Lily Rose-Depp And The Weeknd Deny Claims Against Sam Levinson In The Idol Controversy

HBO has spent the past few months hyping up the release of "The Idol," a limited series created by Sam Levinson (of "Euphoria" acclaim) and Abel Tesfaye (best known as musical artist The Weeknd). But recent reports have put a damper on the buzz by revealing behind-the-scenes chaos.

Yesterday, Rolling Stone produced a report that claims HBO's "The Idol" has "gone wildly, disgustingly off the rails." Interviews from 13 cast and crew members allege that Sam Levinson stepped in (taking over from director Amy Seimetz) when the show was 80% complete for a creative overhaul that increased the disturbing sexual content and nudity while contributing to an already chaotic and tense work environment. Overall criticisms from the anonymous sources claim the show was being reshot and rewritten in real-time, ramping up the sexual violence and diluting the original message of the show so that it was more akin to "sexual torture porn."

In an official statement, HBO said otherwise, explaining that Levinson stepped in because the initial approach did not meet HBO's standards and adding that "the creative team has been committed to creating a safe, collaborative, and mutually respectful working environment." HBO has since provided Lily-Rose Depp's statement to /Film, where the lead actress dubs Levinson "the best director" she has ever worked with. Here's the statement in full:

"Sam is, for so many reasons, the best director I have ever worked with. Never have I felt more supported or respected in a creative space, my input and opinions more valued. Working with Sam is a true collaboration in every way – it matters to him, more than anything, not only what his actors think about the work, but how we feel performing it. He hires people whose work he esteems and has always created an environment in which I felt seen, heard, and appreciated."

Co-creator and star Tesfaye has also weighed in on the controversy: he responded to the report by sharing a clip from the series via Twitter and Instagram. The scene — where his character calls Rolling Stone "irrelevant" — tagged the publication with the caption, "did we upset you?" Rolling Stone Editor-in-Chief Noah Shachtman replied "Not at all," with images of The Weeknd's prior cover stories.

.@RollingStone did we upset you? pic.twitter.com/Uyx06lyRgx

— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) March 1, 2023

The scene sees a publicist (played by Dan Levy) pitching Tedros (Tesfaye) and pop star Jocelyn (Depp) on a photo shoot for the cover of Rolling Stone. Tedros shoots the idea down, arguing "Rolling Stone has 6 million followers on Instagram, half of them probably bots. And Jocelyn has 78 million followers, all real I'd assume. So she does a photo shoot, she tags them, they get her followers. More money for Rolling Stone, nothing for Jocelyn."

Other claims from the Rolling Stone report have since been disputed. A dueling report from TMZ cites production sources close to "The Idol" who claim that no one who spoke with Rolling Stone has seen the final product and allege that it is "misleading" for them to imply that the controversial scenes described in the article will make the final cut.

The TMZ sources also deny the claim — originally reported in April 2022 — that The Weeknd felt Seimetz's version of the show was too focused on the female perspective, saying that "if anything, the whole show is about a woman who wants to control her own narrative in showbiz." Another HBO insider told IndieWire that Seimetz was "fired from production due to creative issues, and Levinson took over as director to save the program's original vision."

The news coming out of "The Idol" is particularly concerning because similar reports were made about Levinson on the set of "Euphoria" season 2. A separate piece from The Daily Beast written back in February 2022 included interviews from crew members who cited grueling 17-hour workdays caused by last-minute rewrites and Levinson failing to arrive with a shot list. Another report from that same year claims that there were "multiple complaints made to SAG-AFTRA over the production failing to provide them meals on time and refusing to let people use the bathroom." Sources also told the publication that the set "didn't have a proper holding area for the extras" adding that "there were so many complaints called into SAG-AFTRA that a union rep turned up to set." (HBO later responded that "there were never any formal inquiries raised.") The most infamous incident was a blow-out fight between Levinson and series star Barbie Ferreira, who exited the show after the season wrapped.

So far, there's no official word on when "The Idol" will debut.