Yahoo News The Weeknd Addresses ‘The Idol’ Director Departure, Calls Filming Reports “Ridiculous”
The Idol star Abel Tesfaye says he posted the clip from the HBO series that went viral because he wanted to meet a “ridiculous” report with a “ridiculous response.”
Published on Tuesday as part of a cover story with Vanity Fair spanning his rise in music and his decision to branch out in new creative directions, Tesfaye — better known by his stage name The Weeknd — shared why he decided to respond directly to a March report in Rolling Stone. (The magazine is owned by The Hollywood Reporter’s parent company, Penske Media.)
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Reporting claimed there was disorder on the set, with frequent filming delays and changes to the production due to unfinished scripts. It also alleged changes to the series after original director Amy Seimetz left and was replaced with Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, which resulted in a “rape-y” narrative that “went from satire to the thing it was satirizing.”
“I thought the article was ridiculous. I wanted to give a ridiculous response to it,” Tesfaye said of his decision to respond to the piece with a clip from the upcoming series that mocks Rolling Stone’s influence. “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?'”
THR has reached out to reps for Seimetz.
He went on to defend the show against the allegations, with Vanity Fair reporting that “logistical difficulties with Seimetz’s schedule,” production timelines and “a desire not to rush his first show,” were behind the overhaul. “Shows get reshot every day,” the Grammy and Billboard Music Award winner added, his comments echoing recent statements given to W Magazine.
As part of the article, Levinson also responded to the reports about the creative overhaul in an emailed statement. “HBO had dedicated a tremendous amount of autonomy and financial resources to the show,” he said, “and it wasn’t working.”
A source close to the production tells THR that there was positive feedback from HBO executives and Tesfaye about the series’ direction under Seimetz, and that prior to Levinson stepping in as director, he was seldom on set. “To say that it wasn’t working is false.”
To address filming issues, Levinson reportedly “proposed remaking the show from scratch on a smaller budget,” with the show filmed at Tesfaye’s house. There, he and his family — wife and The Idol executive producer Ashley, their two young children and a dog — moved in, with the Levinsons and Tesfaye rewriting the scripts. (Other creatives moved in as well, including L.A. singer and producer Ramsey, who appears in the series, and Houston record producer Mike Dean, who is working on the soundtrack.)
At another point in the interview, Tesfaye denied it was his decision in those rewrites to feature his character more, noting that “it’s easy for people to be like, ‘Oh, he wanted to be the star.'” Instead, he said it was Levinson who wanted to expand the singer’s role and convinced him to play star Lily-Rose Depp’s counterpart. Meanwhile, Tesfaye “insisted that the show remains grounded in Depp’s perspective as the lead,” the magazine reported.
As an example, there is a scene in which a character describes Tesfaye’s Tedros as “so rape-y,” to which Depp’s character Jocelyn replies, “Yeah, I kind of like that about him,” before the other character calls her reaction “gross” and “disturbing.”
Continuing to address the allegations, the singer and star discussed how the adult nature of his music might be influencing the perception of the series. According to the magazine, Tesfaye “took the story as an indictment of his character and described what he took to be its subtext: ‘These are rapists trying to make a rape fantasy.’
“It’s adult music. It’s not for the faint of heart. It’s R-rated music. I’m not responsible for how someone feels about my music,” he said. “There were things in that [report] description that have nothing to do with my persona at all.”
(In the Rolling Stone story, an unnamed production member said the show “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.”)
Ultimately, he chalked all the buzz around the show up to what the story is addressing. “These are the trials and tribulations of it, and that’s what the show is about,” he said.
Depp, who said she wanted to leave room for viewers “to be surprised,” also questioned the negative buzz around the show. “I think it’s interesting that people have so much to say about the show already, and they haven’t even seen it.” (Watch the trailer.)
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