Amy Seimetz: Last News

McKinley Franklin editor HBO has released the official trailer for its explicit Sam Levinson-directed series “The Idol,” which is set to premiere on June 4. “The Idol” premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, making it the first television show to officially debut at the festival. The series stars Lily-Rose Depp as rising pop star Jocelyn and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye as Tedros, a powerful, sex-obsessed cult leader.  After calling off her latest tour, Jocelyn is on a mission to reignite her career, with big dreams of becoming the biggest star in the industry. After she meets Tedros, Jocelyn is swiftly drawn into his world, where he promises to expand her career to new heights — at any cost.

When the credits rolled at the Lumiere Theatre Monday evening following the debut of Sam Levinson’s The Idol, the loudest and heartiest cheer was handed to actor Da’Vine Joy Randolph.

The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp shut down the Croisette to show the price of fame — and plenty of raunchy intrigue — at the Cannes premiere of “The Idol” on Monday. Making direct parallels to superstar meltdowns like the one suffered by Britney Spears, the HBO Original series finally revealed itself at a packed gala screening. Revenge porn photos of bodily fluids on Depp’s face, masturbation with ice cubes, nightclub-owning scam artists and vile Hollywood sycophants populated the first two episodes of the already-controversial series. Co-created by Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, Reza Fahim and “Euphoria” visionary Sam Levinson, “The Idol” centers on an aspiring pop star named Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) who gets taken under the wing of a self-help guru (Tesfaye) amid her ascent in the music industry. Tesfaye’s character, Tedros, is a modern day cult leader. The supporting cast includes Suzanna Son, Troye Sivan, Dan Levy, Rachel Sennott and more.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor In a sprawling new cover story in Vanity Fair, the Weeknd talks about the dark rumors surrounding his forthcoming HBO series “The Idol” and speaks broadly of what will apparently be the third iteration of his musical persona.   The series comes at a transitional time for the artist, who spoke of his theatrical ambitions in an expansive 2020 Variety cover story pegged to the release of his blockbuster album “After Hours.” In many ways “The Idol” is a conclusion of that dark, superstar phase of the Weeknd: Although he insists he is not Tedros, the abusive and misogynistic Svengali he portrays in the show — who is manipulating a pop star played by Lily Rose Depp, both career-wise and personally — it’s not worlds away from the nihilistic, sex-obsessed, drug-addled persona that populates many of his songs. In fact, he says he’s closer to Depp’s character.          

HBO series The Idol has revealed how The Weeknd – real name Abel Tesfaye – first pitched the idea of the show to him.Speaking to W Magazine, Levinson recalled: “Abel came to us with a pitch. He said something that I’ll always remember: ‘If I wanted to start a cult, I could.’ What he meant is that his fans were so loyal and devoted that they would follow him anywhere.

Charna Flam Ahead of the Cannes Film Festival debut and summer premiere of Sam Levinson’s upcoming drama series “The Idol,” the director offered some insight on how the HBO production was conceived. The “Euphoria” showrunner explained how the series lead, Abel Tesfaye, also known as The Weeknd, pitched the premise. “Abel came to us with a pitch,” Levinson told W Magazine. “He said something that I’ll always remember: ‘If I wanted to start a cult, I could.’” “What he meant is that his fans were so loyal and devoted that they would follow him anywhere,” Levinson continued. “That was the germ of the idea for ‘The Idol’: what happens when a pop star falls for the wrong guy and no one speaks up.”

The Weeknd has addressed the production troubles on his upcoming HBO series The Idol, describing the show’s overhaul as a “challenge”.Set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival later this month, The Idol follows aspiring pop singer Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) who falls into a complex relationship with self-help guru and cult leader Tedros (Abel Tesfaye aka The Weeknd).The series, created by Tesfaye, Reza Fahim and Euphoria’s Sam Levinson, underwent an overhaul in April 2022 after a rough-cut was completed. This led to various changes in the cast and crew, including the departure of director Amy Seimetz.According to an interview with Tesfaye and Levinson with W Magazine, the singer was concerned the dynamic between his cult figure character and Jocelyn in the original cut was “not as complex” as they had envisioned, which led to a “pivot”.“Film and TV is a new creative muscle for me,” Tesfaye told the outlet. “I don’t release my music until I think it is great.

Emily Longeretta The days of fall TV being the time for new shows to premiere are long gone. This summer, prep for bingeing per usual with a slew of unscripted and scripted series coming to both streamers and network TV. Likely the most-anticipated series of the year, HBO’s “The Idol,” will premiere in July after a great deal of delays and reshoots.

Netflix’s fantasy drama Sweet Tooth will end with the upcoming third season.

BreAnna Bell Netflix has renewed “Sweet Tooth” for a third and final season, which has already been filmed in New Zealand, the streamer announced. “In a lot of ways, it’s exactly the story that I imagined we would tell and in a lot of ways it takes on its own life. At the beginning, I think you set out to tell these landmark pieces of Gus’ story and the big pieces of the comic book, but the beauty of long-form storytelling and Gus’ journey over 24 episodes is the characters themselves tell you what they want to be. The crew and cast bring so much depth and point of view to who the characters are and where they’ve come from and where they’re going,” said creator, showrunner and executive producer Jim Mickle.

Being a pop star has its dark side.

McKinley Franklin editor It’s time to gawk at the rise (and fall?) of a new megalomanic pop star.  HBO has announced that its original series “The Idol” will premiere on Sunday, June 4 at 9 p.m., with the network releasing another erotic teaser for the series. The new footage touts the series’ inclusion in the out of competition selection of this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The trailer opens with the question of when the industry saw “the last truly-fucking-nasty, nasty pop-girl.” Cue Britney Spears’ “Gimme More.”  “The Idol” stars Lily-Rose Depp as Jocelyn, a fame-hungry young woman looking to take over the entertainment industry. When she meets Tedros, a powerful, sex-obsessed cult leader portrayed by Abel “The Weekend” Tesfaye, Jocelyn’s career expands to new heights.

