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A new report has detailed the behind-the-scenes troubles of HBO’s series The Idol, which was hailed from Euphoria creator Sam Levinson and is set to star Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd.
According to the report from Rolling Stone, Levinson has essentially rewritten the show in his image after scrapping all of the work done by original director Amy Seimetz.
As a result, some scenes that Levinson wrote were not filmed as they were deemed to be too physically violent and/or sexually disturbing. For example, sources told Rolling Stone about the following two scenes that Levinson cooked up, neither of which were ultimately filmed:
In one draft episode, there allegedly was a scene where Tesfaye bashes in Depp’s face, and her character smiles and asks to be beaten more, giving Tesfaye an e***tion.
Another proposed scenario was for Depp to carry an egg in her vagina and if she dropped or cracked the egg, Tesfaye’s character would refuse to “r**e” her — which sent Depp’s character into a spiral, begging him to “r**e” her because she believed he was the key to her success. [via Rolling Stone]
Speaking under the condition of anonymity, one production member said that Levinson’s The Idol 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.”
Another production member said that while the series, under Seimetz’s direction, was “a dark satire of fame and the fame model in the 21st century,” under Levinson’s oversight, it became the very thing it was satirizing. “Sexual torture p**n,” another crew member said of Levinson’s script.
The report doesn’t paint The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye), who co-created the series with Levinson, in a much better light as he was reportedly concerned the series was previously heading too much into a “female perspective.”
At this time, The Idol has no official release date, as HBO is only saying it will premiere “later this year.” Given the nature of this report, however, it’s unclear if that will remain the case.