In protection of Jocelyn. Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd have been sharing their ideas in regards to the backlash to The Idol, which premiered on HBO in June 2023.
The collection — through which Depp performs troubled pop star Jocelyn — began making headlines a couple of yr earlier than it premiered. In April 2022, director Amy Seimetz exited the undertaking, reportedly after finishing six episodes. On the time, Deadline reported that The Weeknd (actual identify Abel Tesfaye) felt the present was leaning an excessive amount of right into a “feminine perspective” with its deal with Jocelyn.
“The Idol’s inventive workforce continues to construct, refine and evolve their imaginative and prescient for the present and so they have aligned on a brand new inventive course,” HBO instructed Selection in a press release on the time. “The manufacturing might be adjusting its forged and crew accordingly to greatest serve this new strategy to the collection.”
Practically one yr later, Rolling Stone revealed an exposé that described manufacturing on the collection as a “s–tshow.” In line with the article, the present was unexpectedly rewritten to incorporate extra intercourse and nudity after Sam Levinson took the reins following Seimetz’s departure.
In response, The Weeknd tweeted a clip from the present through which Dan Levy‘s character suggests a Rolling Stone profile to Jocelyn. Earlier than she will be able to reply, the “Blinding Lights” singer’s character, Tedros, solutions for her. “Rolling Stone? Aren’t they just a little irrelevant?” he asks. In his caption for the clip, The Weeknd added, “@RollingStone did we upset you?”
HBO, in the meantime, denied the report, claiming that the preliminary model of the present “didn’t meet HBO requirements,” so the community went again to the drafting board. “All through the method, the inventive workforce has been dedicated to making a secure, collaborative and mutually respectful working surroundings, and final yr, the workforce made inventive modifications they felt have been in one of the best curiosity of each the manufacturing and the forged and crew,” a rep for the community instructed Selection in a press release in March 2023.
After The Idol premiered in June 2023, debate about whether or not the present is misogynist continued on-line. One Vulture critic described the intercourse scenes as “like faint rape-fantasy porn,” whereas The Playlist referred to as The Idol “crude, gross and sexist.”
Levinson, for his half, isn’t bothered by the criticism. “That’s what makes it thrilling, that these discussions are fraught,” the Euphoria creator instructed The New York Instances in June 2023. “I feel operating headfirst into that fireplace is what thrills us all.”
Depp has additionally expressed her admiration for the present in addition to her fellow creators. In response to Rolling Stone‘s article about The Idol, the King actress declared Levinson “one of the best director” she’s ever labored with. “By no means have I felt extra supported or revered in a inventive house, my enter and opinions extra valued,” she instructed E! Information in a press release in March 2023. “Working with Sam is a real collaboration in each approach — it issues to him, greater than something, not solely what his actors take into consideration the work, however how we really feel performing it.”
Join Us Weekly’s free, day by day e-newsletter and by no means miss breaking information or unique tales about your favourite celebrities, TV reveals and extra!
Maintain scrolling for extra reactions from the forged of The Idol:
