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Filmmaker and actor Sam Levinson recently came under fire after news of certain violent and disturbing scenes being included in the drafted script for The Weeknd’s The Idol surfaced online.
A source reportedly told the Rolling Stones that HBO initially hoped to release the show last fall after House of the Dragon came to an end in October and left the Sunday time slot open.
However, the production was reportedly marked by delays, reshoots, and rewrites, and left several people in the dark about the final release date of the series. A production source allegedly told the publication:
“It was, let’s just say, a sh*tshow.”
The outlet noted that The Idol faced its first public blow after director Amy Seimetz exited the project in April 2022 with 80 percent of the six-episode series finished. At the time, HBO mentioned that the show would undergo major creative changes and adjust its cast and crew.
While no details about the situation were revealed, certain reports suggested that co-creator The Weeknd allegedly felt the show was heading "too much" into a “female perspective.”
Rolling Stone also claimed that HBO handed the reins to Sam Levinson after Seimetz's exit, but the Euphoria creator allegedly made some disturbing and offensive changes to the original script.
As news of the drafted script and its changes made the rounds online, social media users called out Levinson, with some even calling for his arrest:
As per HBO, The Idol follows the story of troubled pop star Jocelyn (Lily Rose-Depp) who aims to reclaim her status as the top music star in America after suffering a breakdown during her last tour.
On her journey through the industry, she comes across and falls in love with Tedros (The Weeknd) who owns a popular nightclub in L.A. and secretly runs a cult.
What changes did Sam Levinson make in the script of The Idol?
The Rolling Stone recently spoke to 13 sources from The Idol’s cast and crew and learned that a major delay in the production of the show was allegedly caused by Sam Levinson, who took over as the director after Amy Seimetz, and allegedly scrapped the $54-75 million project to entirely rewrite and reshoot the show.
The publication claimed that several sources alleged that HBO handed the authority of the project to Levinson, who discarded Seimetz’s original script and weakened the “show’s overarching message by dialing up the disturbing s*xual content and n*dity” to match and even surpass his previous show Euphoria.
One production member allegedly said:
“What I signed up for was a dark satire of fame and the fame model in the 21st century. The things that we subject our talent and stars to, the forces that put people in the spotlight and how that can be manipulated in the post-Trump world. However, It went from satire to the thing it was satirizing.”
Four other sources confirmed that Levinson allegedly made the story of The Idol less about a troubled celebrity “falling victim to a predatory industry figure” and fighting to reclaim her own authority and “more of a degrading love story with a hollow message.”
Speaking about Sam Levinson’s version of the show, a production member said:
“It was like any r*pe fantasy that any toxic man would have in the show and then the woman comes back for more because it makes her music better.”
Another source added that the revamped version was changing the initial message of the show:
“It was a show about a woman who was finding herself s*xually, turned into a show about a man who gets to abuse this woman and she loves it.”
Sources claimed that Levinson’s scripts contained various violent moments between Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd’s characters. Three sources told Rolling Stone that a draft for one episode allegedly had a scene where The Weeknd’s character bashes Depp’s character in the face.
However, the latter smiles and asks for more beating, making The Weeknd’s character satisfied in return. The scene was reportedly not filmed. Another proposed scene reportedly showed Depp’s character carrying an egg in her v*gina.
If the egg was dropped or cracked, The Weeknd’s character were to refuse to “r*pe” her, prompting Depp’s character to go into a spiral and begging him to do the same as she believed it would lead to her success in the music industry.
This disturbing moment could also not be filmed as the production had difficulty shooting the scene. One source reportedly said:
“It was like, ‘What is this? What am I reading here?’ It was like s*xual torture p*rn.”
Two crew members told Rolling Stone that they were unsure about the future of the show and the content of the final cut as scripts were allegedly being changed on a daily basis and scenes were being shot and reshot.
Production sources also claimed that while Amy Seimetz’s version of The Idol contained mature themes and scenes, Sam Levinson dramatically increased such content to the point where it allegedly became offensive and disturbing.
Netizens call out Sam Levinson over The Idol drafted script
Sam Levinson recently landed in hot waters after an alleged drafted script for HBO’s upcoming series The Idol revealed that the writer allegedly scrapped the original story and included multiple disturbing mature content in the script.
In the wake of the alleged revelation, several social media users took to Twitter to call out Levinson:
As reactions continue to pour in online, it remains to be seen if Sam Levinson will respond to the latest claims surrounding The Idol and its production in the days to come.
