'The Idol' Shocker: HBO Will Air Season Finale This Weekend, Only Five Episodes Total for Season One

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “The Idol” actor Jane Adams called out “feminists” in a recent Vanity Fair interview for persisting that the controversial HBO series exploited its female actors on set when many of them, from Lily-Rose Depp to Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Adams herself, have stressed otherwise. “What is amazing to me is no one’s listening—I’ve not seen that before in all my days, such a dogged ‘We refuse to change the narrative,’” Adams said. “I especially want to say to all the feminists, ‘Go fuck yourself.’ All these women that I’m working with are talking about their experience and you’re not listening. You’re not listening!”

The Idol might be one of HBO’s most talked-about shows of the year.Created by Euphoria’s Sam Levinson, Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye and Reza Fahim, the series follows aspiring pop idol Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) as she begins a complex relationship with a self-help guru and cult leader, Tedros (Tesfaye).In April last year, the series underwent a creative overhaul where original director, Amy Seimetz, departed the project. Levinson took over to direct all five episodes.HBO has not announced whether The Idol will return.

“worst sex scenes in history.”“Continue to push the vision no matter how bumpy the journey,” Tesfaye, 33, told his fans in an Instagram post, seemingly referring to the show’s poor reception. Upon premiering at Cannes, “The Idol,” which Tesfaye created with Sam Levinson of “Euphoria” fame, was widely derided for its nudity, sex and directionless plot. “‘The Idol,’ or 50 SHADES OF TESFAYE: A Pornhub-homepage odyssey starring Lily-Rose Depp’s areolas and The Weeknd’s greasy rat tail,” a critic for the Gray Lady sneered after a viewing.“The show heavily exploits Lily … I hope she’s okay with it all because it comes off very exploitative,” another critic worried. The plot followed troubled pop princess Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp, 24, daughter of Johnny Depp) as she became involved in a weird and sex-filled relationship with self-help guru, club owner and cult leader Tedros (Tesfaye). The show regularly scandalized audiences, who cringed at its “nasty” sex scenes.Levinson doubled down after “The Idol” was criticized, defending his work as “revolutionary,” while others noted that the show is actually a lot tamer than earlier efforts, such as “True Blood.” “I think we live in a very sexualized world,” Levinson said.Depp also defended the show, telling Vogue Australia, “We know that we’re making something provocative and we are not shying away from that. That’s something I knew I was setting out to do from the beginning.

is finally over — but not without one more headline-making moment. A scene in Sunday’s season finale of the controversial,“torture porn” HBO series — streaming on Max — featured Jocelyn’s (Lily-Rose Depp) management fearing that the troubled pop star could have trouble filling seats on her upcoming tour. Jocelyn’s agent offers: “You know, f—kin’ Kanye [West] was filling arenas until he decided to start following Adolf Hitler.”The remark references the 46-year-old “Can’t Tell Me Nothing'” rapper’s admiration of Hitler, which he publicly expressed last year among a stream of other anti-Semitic remarks.

“torture porn.” But that’s nothing compared to the wrath of Selena Gomez’s fans, who are pointing out similarities between the show’s pop star protagonist, Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), and the Disney-reared diva. And the “Only Murders in the Building” star’s fuming followers say it’s Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, whom Gomez briefly dated in 2017, who’s to blame.

Note: This story contains spoilers from the “The Idol” episode 5.HBO’s “The Idol” wrapped up its five-episode season Sunday night with a surprise ending — that was evidently spoiled to The Weeknd fans who attended his Los Angeles concert this fall.On the finale: As the twisted relationship between rebounding pop star Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) and shady nightclub owner Tedros (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye) sunk even deeper into dangerous territory as Tedros attempts to control every part of Jocelyn’s life and career, Jocelyn decides to get rid of Tedros once and for all by bringing her manager Chaim into the mix. When Tedros refuses to take a check for half a million dollars to stay away from Jocelyn, Chaim moves to Plan B — tipping off a Vanity Fair journalist to write a scathing exposé of Tedros’ past exploits that would ruin him forever.Weeks later, in an unexpected turn of events, Tedros shows up at Jocelyn’s concert at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, and the pop star takes him back.

erotic and shocking, the five-episode collaboration among Levinson, music superstar Tesfaye and Reza Fahim is one of the worst shows ever made.One’s degree of disdain for it, however, might depend on their awareness of its behind-the-scenes backstory. Anyone going in cold can recognize that Tesfaye, who plays a supposedly irresistible nightclub owner and talent manager, is far less compelling when acting than when performing as The Weeknd. But his meme-able lack of acting chops does not make you mad, per se.

HBO’s controversial “The Idol” said goodbye to the weird, controversial world inhabited by wannabe pop star Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) and her creepy mentor, the rat-tail sporting Tedros (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye), after the show’s fifth and final episode, “Jocelyn Forever.” After struggling under ex-pimp/cult leader/star maker Tedros — Tesfaye is a co-creator of the show, along with Sam Levinson (“Euphoria”) and Reza Fahim — last night was all about Jocelyn demonstrating her power. Dwindling audiences of the show, said to have contributed “the worst sex scene in history” in an earlier episode, we are finally given access to the badass, pop diva lurking underneath, ready to strike with the same venom being poured into her by Tedros and company.Jocelyn, it turns out, is ruthless.The shift in power balance is clear from the start — while everyone gathers at Jocelyn’s house for a tour meeting, a disheveled Tedros is kicked out of Jocelyn’s life, seemingly forever.

has taken its final bow.The controversial HBO series — written and directed by creator Sam Levinson — wrapped up its five-episode run on Sunday, with a jaw-dropping finale titled «Jocelyn Forever.»The episode began with Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) calling out Tedros (Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye) as a «con man and a fraud,» claiming he had been obsessed with her for years before they met at his club. Despite telling him to leave and saying the other members of their group can stay, Tedros remains at her estate and attends a meeting with her record label to discuss her tour. With the meeting and tour in jeopardy, the label agrees to listen to performances from other members of the group and it's a success.

