Rolling Stone accuses Sam Levinson’s next to be ‘Torture Porn’; ‘The Idol’ team retaliates with video

A still from ‘The Idol’
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Director Sam Levinson of Euphoria fame took over the helm for the upcoming HBO series The Idol from Amy Seimetz (The Girlfriend Experience, She Dies Tomorrow) after she suddenly exited with roughly 80 per cent of the six-episode series finished. A release date wasn’t confirmed despite the series, starring The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp, being ordered in November 2021.

Rolling Stone recently reported that since Levinson’s takeover, the nearly-finished $54-75 million project has been scrapped and the director has rewritten and reshot the entire project. When the magazine interviewed 13 members of the show’s cast and crew, they reportedly were told that Levinson has “weakened the show’s overarching message by dialling up the disturbing sexual content and nudity to match — and even surpass — that of his most successful show, Euphoria.”

“What I signed up for was a dark satire of fame and the fame model in the 21 ^st 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. It went from satire to the thing it was satirizing,” said one production member while another one said, “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.”

Meanwhile, The Weeknd shared a clip on Twitter, featuring him and actor Lily-Rose Depp, taking a dig at Rolling Stone and calling them “irrelevant” and “past its prime.” Unsurprisingly, the comeback has not gone down well with fans who have questioned the team’s mode of responding to allegations.