HBO finally breaks silence after Rolling Stone’s investigative report detailing disturbing allegations about the production of The Idol.
Sam Levinsons last venture The idol with co-creator Abel Tesfaye – aka musical performer The Weeknd – has taken a dizzying path to completion with no clear premiere date in sight after two years of production. Billed as the “sloppier love story in all of Hollywood,” the six episodes HBO series is plagued by a host of production problems, according to a recent investigative journalism piece by Rolling Stone revealed the not-so-glamorous underbelly of The Idols production of people close to the project. The report provided extensive details of The Idols sordid set experience, including shooting delays, exorbitant reshoots, eleven-hour rewrites of unfinished scripts, and the abrupt departure of series director Amy Seimetz. In an official statement to The Wrap on Thursday, HBO addressed the report’s outrageous allegations.
The official statement from the network is as follows:
“The creators and producers of ‘The Idol’ have worked hard to create one of HBO’s most exciting and provocative original programs. Unfortunately, the initial approach to the show and production of the early episodes was not up to HBO standards, so we chose to make a change. Throughout the process, the creative team has been committed to creating a safe, collaborative and mutually respectful work environment, and last year the team made creative changes that they believed were in the best interests of both the production and the cast and crew. We look forward to sharing ‘The Idol’ with the public soon.”
HBO’s statement stands in stark contrast to the claims made in Rolling Stone’s investigative report on the developing series. In addition to the aforementioned problems that arose during initial production, many crew members were concerned The Idols sharp turn to a dark and lewd direction after Levinson took over following Seimetz’s untimely departure. The report states that Levinson scrapped the nearly completed project to rewrite and reshoot the entire series, as Seimetz’s version leaned too far into the “female perspective.” It goes on to detail how the series’ lurid nature increased under the Euphoria director to include more graphic depictions of nudity and sexual/physical violence. And as a result, according to crew members, much of the series’ message was lost in the process.
“This was such a strong example of how far [Levinson] can HBO really push,” one of the article’s thirteen production members stated, referring to the network’s tolerance for Levinson’s uncontrolled behavior. “And they will continue to cover [him] because he brings in money. He is able to walk away unscathed and everyone still wants to work with him…People ignore the red flags and follow him anyway.”
The Weeknd has responded to Rolling Stone’s shocking statement about The Idol
The scathing Rolling Stone article about The idol has brought the twisted love story between a young pop sensation and a sleazy, modern cult leader back into the news for all the wrong reasons. The explosive content of the report quickly spread like wildfire across social platforms on Wednesday, with many condemning Sam Levinson. As co-creators, Rolling Stone contacted both Levinson and Abel Tesfaye for comment, but neither responded before the story was published. However, Tesfaye decided to break his silence on the allegations through a bigger avenue: social media.
The clapback made its way to both Twitter and Instagram hours after the article was published. His response includes a never-before-seen clip of The idol accompanied by the caption: “@rollingstone did we upset you?”
In the clip, Tesfaye’s character takes several disparaging remarks about the publication, calling it “irrelevant” and saying that people “don’t care about Rolling Stone.” While the comment was intended as an obvious disdain for the outlet, many users under the video believed that Tesfaye’s comment and the Rolling Stone article were part of a elaborate marketing stunt for the upcoming series.