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On Wednesday, Rolling Stone published a story about The Weeknd‘s upcoming series, The Idol, with the headline: “How HBO’s Next Euphoria Became Twisted ‘Torture Porn.'” The subheading trumpets that “thirteen sources” told the publication the show has gone “wildly, disgustingly off the rails.” Now it seems The Weeknd has responded.
Rolling Stone‘s article claims that when director Sam Levinson took over, the entire focus of the show changed, and included much more “disturbing sexual content and nudity.” The show’s original premise — a female pop star falls under a cult leader’s spell and fights to regain control of her life — instead became “a degrading love story with a hollow message.” The article also blames The Weeknd for some of the changes.
On Wednesday, he seemingly responded to the article by posting a clip from the show, which shows his and Lily-Rose Depp‘s characters being pitched by a publicist, played by Dan Levy, on the idea of a Rolling Stone cover.
“Rolling Stone? Aren’t they a little … irrelevant?” asks The Weeknd’s Tedros, the cult leader. “Yeah, I dunno, I feel like it may be a little past its prime,” Depp’s Jocelyn agrees.
“Nobody cares about Rolling Stone,” Tedros adds. He goes on to compare Jocelyn’s Instagram followers to Rolling Stone’s: She has 78 million to the magazine’s paltry 6 million.
In the caption, Weeknd writes, “@RollingStone did we upset you?”
Levinson and Weeknd didn’t respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment on the story, but Depp provided a statement calling Levinson “the best director” she’s ever worked with. HBO told Rolling Stone, “The team made creative changes they felt were in the best interest of both the production and the cast and crew.”
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