The Weeknd

The Weeknd’s Controversial ‘The Idol’ TV Series Will Make Its Debut At The 2023 Cannes Film Festival

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It’s been almost two years since Variety broke the news that The Weeknd and Sam Levinson were developing a drama for HBO. There was serious doubt whether The Idol would ever actually premiere on HBO after Rolling Stone published a troubling report on March 1 about the workplace culture on the set.

Today, April 13, the lineup for the 2023 Cannes Film Festival was revealed on its official website, and The Idol is slated to premiere in the Out Of Competition category alongside James Mangold’s Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, Kim Jee-woon’s Cobweb, and Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon. The 2023 Cannes Film Festival will be held from May 16 to May 27.

“HERE WE GO,” The Weeknd tweeted.

Yesterday, April 12, The Weeknd teased The Idol Vol. 1 with a tweet showing him in the studio listening to swelling orchestral music. “THE IDOL VOL. 1 [CD emoji] coming soon (double fantasy & jealous guy just a taste,” he wrote.

According to IMDb, The Idol follows “a self-help guru and leader of a modern-day cult [The Weeknd] enters a complicated relationship with a rising pop idol [Lily-Rose Depp].”

The Weeknd tweeted a clip from the series in response to Rolling Stone‘s bombshell report, which, among many things, alleged that working on The Idol was “a sh*tshow” and “Levinson’s scripts contained disturbing sexual and physically violent scenes between Depp and [The Weeknd]’s character.”

Watch that clip below, or watch a teaser trailer above.

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 Seemingly Confirmed He’s Making A Surprise Coachella 2023 Appearance

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The Weeknd 2022
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Coachella 2023 is coming up this weekend, and just hours ago, the set times were revealed. A previously unannounced Blink-182 performance was a surprise, but it may not be the only unexpected twist: The Weeknd isn’t officially on the lineup, but it looks like he may end up performing at the festival regardless.

He stirred up some speculation on April 10, tweeting, “[desert emoji] ?” He followed that with,”where will you find me ?”

Then, during a recent Instagram Live session (as Complex notes), The Weeknd told somebody off camera, “You just said ‘see you in the desert’ on Live. Exposed,” seemingly indicating that they “exposed” his surprise Coachella appearance.

On top of that, fan Twitter account @abelstargirllll shared a graphic of The Weeknd yesterday (April 12) and wrote, “THE WEEKND WILL PERFORM AT COACHELLA THIS YEAR.” While that in itself isn’t a big deal, The Weeknd retweeted the post.

The Weeknd could potentially make guest appearances during other sets, as some of his collaborators/associates are performing, like Metro Boomin, Calvin Harris, and Kaytranada. He could also pop up during Blackpink’s headlining performance, considering he and the group’s Jennie star in the upcoming HBO series The Idol together.

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

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the weeknd the idol HBO
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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 Teases New Future Collab, Fans Say It’s “About To Be The Most Toxic Track Of The Century”

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The Weeknd’s primary focus over the past few months has been his forthcoming HBO series, The Idol, but on Monday (April 10) night, the Canadian made it clear that he’s back in the studio working on his music. In fact, he’s got an incredible-sounding new collaboration with Future in the works, which he teased during last night’s Instagram Live session. During his stream, Abel Tesfaye confirmed that Mike Dean is responsible for the song’s production, which pairs perfectly with his beautiful vocals.

“Baby girl, I can tell that you think that I’m right for you / I already know that it’s not true, but girl I lie to you / Even though it’s wrong,” the R&B vocalist sings on the unnamed, unreleased joint effort. An official release date remains unknown at this time, though social media users have already declared it “the most toxic track of the century.” Elsewhere in the comments, someone pointed out that “Drake, Future, and The Weeknd world tour would do Celine Dion numbers.”

The Weeknd Previews Upcoming Music With Future on Live

Of course, this won’t be the first time we hear Hendrix and the Uncut Gems actor on the same beat. Their past collaborations include titles like “Low Life” from Future’s EVOL project, “Comin Out Strong” from his HNDRXX effort, and “All I Know,” which appears on the Toronto native’s Starboy. Seeing as all of those have gone on to find major success with listeners, it’s not shocking to see them connecting in the studio once again in hopes of making magic.

It remains unclear if Tesfaye is currently working on his follow-up to 2022’s DAWN FM, or if he’s simply experimenting with new sounds in the meantime. His most recent arrivals include “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)” from the Avatar 2 soundtrack, as well as his Live At SoFi Stadium and Starboy (Deluxe) from earlier this year. Revisit one of The Weeknd and Future’s most popular past releases below, and make sure to check back later for more hip-hop and pop culture news updates.

Revisit The Weeknd and Future’s Work On “All I Know”

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