In protection of Jocelyn. Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd have been sharing their thoughts about the backlash to The Idol, which premiered on HBO in June 2023.
The collection — in which Depp performs troubled pop star Jocelyn — started off earning headlines far more than a person yr in advance of it premiered. In April 2022, director Amy Seimetz exited the venture, reportedly right after finishing 6 episodes. At the time, Deadline reported that The Weeknd (real identify Abel Tesfaye) felt the display was leaning way too much into a “female perspective” with its concentration on Jocelyn.
“The Idol’s creative staff continues to establish, refine and evolve their eyesight for the demonstrate and they have aligned on a new creative way,” HBO advised Wide variety in a statement at the time. “The generation will be changing its forged and crew accordingly to best serve this new approach to the series.”
Practically 1 calendar year later on, Rolling Stone posted an exposé that described production on the series as a “s–tshow.” According to the article, the exhibit was hastily rewritten to include extra intercourse and nudity just after Sam Levinson took the reins pursuing Seimetz’s departure.
In reaction, The Weeknd tweeted a clip from the demonstrate in which Dan Levy‘s character indicates a Rolling Stone profile to Jocelyn. In advance of she can solution, the “Blinding Lights” singer’s character, Tedros, answers for her. “Rolling Stone? Aren’t they a minor 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 original edition of the display “did not satisfy HBO criteria,” so the community went again to the drawing board. “Throughout the approach, the resourceful group has been dedicated to building a safe and sound, collaborative and mutually respectful working setting, and past calendar year, the team produced resourceful changes they felt were in the finest fascination of both equally the creation and the solid and crew,” a rep for the network informed Assortment in a statement in March 2023.
After The Idol premiered in June 2023, discussion about whether or not the display is misogynist continued on line. One Vulture critic described the sexual intercourse scenes as “like faint rape-fantasy porn,” when The Playlist called The Idol “crude, gross and sexist.”
Levinson, for his element, isn’t bothered by the criticism. “That’s what makes it thrilling, that these discussions are fraught,” the Euphoria creator told The New York Moments in June 2023. “I feel managing headfirst into that fire is what thrills us all.”
Depp has also expressed her admiration for the show as well as her fellow creators. In reaction to Rolling Stone‘s write-up about The Idol, the King actress declared Levinson “the ideal director” she’s at any time labored with. “Never have I felt additional supported or revered in a inventive area, my input and viewpoints more valued,” she explained to E! Information in a assertion in March 2023. “Working with Sam is a genuine collaboration in each individual way — it issues to him, extra than nearly anything, not only what his actors think about the operate, but how we really feel accomplishing it.”
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