A Guide to the Cringiest Sex Scenes From HBO’s Controversial Series ‘The Idol’

usmagazine.com:

After its HBO debut, The Idol quickly made waves for its controversial sex scenes and cringy storytelling.Before the series premiered in June 2023, Rolling Stone reported that The Idol was “delayed” due to a poor working environment and last-minute script rewrites.

More than a dozen sources were contacted for the March 2023 exposé, which claimed that co-creators Sam Levinson and The Weeknd contributed to the toxic work environment.HBO addressed the show’s delays and personnel changes — Amy Seimetz was originally tapped to direct all episodes — in a statement to Variety. “The initial approach on the show and production of the early episodes, unfortunately, did not meet HBO standards so we chose to make a change,” the network stated. “Throughout the process, 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.”As the production raised eyebrows, The Weeknd (whose real name is Abel Tesfaye) fired back by sharing a clip from the then-unreleased pilot in which his character Tedros mocked Rolling Stone.“Rolling Stone has 6 million followers on Instagram, half of them probably bots.

And Jocelyn has 78 million followers, all real I’d assume,” he said, referring to Lily-Rose Depp‘s character. “So she does a photo shoot, she tags them, they get her followers.

More money for Rolling Stone, nothing for Jocelyn.”The Idol focuses on an aspiring pop idol named Jocelyn who enters a tumultuous relationship with self-help guru and cult leader Tedros.