HBO's 'The Idol' sees viewership dip as it delivers 'the worst sex scene in history'

• Episode two of HBO's "The Idol" brought in 800,000 viewers, Variety reported.
• That's down 12% from the premiere.

The second episode of HBO's controversial new series "The Idol" brought in 800,000 viewers across HBO and Max on Sunday, a 12% decrease compared to its premiere, Variety reported.

The series from "Euphoria" creator Sam Levinson stars Lily-Rose Depp as a pop star who is drawn in by a mysterious nightclub owner played by Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye.

The show has been roundly trashed by critics and has a 26% score on Rotten Tomatoes (with a 58% audience score).

British GQ declared that Sunday's second episode delivered "the worst sex scene in history."

"It's hard to imagine anything as unsexy as what we're told to believe is the most radical, boundary-pushing TV sex ever," Lucy Ford wrote.

"The dialogue and choreography feel like they're plucked from the brain of a horned-up teenager who just found out they could google 'boobs' on Google images," she said.

Variety also reported that episode one of "The Idol" had picked up a bit of steam, reaching an audience of 3.6 million after one week of delayed viewing on Max, pulling ahead of the "Euphoria" premiere's numbers over a similar time period. Whether that audience sticks around, given episode two's slide, remains to be seen.

Data from FlixPatrol, which tracks official top lists from streamers like Max (which streams the "The Idol"), shows the series' reception around the world has been uneven. It has been very popular in regions like Latin America, Scandinavia, and Central Europe. But it hasn't fared as well in the US and Western Europe.

HBO parent Warner Bros. Discovery told Variety that "The Idol" had scored higher viewership in Latin America and Europe than "The White Lotus" and "Winning Time" had in the same amount of time.

"The Idol" was dogged with controversy in the lead-up to its debut, with Rolling Stone reporting in March that the show had gone "wildly, disgustingly off the rails." Tesfaye, Depp, and Levinson all pushed back on the reporting.