*HBO’s limited series “The Idol” will end after its upcoming fifth episode on July 2, leaving viewers shocked because the show was initially billed as a six-episode series.
Created by Sam Levinson, the show has rattled viewers due to the wild sex scene between series stars the Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye) and Lily-Rose Depp. The moment showed the Weeknd’s character Tedros talking dirty to Depp’s Jocelyn as she masturbated before they had sex. There are also rumors that one deleted scene involved Deep snorting coke off the singer’s manhood.
The June 18 episode was slammed on social media by viewers for featuring a tasteless joke about Jeffrey Epstein. This past Sunday’s episode featured a preview for the upcoming episode that was billed as the “season finale.” Many viewers flooded social media to speculate that “The Idol” was ending prematurely due to the overwhelmingly negative response it received.
Rolling Stone published an exposé in March that detailed the contentious re-writing process that led to the series being dubbed “sexual torture porn.”
As BuzzFeed reports, “The Idol” received a six-episode order in November 2021 and the six-episode directed by Amy Seimetz was nearly complete when she walked away from the project.
When “The Idol” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, it was listed as a five-episode series. The Weeknd also referred to the show as a “five-hour film” during an interview with GQ earlier this month.
According to Rolling Stone, “roughly 80 percent of the six-episode series” was finished when Seimetz suddenly left. Her vision was “leaning too much into a ‘female perspective,’” the Weeknd allegedly said.
Meanwhile, HBO issued a response to reports that “The Idol” will conclude after season one due to the criticism about the graphic sex scenes and violence.
“It is being misreported that a decision on a second season of The Idol has been determined,” HBO tweeted, Complex reports. “It has not, and we look forward to sharing the next episode with you Sunday night.”
READ MORE: Viewers Outraged Over Jeffrey Epstein Joke in HBO’s ‘The Idol’
