‘The Idol’ Episode 2 Viewership Dips But Premiere Audience Outpaces ‘The White Lotus’ & ‘Euphoria’

The Idol is heading towards its season finale.

idol-istic. Viewers who have been watching the controversial HBO show “The Idol” expressed confusion, after it was announced that the upcoming fifth episode will be the end of Season 1. “I thought it was gonna be 6 episodes, not 5?? What happened???” one fan wrote. Another outraged fan complained, “this needs 10 episodes…story hasn’t gone anywhere.”The salacious drama – which has become infamous for its “nasty” sex scenes and nudity – is helmed by Sam Levinson (“Euphoria”) and musician Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd, 33, who also co-stars. The plot follows troubled pop princess Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp, 24, daughter of Johnny Depp), as she becomes entangled in a strange and steamy relationship with self-help guru, club owner and cult leader Tedros (Tesfaye). “Schitt’s Creek” star Dan Levy, 39, is also in “The Idol,” for some reason. (Maybe he just needed a paycheck).There’s been a lot of hand-wringing about how raunchy the show is – even though it’s tame compared to “True Blood” or even “Bridgerton.” It’s been slammed by critics for its graphic sex scenes, and it also attracted controversy for reports of its environment behind the scenes.

Ethan Shanfeld “There is some kinky-ass shit in this house,” says Destiny in the fourth episode of HBO’s “The Idol,” apparently assuming the role of this series’ viewers. “This shit is weird, scary shit.” As the Weeknd’s Tedros tightens his grip on Lily-Rose Depp’s Jocelyn — both metaphorically and literally, with his hands around her waist in the studio — her managers, played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Hank Azaria, plot to save their troubled client from the predatory nightclub mogul. At the beginning of the episode, Destiny (Randolph) and Chaim (Azaria) run through Tedros’ rap sheet, which is full of violence and abuse charges. Oh, and his real name is Mauricio Costello Jackson.

The Weeknd has shared a cover of John Lennon’s ‘Jealous Guy’ that’s been used in HBO’s new show The Idol.Ahead of the show’s fourth episode, The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye, shared a version of Lennon’s classic song that appears in the show. The Idol is made by Euphoria-creator Sam Levinson and follows the plot of a pop star (Lily-Rose Depp) who develops a controversial relationship with self-help guru and cult leader Tedros (Abel Tesfaye).The cover was first teased back in April and the musician performed it in Norway earlier this week.You can check out the song here:Last week, The Weeknd and BLACKPINK‘s Jennie shared a new song that appears in The Idol – listen to ‘One Of The Girls’ below.Depp also appeared on two new The Weeknd songs ‘World Class Sinner/I’m A Freak’ and ‘The Lure’ from the show’s soundtrack, which were released earlier this month.The first single taken from the HBO drama was titled ‘Double Fantasy’, and hears The Weeknd (now going by his birth name Abel Tesfaye) team up with Future.

The Weeknd and BLACKPINK‘s Jennie have shared a new song that appears in The Idol – listen to ‘One Of The Girls’ below.The Idol is made by Euphoria-creator Sam Levinson and follows the plot of a pop star (Lily-Rose Depp) who develops a controversial relationship with self-help guru and cult leader Tedros (Abel Tesfaye).Depp also appeared on two new The Weeknd songs ‘World Class Sinner/I’m A Freak’ and ‘The Lure’ from the show’s soundtrack, which were released earlier this month.Now, Tesfaye has teamed up with Jennie, who also appears in The Idol as one of Depp’s backup dancers, Dyanne, for a new track.Listen to ‘One Of The Girls’ below.The first single taken from the HBO drama was titled ‘Double Fantasy’, and hears The Weeknd (now going by his birth name Abel Tesfaye) team up with Future. Like ‘The Lure’, the collaborative single featured production from The Weeknd and Mike Dean, and arrived accompanied by a music video that featured clips from the show.More recently the singer-songwriter and actor released the single ‘Popular’, which saw him join forces with Playboy Carti and queen of pop, Madonna.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Musical tag-teaming doesn’t have results much more fruitful than what came about when the showrunners of “A Small Light” picked Ariel Marx to compose the score for the limited series and Este Haim to serve as executive music producer. Neither Haim nor Marx was in a position to take anything about the job lightly, given that the eight-episode series for National Geographic and Disney+ tells the story of a Dutch woman, Miep Gies, who helped hide Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis. Yet, in their very separate roles, both found ways to bring musical light or even levity into a drama that inevitably skews toward tension. Este Haim took on the EMP job for the first time with “A Small Light” after previously scoring or co-composing “Maid” and “Cha Cha Smooth” — on top of her day job as one-third of the rocking sister trio Haim. For “A Small Light,” she produced episode-ending covers of songs from the first half of the 20th century, performed by Angel Olsen, Moses Sumney, Kamasi Washington, Sharon Van Etten with Michael Imperioli, Remi Wolf, Weyes Blood, duet partners Orville Peck and King Princess, and her sister Danielle.

