HBO and the Weeknd’s ‘The Idol’ Releases Final Trailer After Controversial Cannes Debut

Selome Hailu HBO made history in 2018 for hiring Alicia Rodis on “The Deuce,” making her the first-ever intimacy coordinator on a major U.S. production. Then, in the June 4 premiere episode of HBO’s “The Idol,” a fictional intimacy coordinator got locked in a bathroom for doing his job. In the scene, pop star Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) is shooting photos for her album cover when she pulls open her robe to reveal her nipples. Immediately, the mousy and neurotic intimacy coordinator on set (played by Scott Turner Schofield) steps in to remind the photographer (Eddy Chen) that the nudity rider in Jocelyn’s contract only permits the depiction of her “side-boob, under-boob and side flank.” The contract has been reviewed by “the label and her people,” he says, so any changes made require a 48-hour delay of the photo shoot, despite that Jocelyn chose to show her breasts without being directed to.

Not so fast. HBO has responded to a report in New York Post’s Page Six, citing sources, that the music drama series would likely not return for a second season.

“The Idol” is not returning for Season 2 were debunked Thursday, with HBO PR tweeting, “It is being misreported that a decision on a second season of The Idol has been determined. It has not, and we look forward to sharing the next episode with you Sunday night.”The response came after a story from Page Six stated that the currently airing season of the controversial musical drama starring The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp would be its first and only.

Hank Azaria is defending his new HBO drama, , following controversy over the show's nude scenes.Appearing on the third hour of the  show Tuesday, Azaria said «every care was taken,» a sentiment the show's star, Lily-Rose Depp has echoed in her defense of the series.«I was mercifully left out of the nude shenanigans personally, but I can tell you that I know Lily-Rose [Depp], who was the center of all that mainly, has said publicly and privately how protected and taken care of and collaborated with and listened to and safe she felt,» Azaria said. «I know every care was taken, not just with those kind of scenes, but there are many kinds of sensitive scenes in this show, and I certainly felt safe that way and collaborated with.» stars Depp as Jocelyn, an up-and-coming pop singer who is pressured and influenced by Tedros (The Weeknd), a charismatic cult leader/self-help guru who promises Jocelyn everything and will stop at nothing to make her famous.Azaria also referenced a  expose which claimed that production of the series had «gone wildly, disgustingly off the rails,» calling the outlet's report «ridiculous.»«It seemed to be in that piece connected to what they called the 'chaotic nature of the set,' and how it was really haphazard, and that I can tell you is ridiculous… I understand how certain people could feel that way.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic It’s Juliette’s fifth birthday, and she can wish for whatever she wants. Top of her list is an adventure, the likes of which this restless girl has only read about in books — specifically, a series of fantasy novels published by a family friend, about a capricious wizard who controls the wind. In “Sirocco and the Kingdom of Air Streams,” a quiet afternoon takes an unpredictable, eye-popping turn, as Juliette (voiced by Loïse Charpentier) and her 8-year-old sister Carmen (Maryne Bertieaux) are whisked away to a dazzling surreal world of alligator-shaped airships and bird-headed opera divas, where seemingly anything can happen. Welcome to the imagination of French director Benoît Chieux, who has crafted — in the year 2023, against considerable odds — a truly spectacular psychedelic excursion in the vein of head-trip classics “The Fantastic Planet” and “The Yellow Submarine.” It’s been roughly half a century since those two movies demonstrated just how liberating the medium of animation can be, but you wouldn’t know it to watch Chieux’s hand-drawn curio, which takes the mesmerizing dream logic of such projects and applies is to an “Alice in Wonderland”-style plot.

William Earl SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers from the second episode of HBO’s “The Idol,” titled “Double Fantasy,” now steaming on Max. The sophomore episode of “The Idol” has arrived, and following last week’s controversial and divisive series premiere, the stakes within the show have been raised. Troubled pop phenom Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) has a tortured video shoot, and then later invites her love interest, cult leader Tedros (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye) and some of his followers to her house for a night of debauchery. The sex, drugs and industry drama is amped up compared to the first episode in an hour of television sure to start online discourse.

Despite the controversy, “The Idol” is still providing the bops.

The Weeknd has released two new songs, ‘World Class Sinner/I’m A Freak’ and ‘The Lure’ – featuring Lily-Rose Depp. Check them out below.Both tracks are taken from his highly-anticipated new series The Idol, which aired on HBO last Sunday (June 4) with the opening episode Pop Tarts & Rat Tails.For those who have already watched the first instalment of the series, the first of the new singles, ‘World Class Sinner/I’m A Freak’, will already be familiar.