The Weeknd has shared two new songs from The Idol ahead of this Sunday's season one finale. "Like A God" and Lil Baby collaboration "False Idols" are streaming below.

Ellise Shafer For Moses Sumney, being cast in Sam Levinson’s controversial HBO series “The Idol” was, as he tells Variety, “strangely cosmic.” The singer-songwriter — whose two studio albums, “Aromanticism” and “Græ,” were released to critical acclaim — first came into contact with Levinson when he synced Sumney’s song, “Me in 20 Years,” for Rue’s special episode of “Euphoria” in late 2020. Sumney, who had been taking virtual acting classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, then found himself auditioning for the role of Elliot (Dominic Fike) in Season 2 of the series. “I auditioned kind of on a whim, and it weirdly went really well and went pretty far until I think the powers that be were like, ‘So, I don’t know if he looks 16 years old,'” Sumney says with a laugh. “Then Sam called me and was like, ‘I love you so much as an actor, I’m gonna keep you in mind.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, whatever, sure.'”

told Variety. “Nothing is official, but HBO is quite happy.” Randolph, 37, portrays Destiny, Jocelyn’s (Lily-Rose Depp) manager who has a bad feeling about sleazy nightclub owner Tedros (The Weeknd, aka Abel Tesfaye) who deems himself the captain of the pop star’s career. The series’ first season has been widely criticized by fans on social media for its “nasty,” cringe and raunchy sex scenes — but Randolph said there could be even more to come.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who stars as Destiny in “The Idol” — Jocelyn’s (Lily-Rose Depp) manager — opens up on why co-creator Sam Levinson took over the much-discussed series and the likelihood of a second season.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Chief Correspondent On “The Idol,” Da’Vine Joy Randolph brings a rare bit of heart to the much-discussed show. Playing Destiny, Jocelyn’s (Lily-Rose Depp) manager, the actor portrays one of the only stabilizing forces surrounding the sexualized pop star who has been wrapped up in a dangerous world, led by wannabe musician and cult leader Tedros (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye). Randolph was hand-picked by “Idol” co-creator Sam Levinson after the “Euphoria” creator took over the show during a complete overhaul in which he shot it again, after an initial version helmed by Amy Seimetz was completely scrapped, Randolph says. Controversy began before the show even premiered, with a Rolling Stone article that claimed production on “The Idol” had gone “disgustingly off the rails” and that Levinson’s version played like “twisted torture porn.”

The Idol has received backlash for months for its nudity, sex scenes and portrayal of toxic masculinity, with many critics questioning its value. Now, the show’s star, Lily-Rose Depp, is defending the decisions of the show. «We know that we’re making something provocative and we are not shying away from that. That’s something I knew I was setting out to do from the beginning,» she tells  in an interview for the July cover story.

controversial sex scenes and nudity — and Lily-Rose Depp is defending the “nasty” scenes after viewers branded it as “torture porn.”The HBO series — created by Sam Levinson (“Euphoria”), Reza Fahim and Abel Tesfaye (a k a The Weeknd) — follows pop star Jocelyn (Depp, 24, daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis) and her strange and raunchy relationship with nightclub owner and cult leader Tedros (Tesfaye, 33).It has been slammed for its graphic sex scenes and has garnered controversy for behind-the-scenes mess. In March, Rolling Stone reported that sources on the production described a chaotic filming environment, and called it “torture porn” and “rape fantasy.”But Depp is shutting down the criticism, saying the sex scenes in the show are “important” and “intentional.”“We know that we’re making something provocative and we are not shying away from that.

The Idol will end its first season this Sunday, July 2. The news has come as a surprise to some, with The Weeknd and Sam Levinson's HBO series first described as featuring six episodes when it was ordered to series in November 2021.

will end one week earlier than originally announced, Abel «The Weeknd» Tesfaye confirmed Monday. Originally billed as six episodes, the controversial Max show will now end after five installments.  also announced the change on Monday, saying that the series no longer needed six episodes after creator Sam Levinson joined the team and the story changed drastically. Co-creator Tesfaye tweeted the news, writing that the show has «one more episode,» set to air this Sunday. ONE MORE EPISODE #THEIDOL EP.

The Idol is heading towards its season finale.

Abel «The Weeknd» Tesfaye said this week he «very much» expected a negative reaction to Controversy surrounding the show and its production first surfaced several months before the first episode's premiere, when sources told  that the project had gone «wildly, disgustingly off the rails.» Most recently, referred to the third episode as «bizarrely edited» and «hackily written.» Tesfaye said he expected all of this criticism, but was not fazed by it. «It's almost educational, that this is what comes with being incredibly famous,» Tesfaye told of his show's treatment of fame. «You're surrounded by people who you're not sure what their true intentions are, even if it seems like they're good.