“The Idol” continues to ruffle viewers’ feathers.

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.

"The Idol" has only aired two episodes, but week to week has faced intense criticism and controversy, some of which occurred before the series even premiered. Lily-Rose Depp plays a rising pop star, struggling with a comeback who meets a self-help guru and cult leader (played by Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye), who begins to exert undue influence on her as she’s pulled into the underbelly of the music industry.

Niall Horan has set the stage to debut at Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart this Friday with The Show.  

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.”

One of the movies we can’t wait to see this summer is Bottoms, the new comedy written by and starring Rachel Sennott.

featurette exploring the making of the premiere episode.In HBO’s “The Idol,” which centers rebounding pop star Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), Jane plays Dyanne, a dancer whose professional life blends with her personal life through her friendship with Jocelyn. When Jocelyn gets overloaded with photoshoots for her comeback album cover and an interview with a Vanity Fair journalist played by Hari Nef, the pop star takes a break to catch her breath amid rehearsal for her upcoming single as the choreographer instructs Dyanne to take her place.

Making their own Fight Club. The highly anticipated queer comedy Bottoms follows two high school girls who try to hook up with cheerleaders by starting a self-defense group.

The Weeknd is about to make his first foray into TV with HBO‘s The Idol, a new drama premiering today (June 4).Created by Euphoria’s Sam Levinson, Reza Fahim and Tesfaye, the series follows a self-help guru and leader of a modern-day cult, who develops a complicated relationship with an up-and-coming pop idol.Lily Rose Depp (The Dancer) and Tesfaye lead the cast, supported by Suzanna Son, Troye Sivan, Moses Sumney, Jane Adams, Dan Levy, Eli Roth, Mike Dean and Hank Azaria.Back in April, it was reported that the series underwent reshoots and was “adjusting” its cast and crew to serve a new direction. The show had already shot in and around Los Angeles, but many of the reshoots took place in Tesfaye’s personal mansion in Bel Air.The artist purchased the 33,000-square-foot property — which sits on a 1.6-acre plot of land — in 2021 for $70 million (£56million).

The Idol was first announced, there were some stellar names attached to the project, namely Abel Tesfaye (AKA The Weeknd), Lily-Rose Depp, Dan Levy, Eli Roth, Hank Azaria and the late Anne Heche. Then, as if that wasn't enough, they just kept coming: Troye Sivan, Hari Nef and finally, an artist called Jennie Ruby Jane. Jennie Ruby Jane is the stage name for the acting debut of one of the biggest names in K-Pop (and pop music in general) right now: Jennie Kim, or as she’s better known, the mononymous Jennie from the stratospherically successful girl band, Blackpink.

HBO‘s new drama series The Idol has arrived – you can find episode details below.Created by Euphoria’s Sam Levinson, Reza Fahim and Abel Tesfaye aka The Weeknd, the The Idol follows a self-help guru and leader of a modern-day cult, who develops a complicated relationship with an up-and-coming pop idol.Lily Rose Depp (The Dancer) and Tesfaye lead the cast, supported by Suzanna Son, Troye Sivan, Moses Sumney, Jane Adams, Dan Levy, Eli Roth, Mike Dean and Hank Azaria.There will be six episodes of the HBO drama in total, with the first airing on June 4, 2023 at 9pm ET (1am GMT). Each episode will be roughly an hour long.Viewers can watch the show on both HBO and streaming service Max.The first teaser trailer was released on July 17, 2022 – you can watch it above.

Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd) and Lily-Rose Depp have continued to dismiss reports of a toxic environment surrounding the production of their forthcoming, Sam Levinson-directed HBO drama series The Idol. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Depp refers to the atmosphere on set as a “lighthearted” one with “lots of laughs… music, dancing around, and that kind of energy.” Elsewhere in the interview, she discusses the varying acting processes of the show’s cast, which also includes Suzanna Son, Jane Adams, Dan Levy, Eli Roth, Rachel Sennott, Hari Nef, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Hank Azaria, as well Moses Sumney, Mike Dean, Troye Sivan, Ramsey, and BLACKPINK’s Jennie. Read Next: The Idol review: a need to provoke renders The Weeknd’s TV debut tedious “I don’t think anybody went full method — nobody lost their minds,” she says.

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.