he posted a clip of the show in which his character calls the publication “irrelevant,” with the caption, “@RollingStone did we upset you?” The clip depicts Daniel Levy’s publicist pitching a cover story to his client, Lily-Rose Depp’s Jocelyn, only to be shut down by The Weeknd’s Tedros.

Of course, in the context of the show’s premise, this doesn’t quite scan as the harsh put-down of legacy publications it may seem at first blush. After all, according to HBO’s own publicity for the show, secret cult leader Tedros is a harmful influence on Jocelyn; in Rolling Stone‘s report, his actions toward her are described by the show’s own staff as “sexual torture porn.”

While it seems unlikely that The Weeknd has completely misunderstood the premise of his own show, reports have speculated that the reason for the controversial new direction stemmed from his distaste for the original director, Amy Seimetz’s, treatment of the material, which focused more on Jocelyn’s character than on Tedros.

Seimetz departed the nearly complete show last spring, replaced as director by Levinson, and most of the negative comments were focused on his new treatment, which turned the show from “a dark satire” into “the thing it was satirizing.” This tends to corroborate prior statements made about Levinson’s other HBO show, Euphoria, which has drawn criticism for its explicit content.

Is it possible that this is all some elaborate form of guerilla marketing? Maybe. But considering the show isn’t even completed yet — it doesn’t even have a release date, although HBO is still aiming for sometime in 2023 — it seems we won’t find out for a while… and the show we ultimately get might be completely different than either of the two shows described in Rolling Stone‘s report.

The Weeknd Slams Rolling Stone Report On “The Idol”: “Did We Upset You?”

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The Weeknd is on Rolling Stone’s neck following a recent claim surrounding the set of HBO’s The Idol. The Weeknd shared a snippet of his upcoming series, where he throws shade at the publication. In the clip, we see self-help guru Tedros (played by The Weeknd) seated poolside with Jocelyn (played by Lily-Rose Depp) conversing with Dan Levy’s character. When a Rolling Stone cover story is mentioned, Tedros dismisses the publication as “irrelevant,” mirroring his own feelings towards them.

“Rolling Stone? Aren’t they a little irrelevant?” Tedros asks. Levy explained how the publication is a “heritage brand” before Jocelyn said they’re “past its prime.” “Nobody cares about Rolling Stone … Rolling Stone has 6 million followers on Instagram, half of them probably bots. And Jocelyn has 78 million followers. All real. So she does a photoshoot, she tags them, they get her followers, more money for Rolling Stone, nothing for Jocelyn.” The Weeknd captioned the clip, “@rollingstone did we upset you?”

Rolling Stone’s Report On The Weeknd’s “The Idol”

Rolling Stone shared a report consisting of interviews with 11 members of the cast and crew who detailed the chaotic production. First, Amy Seimetz was announced to direct all six episodes before leaving the series as part of a “major creative overhaul.” However, the report details an alleged “shitshow” behind the scenes that has veered far from the central message that was initially conveyed in the story. “It went from satire to the thing it was satirizing,” one source said. Another added described parts of the script – which have not been filmed – “like sexual torture porn.”

HBO issued a statement to Complex following the bombshell report. “The initial approach on the show and production of the early episodes, unfortunately, did not meet HBO standards so we chose to make a change. Throughout the process, the creative team has been committed to creating a safe, collaborative, and mutually respectful working environment, and last year, the team made creative changes they felt were in the best interest of both the production and the cast and crew. We look forward to sharing The Idol with audiences soon.”

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The Weeknd Reportedly Became Less Hands-On With ‘The Idol’ After His HBO Show Had A Major Change In Direction

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In a new piece from Rolling Stone, anonymous members of the cast and crew of Sam Levinson and The Weeknd’s forthcoming HBO show, The Idol, opened up about the reportedly toxic work environment that spiraled out of control.

The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) both starred and co-created the show. However, it was originally set to be directed by Amy Seimetz before she left the show — and Levinson (Euphoria) took over in her place. This is reportedly when the chaos started, resulting in an overhaul of Seimetz’s direction and shoots.

“It was like the Weeknd wanted one show that was all about him — Sam was on board with that,” a source shared. However, they also faced alleged difficulty with Tesfaye’s schedule as a musician, causing him to be less hands-on: “It was really frustrating because they were working so hard to make it possible to shoot and be released with his concert or whatever his timeline was [and] it all got thrown out the window.”

The piece goes on to note that three crew members claim that despite Tesfaye’s writing credits on the series, he didn’t contribute much to scripts during the reshoots.

Last April, there was also a Deadline report that Tesfaye felt the show was focusing too much on his co-star, Lily Rose-Depp, as he thought it had too much of a “female perspective.”

The Weeknd Reportedly Caused ‘The Idol’ To Be Overhauled Because Of Its ‘Female Perspective’

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The Weeknd’s breakout role in the HBO series The Idol, might not have been quite the creative environment parties were looking for. The “Die For You” singer may have broken several streaming records, including becoming the first artist to cross the 100 million monthly listeners metric; however, according to reports, his television and film career could be off to a rocky start.

The recording artist, real name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye joined forces with Reza Fahim and Euphoria creator Sam Levinson to bring, in the network’s words, the “sleaziest love story in all of Hollywood” to light. While the show, slated to be released later this year, has recently undergone a “new creative direction,” Rolling Stone reports that the pivot wasn’t received well by cast and crew members.

According to Rolling Stone, the Oscar-nominated singer was not pleased that his co-star Lily-Rose Depp’s character received a bulk of the plot’s attention. As a result, allegedly, Tesfaye championed a major behind-the-scenes narrative shift to drop the story’s “feminist lens.”

A source told RS, “It was like the Weeknd wanted one show that was all about him — Sam was on board with that.” This could have supposedly played a part in director Amy Seimetz’s exit from the series back in April 2022. Another source shared, “What I signed up for was a dark satire of fame and the fame model in the 21st century,” but since the changes, “It went from satire to the thing it was satirizing.”

“It was like, ‘What is this? What am I reading here,’” said the source adding, “It was like sexual torture porn.”

The source shared that although Seimetz’s version would have contained sex scenes and nudity, production sources claim Levinson dramatically ramped up the explicit content with Tesfaye’s full support after taking over as director.

The outlet reached out to both Levinson and Tesfaye for comment. However, neither answered the request. On the other hand, Depp did provide a statement to Rolling Stone, in which she specifically sings the praises of Levinson. “[Levinson is] the best director,” said Depp before adding that she “felt more supported or respected in a creative space, my input, and opinions more valued.”

Despite the anonymous reports shared with RS, HBO shared in a statement, “the creative team has been committed to creating a safe, collaborative, and mutually respectful working environment, and last year, the team made creative changes they felt were in the best interest of both the production and the cast and crew.”