*WARNING: Explicit content and spoilers below*
The Idol lost over 100,000 same-day viewers between its premiere and and its rollercoaster second episode.
Ever since it screened at Cannes, the show has provoked an explosive controversy over its racy depiction of Lily-Rose Depp’s pop star character Jocelyn, who becomes ensnared by a cult-leading nightclub owner played by The Weeknd.
During episode two, Jocelyn masturbates and self-harms while mourning her dead mother and ultimately falls into the carnal thrall of The Weekend’s character Tedros.
In what British GQ has called ‘the worst sex scene in history,’ Jocelyn pleasures herself as Tedros instructs her to ‘make that throat wet for me’ and demands that she ‘f***ing stretch that tiny little p***y.’
Now a report in Variety has revealed that the new episode attracted 800,000 same-day viewers on Max and HBO, down from 913,000 for the premiere.
Comedown: The Idol lost over 100,000 same-day viewers between its premiere and and its rollercoaster second episode
Scandal: Ever since it screened at Cannes, the show has provoked an explosive controversy over its racy depiction of Lily-Rose Depp’s pop star character Jocelyn
Entitled Double Fantasy, the episode pulls the curtain back on the way Tedros treats his acolytes, including one whom he uses a shock collar on while saying: ‘You’re not a human, Izaak, don’t forget – you’re a f***ing star.’
The sex scene involves Jocelyn masturbating on the bed with a blindfold on as Tedros hisses his desires, such as to ‘suffocate you with my c***.’
Viewers flocked to social media to express their unvarnished opinions, with one going to The Weeknd’s Instagram and getting over 900 likes for commenting: ‘the show is dogs**t my guy i love you but stick to music.’
HBO and Max’ parent company Warner Bros Discovery said that the streaming figures for the two episodes were ‘nearly even.’
In that case, 12% audience loss was among viewers who were watching The Idol on television, where it airs Sunday nights.
However delayed viewing for the premiere has been a roaring success, to the point that the first episode of The Idol was watched more times over the course of one week than the pilots of either The White Lotus or Euphoria.
The Weeknd co-created The Idol with former nightlife entrepreneur Reza Fahim as well as Sam Levinson, the writer behind Euphoria.
Sam, whose own history with drugs helped inspire Euphoria, is Lily-Rose’s fellow ‘nepo baby’ as the son of the acclaimed director Barry Levinson.
Seduction: During episode two, Jocelyn masturbates and self-harms while mourning her dead mother and ultimately falls into the carnal thrall of The Weekend’s character Tedros
Shock value: In what British GQ has called ‘the worst sex scene in history,’ Jocelyn pleasures herself as Tedros instructs her to ‘make that throat wet for me’
Numbers game: Now a report in Variety has revealed that the new episode attracted 800,000 same-day viewers on Max and HBO, down from 913,000 for the premiere
Upon its premiere at Cannes, The Idol got a five-minute standing ovation but also elicited a raft of blistering responses from critics.
The Playlist’s Gregory Ellwood called the second episode ‘Sexist, pseudo-porn,’ while the New York Times’ Kyle Buchanan dismissed the show as ‘a Pornhub-homepage odyssey’ starring ‘Lily-Rose Depp’s areolas,’ and The Wrap dubbed it ‘luxury sleaze.’
‘Lots of strong reactions to #TheIdol out of #Cannes2023 – ranging from: “I hated it” to “the TV version of clickbait” to “I don’t need to see any more of Lily-Rose Depp naked,”‘ tweeted Variety reporter Ramin Setoodeh, author of the bestselling book Ladies Who Punch about the backstage drama on The View.
Much of the chatter revolved around Lily-Rose’s raunchy role, which at one point involves an apparent picture of her character with semen on her face.
Insiders alleged to Rolling Stone in March that the show was almost completely reshot in order to give it less of a feminine outlook.
Pet Sematary actress Amy Seimetz, who has also helmed such movies as Sun Don’t Shine and She Dies Tomorrow, was claimed to have directed around 80 percent of The Idol before she left the project.
The Weeknd was said to have felt The Idol had an excessively ‘female perspective’ and wanted the plot to give his character more attention than Lily-Rose’s.
Sam stepped in as director and reshot the show, which reportedly was heavily rewritten with so much raunchy material that one source was left thinking: ‘What is this? What am I reading here? It was like sexual torture porn.’
Blowback: Upon its premiere at Cannes, The Idol got a five-minute standing ovation but also provoked a raft of blistering responses from critics
Plugging away: Lily-Rose and The Weeknd are pictured at Cannes with Sam Levinson, who co-created The Idol with The Weeknd and ex-nightlife entrepreneur Reza Fahim
Other sources, however, said that the insiders Rolling Stone quoted had made their remarks without seeing the finished product.
The Weeknd responded publicly by denouncing the report as ‘ridiculous,’ arguing to Vanity Fair: ‘Shows get reshot every day.’
Lily-Rose also defended Sam, issuing a statement to E! News in which she called him ‘for so many reasons, the best director I have ever worked with.’
She added: ‘Never have I felt more supported or respected in a creative space, my input and opinions more valued.’
The showbiz legacy continued: ‘Working with Sam is a true collaboration in every way — it matters to him, more than anything, not only what his actors think about the work, but how we feel performing it.’
At a press conference at Cannes, Lily-Rose defended the extensive nudity on the show, arguing that ‘the occasional bareness of the character physically mirrors the bareness that we get to see emotionally in her,’ according to People.
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