The Weeknd’s pronunciation of ‘carte blanche’ is the latest horror unlocked by ‘The Idol’
- The Weeknd's pronunciation of "carte blanche" is the latest clip from "The Idol" to go viral.
- "The directors gave him carte blanche on how to say it," one person tweeted.
From an ill-placed Jeffrey Epstein joke to a controversial sex scene, The Weeknd has raised many eyebrows with his portrayal of Tedros in HBO's "The Idol."
Now, the singer and show creator, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, is going viral over his character's pronunciation of "carte blanche."
In a scene from the series' third episode, Tesfaye's character says: "All right, let's say you have carte blanche."
"Carte blanche" means "blank document" in French.
Instead of pronouncing it "kaart blanch" as it should be, however, Tedros adds an accent to the end of each word, making it sound like he's saying "cart-ay blanch-ay."
Though the mispronunciation appears to be intentional, in keeping with the idea that Tedros isn't as astute as he outwardly projects, it didn't stop people clowning Tesfaye online.
"The directors gave him carte blanche on how to say it," one person tweeted.
"Twice the syllables, so it's twice as good," another wrote.
An additional viewer tweeted: "I want to believe that Tedros' egregious mispronunciation of 'carte blanche' is a character choice but The Idol's writing is not good enough for that to be an accurate analysis of that moment."
"The Idol," which was cocreated by Tesfaye, Reza Fahim, and "Euphoria" creator Sam Levinson, was met with largely negative reviews upon its release earlier this month.
The show stars Lily-Rose Depp as a successful pop star who falls into a dangerous relationship with mysterious nightclub owner — and possible cult leader — Tedros (Tesfaye).
Variety critic Peter Debruge called the show "a sordid male fantasy" in his review, writing: "Levinson's worldview seems corrupt. It shouldn't take degradation and suffering to make Jocelyn stronger. 'Euphoria' audiences won't be too surprised by the shameful way he treats Depp's character, as both she and the show appear trapped under The Weeknd's thumb."
For The Hollywood Reporter, Lovia Gyarkye called the series "more regressive than transgressive."
"There's a strenuousness to the sex scenes between Depp and Tesfaye that kills any sense of eroticism," she wrote.