“The Idol” has undergone a number of changes since Variety reported about its creative overhaul on April 25, 2022. Per the outlet, original director Amy Seimetz exited the show amid creative differences. Days following the news, Deadline noted that actor Suzanna Son would not return to the six-episode project either. HBO did not comment on which other cast and crew members left the production. However, the network did address the new adjustments in a statement.
“‘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,” an HBO spokesperson said, per Deadline. “The production will be adjusting its cast and crew accordingly to best serve this new approach to the series. We look forward to sharing more information soon.”
Soon after these changes, Levinson was brought in. He serves as cocreator alongside The Weeknd and Reza Fahim; The trio are also executive producers in addition to Kevin Turen, Ashley Levinson, Aaron Gilbert for BRON, and Sara E. White. Levinson directs and writes with The Weeknd and Fahim.
Rolling Stone’s Investigation Into “The Idol”
According to Rolling Stone , Levinson scrapped Seimetz’s nearly finished version of the show — which had cost between $54 million and $75 million — and embarked on a complete rewrite and reshoot. Per the outlet’s interviews with production members, the show became much more disturbing and violent under Levinson’s direction. “It was a show about a woman who was finding herself sexually, turned into a show about a man who gets to abuse this woman and she loves it,” a source said of the new cocreator’s changes. Insiders also claimed that Levinson’s scripts contained a number of physically and sexually violent scenes between Depp’s and The Weeknd’s characters, which one crew member described as “sexual torture porn.” Apparently, some of the most violent scenes were never filmed.
Production members also told Rolling Stone that many cast members were let go and many crew members did not return for Levinson’s remake, describing the shift as “very scarring.” While Levinson did bring on many new stars, including Kim, a crew member said the Blackpink member’s role is “like three or four lines per episode” and claimed, “Her job was to sit there [and] look pretty, basically.”
Meanwhile, while Seimetz’s production had been reportedly hectic, under Levinson’s direction, “There was always this sense of chaos because [we] never had a plan on what was going to happen today, or tomorrow, or the next scene,” a crew member said.
According to Deadline, some of the changes were initiated by The Weeknd, who reportedly was not happy with the state of the show under Seimetz. Sources said he felt the show was leaning too much into a “female perspective” with costar Depp’s character rather than his own. (Reps for The Weeknd did not respond to POPSUGAR’s request for comment on the report.)
Elsewhere, a production member told Rolling Stone that The Weeknd “wanted one show that was all about him” and “Sam was on board with that,” though sources also told the outlet that the singer’s tight schedule had made it difficult to feature him at the center of the show’s narrative while Seimetz was spearheading the project.
In a statement provided to POPSUGAR, Depp defended Levinson, calling him “the best director” she had worked with and said she’d never “felt more supported or respected in a creative space, my input, and opinions more valued.” A rep for HBO told POPSUGAR that “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.”
HBO’s rep also noted that a TMZ report — which claims that HBO and The Weeknd are happy with Levinson’s leadership, and which also denies that The Weeknd criticized the show’s focus on a “female perspective” — presents an “accurate” portrayal of what’s really going on behind the scenes. Meanwhile, shortly after the Rolling Stone article was published, The Weeknd shared a clip of himself and Depp (in character) making fun of Rolling Stone on Instagram, along with the caption, “@rollingstone, did we upset you?”
Reps for Levinson did not respond to POPSUGAR’s request for comment on the Rolling Stone report.