Sources Claim The Weeknd’s “The Idol” Has Veered Into “Torture Porn” Territory Under Sam Levinson’s Direction

Hopper Penn owes Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye a great big thanks because the “nepo baby” debate just got a lot more sinister thanks to accusations that already suspect Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, son of director Barry Levinson, has driven his already wobbly starring vehicle, The Idol, straight off a cliff and into a sea of sexually exploitative “torture porn.” And apparently, The Weeknd and Johnny Depp‘s kid, Lily Rose Depp, are all in for the ride. But according to Rolling Stone, much of the show’s crew are disgusted with the direction the show has taken since The Idol’s original director, Amy Seimetz, “suddenly exited with roughly 80 percent of the six-episode series finished” last April. Sources claim that under Sam’s direction, “It went from satire to the thing it was satirizing.”

The Idol was originally billed as the “sleaziest love story in all of Hollywood” about a pop star who falls under the spell of a mysterious club owner/cult leader. But now, it’s somehow even sleazier. Hopper’s little meth movie he made with his mommy can’t hold a vagina-scented nepo candle to the reported “shitshow” Sam is now shepherding. And if it seems like we’ve been hearing about The Idol for a suspiciously long time, it’s probably because Sam and Abel have apparently been making shit up as they go along ever since Amy departed, with some reporting she was let go because Able “felt the show was heading too much into a ‘female perspective.’” Shit, I want my mommy now! RS reports:

Though the show was ordered to series in November 2021, it’s been months since HBO gave a concrete update about when The Idol will debut. 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.)

Now, production sources tell Rolling Stone that even they are in the dark on when the show will make it to air, and have little idea about what the final version will look like, claiming the production was plagued by delays, reshoots, and rewrites. “It was, let’s just say, a shitshow,” one says.

In interviews with 13 members of the show’s cast and crew, Rolling Stone has learned the drastic delay was caused by Levinson taking over as director and scrapping the nearly-finished $54-75 million project to rewrite and reshoot the entire thing.

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.

Sam has already been accused of creating a toxic work environment on Euphoria with more than one female cast member complaining they were asked to do unnecessary nude scenes. Being a hotshot Hollywood director, you’d think Sam could find some titties to gawk at on his own time. Although, I could see a bouncer at the strip club not letting him in with all those red flags flopping around. Someone could lose an eye! Why do you think Able had to wear those bandages for so long?

Four sources say that Levinson ultimately scrapped Seimetz’s approach to the story, making it less about a troubled starlet falling victim to a predatory industry figure and fighting to reclaim her own agency, and more of a degrading love story with a hollow message that some crew members describe as being offensive.

“It was like any rape fantasy that any toxic man would have in the show — and then the woman comes back for more because it makes her music better,” one production member explains of Levinson’s version.

At various points, Levinson’s scripts contained disturbing sexual and physically violent scenes between 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.)

Eggs in vaginas: Yet another terrible nepo baby creation! As for Lily Rose, given that her dad is a notorious pirate, she probably thinks red flags mean “smooth sailing ahead.”

Levinson and Tesfaye did not respond to requests for comment. In a statement provided to Rolling Stone, Depp called Levinson “the best director” she’s ever worked with, saying she has never “felt more supported or respected in a creative space, my input and opinions more valued.”

RS reports that The Idol‘s unexpected U-turn may have been because Abel was “reportedly unhappy that the story was focusing too much on Depp’s character” and that he “wanted one show that was all about him — Sam was on board with that.” But because of his tour schedule, sources claim 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.”

Organization quickly evaporated, mainly due to changes in the script, sources say. One production member says the first version of the show went through more than 20 rewrites, saying scripts were being updated constantly: “We did it every fucking day. It was insane.”

“It did start drastically changing,” another production member confirms. “It was kind of a joke how many revisions there were — whether it was changing somebody’s name or whether it was something more intensive, like completely changing the scene and taking away a story.”

What a mess. Here’s what HBO had to say about some of the sleazy, sleazier, and sleaziest accusations.

HBO called The Idol one of the network’s “most exciting and provocative original programs,” in a statement to Rolling Stone, adding “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.”

In other words: “How dare you question our commitment! You loved Game of Thrones, right? We respectfully waterboarded a lady in that one!”