HBO’s “The Idol” just premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, but the lead-up to its release has been rife with controversy.
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00:00Sam Levinson's newest show featuring Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd just premiered at Cannes,
00:05but we need to talk about the controversial lead-up to The Idol.
00:07The Euphoria creators' dark drama series screened its first two episodes last night,
00:12leaving critics talking about its overtly graphic and sexual nature.
00:15The reviews follow a Rolling Stone report published in March that features accounts
00:18from 13 cast and crew members who detailed the quote overwhelmingly dark turn the show
00:23had taken and described it as quote sexual torture porn and a rape fantasy.
00:27The changes reportedly took place after the original director, Amy Simons,
00:31left the show with approximately 80% of the series finished.
00:33Levinson then stepped in with co-creator The Weeknd,
00:36whose scripts reportedly contained disturbing sexual and physically violent scenes between
00:40Depp and The Weeknd's characters. The Weeknd's initial response to the report was a tweet with
00:44the caption, Rolling Stone, did we upset you? He has since issued a more formal response,
00:48telling Vanity Fair that he thought the article was ridiculous and therefore wanted to give a
00:52ridiculous response to it. Depp told Vanity Fair that she, The Weeknd, and Levinson all brought
00:56their experiences to the show and that she felt supported throughout.
00:59The Idol will premiere on Max June 4th, with new episodes releasing every week.