HBO
The singer's upcoming HBO show was allegedly "plagued by delays, reshoots and rewrites," with on-set sources calling it "degrading" and "offensive."
The Weeknd is hitting back at allegations of on-set turmoil while working on his upcoming HBO series, "The Idol."
The singer -- also known by his birth name, Abel Tesfaye -- teamed up with "Euphoria" creator Sam Levinson for the new series, which stars The Weeknd himself as a cult leader alongside Lily-Rose Depp playing a young pop star. The show was the subject of criticism when, back in March, Rolling Stone published an exposé about its alleged production issues -- which included losing its original director, Amy Seimetz, before scrapping the almost entirely-finished product and starting over from scratch.
As Rolling Stone put it, the series was "plagued by delays, reshoots, and rewrites," with one source calling it "a s---show." Other sources said the new version became "more of a degrading love story with a hollow message that some crew members describe as being offensive" -- with one saying, "It was like any rape fantasy that any toxic man would have in the show — and then the woman comes back for more because it makes her music better."
"I thought the article was ridiculous," Tesfaye said in a new interview with Vanity Fair, before first addressing talk of issues with Seimetz.
"I actually really loved working with Amy and I'm sure she’s reading all this being like, 'Why am I being thrown into this?'" he told the outlet, saying her schedule and production timelines were to blame for her exit. "Shows get reshot every day," he added, reportedly saying he didn't want to rush his first TV series.
He also insisted that the reshoots didn't center the show on him instead of Depp's character, saying, "I know it's easy for people to be like, 'Oh, he wanted to be the star,'" and adding that Levinson had to convince him to appear in the show in the first place.
Tesfaye felt the article was trying to say, "These are rapists trying to make a rape fantasy," telling Vanity Fair that "there were things in that description that have nothing to do with my persona at all."
"I don't do anything. I'm at home with my dog and my close friends and my family. I get myself out of trouble as much as I can," he added. "I try not to stay at the party too long, I'm not that guy."
"The Idol" premieres June 4, 2023 on HBO.
Everett Collection
