The Idol: New HBO series from Sam Levinson is about to rival Euphoria in strong content

If Babylon showed how hard LA partied in the roaring 1920s, The Idol is about to show how hard LA folks party in the roaring 2020s. The new HBO show is the brainchild of the “sick and twisted minds” of Euphoria creator Sam Levinson and his new star, The Weeknd. HBO is no stranger to pushing the envelope with its late-night content, as it often presents adult situations without glamour to a higher prestige than the reputable Cinemax late-night sleaze, God bless ’em. Rolling Stone reports that The Idol is so much more shocking than Euphoria that it is being described as “torture porn.”

The new show features The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp in a dark and perverted tale “that follows pop superstar Jocelyn (Depp) as she navigates the seedy underbelly of the music industry and falls under the spell of Tedros (Tesfaye), a mysterious owner of a popular L.A. nightclub who secretly runs a cult reminiscent of NXIVM and Scientology.” 

Levinson has been said to have dialed up the shocking content, which includes all the standard dirty vices — nudity, drugs, violence — to a disturbing degree when he took over from former director Amy Seimetz, who left the show due to creative differences when it was reported that co-creator The Weeknd felt it was leaning too much into the “female perspective.” One production member was quoted, saying, “What I signed up for was a dark satire of fame and the fame model in the 21st century. The things that we subject our talent and stars to, the forces that put people in the spotlight and how that can be manipulated in the post-Trump world.” However, they add, “It went from satire to the thing it was satirizing.” 

The original vision was to show a young model being targeted by a predatory industry figure and fighting for her soul, but word is that it’s now “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,” says another production member.

However, Depp herself has had nothing but positive things to say about Levinson, calling him the best director she’s worked it. And that she’s never “felt more supported or respected in a creative space, my input and opinions more valued.”