A.D. Amorosi Every album in the synth-pop arsenal of Héloïse Adélaïde Letissier – aka French vocalist-composer Christine and the Queens – benefits from a delicious brand of drama to go with his often obtuse lyricism. Yet it is only with this weekend’s release of “Paranoïa, Angels, True Love” that Chris (as he prefers to be known) has gone the extra mile in his decade-long journey of music making and found genuine theater his melancholy work, courtesy of the inspiration of playwright Tony Kushner’s iconic HIV-AIDS elegy “Angels in America.” Calling the grand new work a “heart-opening transformation, a prayer towards the self,” and “a rest in true love,” Chris opened up his mind to the smartly, tortured soul of Kushner… and his Queens’ usually cloistered self-productions to collaborators such as Madonna, 070 Shake and Mike Dean, the co-producer of “Paranoia, Angels, True Love.”

like years of headlines, revealing and expansive profiles about the ups and downs of the show’s production, and major on-set shakeups, HBO’s highly-anticipated The Idol has finally premiered. The new drama series tells a story of fame, excess, and identity with its saga about Lily-Rose Depp’s aspiring pop star and her complicated relationship with a self-help guru played by Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, who also co-created the new series. So, if you watched the show as it debuted, or plan on catching it later with your Max subscription, there’s a good chance you’re wondering where you’ve seen The Idol cast before.

Succession and Barry, Sam Levinson’s The Idol is set to take over. While many are excited to see Levinson’s next series following the success of Euphoria, the show has been marked by various issues, including reports of a toxic set culture. In addition, the content has also been deemed exploitative.

Will Sam Levinson have another HBO success on his hands with The Idol?

highly-anticipated HBO drama finally dropped last night, and the premiere episode has left viewers aghast.The jaw-dropping pilot’s sexually explicit 60 minutes is full of scenes showing Depp’s character aggressively masturbating and going nude for a photo shoot.Watchers across social media have scourged the series, touching upon Depp and Tesfaye’s acting skills — and a whole lot more.“#THEIDOL sucks. Bad dialogues, nudity,” wrote one Twitter user, conceding that Depp’s performance was “impressive.”Not everyone was so impressed. “Lily Rose Depp can’t act.

SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from Sunday’s premiere of HBO’s The Idol.

Selome Hailu HBO said “Hello, angel” to 913,000 viewers when it aired the series premiere of “The Idol” on Sunday night. Provided by Warner Bros. Discovery, that number points to Nielsen’s measurement of linear viewers on HBO’s cable channel combined with WBD’s own data regarding streams on Max. For context, “Euphoria” drew 1.1 million viewers when it premiered in 2019. (Max had not yet launched, meaning viewers were counted across HBO, HBO Go and HBO Now.) Levinson’s second HBO outing is therefore 17% behind his first. The trajectory of “Euphoria” Season 1 viewership was mostly flat, peaking with 1.2 million viewers of the finale, meaning that “The Idol” could still manage to beat out “Euphoria’s” early performance if its audience continue to grow. But there’s only one month left to achieve that, as the drama’s first season will run for a short five episodes.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. “The Idol,” one of the buzziest shows of the summer, hits Max this Sunday, June 4, at 6 p.m. PT.

Ratings for HBO’s newest series, The Idol, have been revealed.

Thania Garcia The Weeknd taps Playboi Carti and “ultimate pop star” Madonna for “Popular,” the second single off “The Idol Vol. 1″ soundtrack. The glittery, upbeat song follows the previously released “Double Fantasy,” featuring Future, and comes ahead of the soundtrack slated for a June 30 debut. “I’m proud of it. I’m definitely proud of it,” said Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, during his appearance on Zane Lowe’s New Music Daily for Apple Music 1. “Me and Carti had this… We’ve had a different version of this song prior. So I’ve had these vocals for a while and I’ve kind of just worked around it, and then kind of kept it in the tuck. But now it felt like it was time.”

“The Idol” trailer is officially here, and it’s full of tantalizing new footage that will surely make your jaw drop.

which stars Lily-Rose Depp as Jocelyn, an up-and-coming pop singer, and Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd, as Tedros, a charismatic self-help guru who is hell-bent on making Jocelyn a superstar.The new trailer for the forthcoming series — from creator Sam Levinson — dropped on Monday, giving fans a look at the sexy and scandalous storylines to come. From partying at cocaine-fueled ragers to blindfolding Jocelyn in the studio, Tedros' antics start to raise eyebrows in her inner circle, as he positions himself as the solution to all the young singer's problems.«You're not a human being,» he tells her in the clip, sounding sinister.