- HBO's new series "The Idol" aired its season finale on Sunday, but its future is still in question.
- The show has been controversial since before its June premiere, with a March exposé calling it "torture porn."
The finale of "The Idol" aired Sunday night, leaving many wondering whether the controversial show cocreated by Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye and "Euphoria" mastermind Sam Levinson would return for another season.
"The Idol," which is about a troubled pop star named Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) who falls for an apparent cult leader named Tedros (played by Tesfaye) and is subsequently controlled, sexually abused, and at one point beaten by him, has been cloaked with behind-the-scenes drama and controversy since months before it even premiered.
Rolling Stone published an exposé in March in which unnamed crew members on the series described how production became a "shitshow" due to delays and creative changes requiring reshoots. The show's original director Amy Seimetz reportedly exited production at Tesfaye's request because Tesfaye thought her vision relied too heavily on a "female perspective," Rolling Stone reported. One production source described "The Idol" to Rolling Stone as "sexual torture porn."
"The Idol" has also been negatively reviewed by many critics and derided by viewers, many of whom have taken to social media to poke fun at the show's awkward moments and icky sex scenes. For these reasons, many have assumed the show would be canceled after its initial run. But according to at least one star, the show isn't dead in the water quite yet.
Da'Vine Joy Randolph, who plays Jocelyn's manager Destiny, recently spoke to Variety about the show and its future. Randolph said that the show "was never intended to be a limited series."
"I think that everyone's intention is to have a second season," she said. She added that "nothing is official, but HBO is quite happy" with the show.
HBO says the future of 'The Idol' is undecided
After Tesfaye confirmed that the fifth episode of "The Idol" would be its finale, many believed that the show had been cut; Variety had reported in 2021, when the series was first greenlit by HBO, that it would have a six-episode season.
An HBO representative declined to comment for a TVLine report about why the season had only five episodes. But an unnamed source told the publication that after Levinson took over the series from its original director Amy Seimetz at Tesfaye's request, the revamped version of the show only required five episodes to tell its story instead of six, indicating that there never was a sixth episode produced that got scrapped.
When reached for comment about the show's future, a representative for Max pointed Insider to an official tweet from HBO's PR account on June 15 stating that it had been "misreported" that a decision on the future of the show had been made. They declined to comment to Insider on why season one had a five-episode run.
—HBO PR (@HBOPR) June 15, 2023
'The Idol' cast has vocally supported the show, its creators, and their vision, despite criticism
Actors on the show like Randolph, whose character Destiny was written in after Levinson revamped the show, are defending Tesfaye's goals.
Randolph said she saw "no red flags" in getting involved with "The Idol" after the director shake-up because shows change creative direction all the time.
"Abel had a vision that didn't get executed, he wanted to make sure he really believed in it, he wanted to make sure it's done how he sees it, so he got Sam on board to do it himself," she told Variety.
Depp, the show's lead star, has been continuously supportive of Levinson, Tesfaye, and "The Idol" as well. She recently told Vogue Australia she always knew the show was going to be "provocative" and was "never interested in making something puritanical."