Emily Longeretta Amid a bit of drama surrounding HBO’s “The Idol,” the Weeknd-led series is in talks to debut at the Cannes Film Festival in May, multiple sources confirm to Variety. Star Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye previously attended Cannes Film Festival and is hopeful the show premieres there, according to one source, but the festival has not yet screened the drama, which has undergone a great number of changes behind the scenes. HBO is not commenting at this time. Though primarily a film festival, a handful of TV series have been brought to Cannes in the past, including “Twin Peaks: The Return” and “Top of the Lake: China Doll.”

The forthcoming HBO show The Idol is said to be “the sleaziest love story in all of Hollywood,” according to its very own promo push from late last summer. And considering its creators — Euphori

HBO and stars Lily-Rose Depp and Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye are defending upcoming music industry drama "The Idol" after an article alleged its production under director Sam Levinson has gone "wildly, disgustingly off the rails" and has turned into "torture porn."  Director Amy Seimetz, of "The Girlfriend Experience," was originally hired to helm the drama before leaving after shooting 80% of the six-episode limited series, and Sam Levinson of "Euphoria" was brought in, according to Rolling Stone.The article claimed Tesfaye, who is a co-creator of the show, felt Seimetz was leaning too much into the "female perspective" of the story.  However, sources told Variety that the outlet's insiders had not seen the finished product, which still reportedly represents a "female perspective." Meanwhile, the streaming service told Fox News Digital in a statement, "The creators and producers of ‘The Idol’ have been working hard to create one of HBO’s most exciting and provocative original programs.The initial approach on the show and production of the early episodes, unfortunately, did not meet HBO standards so we chose to make a change." HBO continued, "Throughout the process, the creative team has been committed to creating a safe, collaborative, and mutually respectful working environment, and last year, the team made creative changes they felt were in the best interest of both the production and the cast and crew.

The Weeknd, lead actress Lily-Rose Depp and HBO have responded to new reported allegations that production of the upcoming series The Idol has been a “shitshow”, as one source put it.In a new report from Rolling Stone, 13 anonymous sources from the show’s cast and crew spoke on the production of the anticipated series. They allege that The Idol, which is expected to premiere sometime this year, has been plagued by delays, rewrites and reshoots that took a turn for the worse with Euphoria showrunner Sam Levinson at the helm.Tesfaye has since responded to Rolling Stone’s report by tagging the publication in a clip from the show on Twitter.

Ethan Shanfeld The Weeknd has responded to a report from Rolling Stone claiming that his upcoming HBO series “The Idol,” created with “Euphoria’s” Sam Levinson, has “gone wildly, disgustingly off the rails.” Posting a clip from the series to Instagram, Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye tagged Rolling Stone and wrote, “Did we upset you?” In the scene, a character played by Dan Levy pitches Tesfaye and Lily-Rose Depp’s pop star character Jocelyn to do a photo shoot for the cover of Rolling Stone. Tesfaye, who plays a modern-day cult leader named Tedros, says, “Rolling Stone? Aren’t they a little irrelevant? … Rolling Stone has 6 million followers on Instagram, half of them probably bots. And Jocelyn has 78 million followers, all real I’d assume. So she does a photo shoot, she tags them, they get her followers. More money for Rolling Stone, nothing for Jocelyn.”

Back in 2021, news first emerged that HBO had greenlit “The Idol”, an edgy satirical drama set within the Los Angeles music business, created by The Weeknd and “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson.

The Idol is the most controversial show in town, and it doesn't even have a premiere date yet. But maybe that's how the creators like it.

Lily-Rose Depp set pulses racing on Thursday, as she shared a sizzling snap of herself to her Instagram Stories.The 23-year-old daughter of Johnny Depp, 59, appeared to go fully nude, covering her modesty with an emoji, while getting her hair done on the set of her upcoming HBO show The Idol.The French-American actress stars as up-and-coming pop star, named Jocelyn, in the series, along with The Weeknd, who plays her mentor. The Idol is set to release on HBO sometime in 2023, but an exact date is currently unknown.  Stunner: Lily-Rose Depp, 23, set pulses racing on Thursday, as she shared a topless snap of herself to Instagram while getting her hair done on the set of her upcoming show The IdolThe beauty had her blonde tresses styled into bouncy curls, and was picture-perfect with glam that included a lovely pink blush and black winged eyeliner.   Set against the backdrop of the music industry, The Idol centers on a self-help guru and leader of a modern-day cult, who develops a complicated relationship with an up-and-coming pop idol.The series, which was co-created by Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, The Weeknd and Reza Fahim, also stars Suzanna Son, Troye Sivan, Dan Levy, Moses Sumney, Jane Adams, Jennie Ruby Jane, Eli Roth, Rachel Sennott, Ramsay, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Hari Nef, Mike Dean and Hank Azaria.

Lily-Rose Depp put her toned legs on display on Sunday, as she was spotted making an ATM run in Studio City.The 23-year-old daughter of actor Johnny Depp, 59, and French singer Vanessa Paradis, 49, sported a pair of tiny skintight spandex shorts and black boots for the outing.The star of HBO's upcoming series The Idol - created by The Weeknd - kept a bit warmer on top, wearing a long-sleeve black sweater. Leggy! Lily-Rose Depp put her toned legs on display on Sunday, as she was spotted making an ATM run in Studio CityLily shielded her eyes from the sun with a pair of black shades, and accessorized with gold hoops for the outing.