Scandal surrounding controversial new series The Idol explained

Starring Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd, the raunchy new series, The Idol, is already causing a stir even though it has yet to air.

Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd’s new series, The Idol, is still days away from its big premiere, but already it’s had its fair share of headlines.

The twisted drama – of which the trailer just dropped ahead of its June 5 premiere on BINGE – has been surrounded by controversy since production began in November 2021.

From the explicit scenes labelled as “pornography” to the sudden axing of its female director, the show has hit more roadblocks than most.

Depp plays a popstar hellbent on making a comeback on The Idol. Picture: Binge

The scandalous series sees Depp play the lead role of fallen pop star named Jocelyn, whose comeback is derailed after she embarks on a relationship with a mysterious nightclub owner and cult leader Tedros, portrayed by The Weeknd – real name Abel Tesfaye.

But the drama playing out behind the scenes of the series has also caused a stir. Here is a quick explainer on the scandals that have plagued the hotly anticipated show so far.

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Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd star in The Idol. Picture: Binge

Original director dumped

The Idol was to be directed by Amy Seimetz, but she was suddenly dumped more than midway through filming in April 2022.

According to Rolling Stone, Seimetz had already filmed roughly 80 per cent of the six-episode series at the helm when she was let go to make way for a major “creative overhaul” of both the cast and crew.

“The Idol’s creative team continues to build, refine, and evolve their vision for the show and they have aligned on a new creative direction. The production will be adjusting its cast and crew accordingly to best serve this new approach to the series,” a spokesperson for the series said in a statement at the time.

So Seimetz was dumped and director Sam Levinson – the same creative genius behind the Binge show Euphoria – took the reins alongside co-creator The Weeknd, their first order of business? Reshooting the entire season, which an unnamed source told Rolling Stone was a costly “shitshow”. But Levinson reckons he found a way to minimise cost.

Director Sam Levinson replaced original director Amy Seimetz in April 2022 and reportedly reshot the entire series. Picture: Loic Venance/AFP

“If we were going to reshoot from the beginning, I knew it had to be for less money,” Levinson told W Magazine. “Sitting in Abel’s house, looking around at the 40,000 square feet, I said, ‘It’s stunning here – you can’t buy production design like this. What if we shoot it here?’ Abel put down his drink and said, ‘Do you have insurance?’ I said yes. And he said, ‘I’m OK with it’.”

As for The Weeknd, he apparently wasn’t happy with The Idol focusing on the “female perspective”, so reportedly pushed for an overhaul.

“Film and TV is a new creative muscle for me,” the singer-turned-actor said of the show. “I don’t release my music until I think it is great. Why would this be any different?”

Cast and crew disgusted at ‘dark’ new direction

Following the changing of the guard, 13 anonymous cast and crew told Rolling Stone that the series has gone disgustingly off the rails under the direction of Levinson, who reportedly scraped the nearly-finished $US54 million ($82 million) to $US75 million ($114 million) project in his quest to reconfigure the series.

Among the employees’ fears are that drastic delays, reshoots and rewrites will completely change the outcome of the series as Levinson attempts to ramp up the sexual content and nudity to surpass that of his most successful show, Euphoria, which follows a group of high school students as they navigate a mine field of drugs, sex, love, friendship, identity and trauma in today’s world.

Depp’s character gets derailed after meeting a nightclub owner and cult leader, played by The Weeknd. Picture: Binge

It’s been alleged Levinson wants to make The Idol a more misogynist vision for the Euphoria, therefore needing to scrap Seimetz’s female-led narrative.

“What I signed up for was a dark satire of fame and the fame model in the 21st century,” one production member told Rolling Stone. “It went from satire to the thing it was satirising.”

Another crew member said Levinson’s version: “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.”

Controversial scenes make the cut

When the first two episodes of the series was previewed at the Cannes Film Festival last week, it was given a five-minute standing ovation. However, some critics argue there was a shocking amount of raunchy scenes.

Among those aired were explicit sex scenes featuring bodily fluids, a masturbation scene with ice cubes, and a scene showing lewd revenge porn images.

Prior to the Cannes screening, the series had already been described as “torture porn” and a “sordid male fantasy”, with one critic likening it to Levinson’s Euphoria offering.

The show’s nude scenes have been likened to raunchy series Euphoria. Picture: Binge

“Levinson’s worldview seems corrupt. It shouldn’t take degradation and suffering to make Jocelyn stronger,” wrote Variety critic Peter Debruge.

“Euphoria audiences won’t be too surprised by the shameful way he treats Depp’s character, as both she and the show appear trapped under The Weeknd’s thumb.”

Meanwhile, theLos Angeles Times’ Mary McNamara was put off by the amount on nudity.

“Her naked, and near-naked, breasts are on constant display ... and with several sex scenes that are graphic (especially aurally) even by HBO standards, the term ‘porn’ is not inaccurate,” McNamara wrote in her review.