Warning: This article contains discussion of rape.
A month after its release, new reports about HBO’s The Idol have sparked another wave of backlash.
Directed and produced by Sam Levinson, Reza Fahim, and The Weeknd, The Idol — which also stars The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp — centers a controversial relationship between their characters. The Weekend, real name Abel Tesfaye, portrays sleazy club owner Tedros in the show, while Lily-Rose plays a rising pop star named Jocelyn.
But things behind-the-scenes have arguably been far worse, with several cast and crew members’ having voiced their concerns about The Idol’s “extreme” nature before the show even began streaming.
Earlier this year, in March, crew members alleged in a report published by Rolling Stone that Sam’s scripts had added extremely disturbing sexual and physically violent scenes between Jocelyn and Tedros’s characters. One source described The Idol as “sexual torture porn,” while someone else alleged that it was “like any rape fantasy that any toxic man would have in the show.”
The insiders also claimed that The Idol had initially featured scenes so disturbing and graphic that they had to be cut, including one that allegedly featured Jocelyn asking Tedros to beat her, which gave Tedros an erection.
According to Page Six, who heard from an insider last week, The Idol was initially set to feature what they described as a “non-consensual semen scene” in its fourth episode, which reportedly ended up being cut from the final edit.
The source alleged that The Weeknd and Lily-Rose were filming a sex scene when director Sam suddenly stepped in with impromptu instructions for their characters.
Sam, who has also been criticized over the sexualized nature of his HBO show Euphoria, allegedly “explicitly directed” that Tedros “strangle” Jocelyn and ejaculate “inside her without her consent.”
What’s more, the source claimed that Sam was “by the monitor, laughing and feeding lines to The Weeknd’s character like, ‘I own you,’” as he gave the instructions, and that most of the people on set found the scene “extremely disturbing.”
A second insider further claimed that the scene was filmed, and was “originally set up to lead to a pregnancy scare for Jocelyn.”
However, this source alleged that the scene was cut because of “because of storyline adjustments,” adding that it’s “a normal part of the creative process on a television series.”
Reacting to the new reports, social media users have expressed their dismay at the alleged cut scene.
“My God, this man is sick. Sam Levinson is a sickman,” one tweet read.
“I love Euphoria but honestly this man needs to not be allowed to work in Hollywood,” said another, while someone else added that the alleged details were “wild AF.”
Content Source: www.buzzfeednews.com