The Weeknd RESPONSES To Rolling Stone Article Criticizing His New Show The Idol As ‘Torture Porn’

The Weeknd took to social media on Wednesday to reply to a Rolling Stone article that called his new HBO series The Idol ‘torture porn’ and detailed slow production issues on the series he is collaborating on with Sam Levinson.

The 33-year-old Toronto musician, who became the first Spotify artist to eclipse the 100 million monthly listener mark, took to Twitter with a clip from the show, captioning it ‘.@RollingStone, do we bother you? ‘

In the clip from the upcoming series, the artist, whose full name is Abel Tesfaye, was seen with his co-stars Lily Rose-Depp and Dan Levy discussing the irrelevance of music publishing stalwarts.

The Blinding Lights frontman, playing Tedros, sitting next to Depp’s character Jocelyn, asked: ‘Rolling Stone, aren’t they a little irrelevant?’

In the scene, Depp’s character Lily said, “I don’t know, I think maybe she’s past her prime,” as the characters discussed how her character had outshone the post on social media followers.

The Toronto-based musician took to Twitter with a clip from the show, captioning it ‘.@RollingStone, shall we bother you?’

Rolling Stone’s report cited experts on the series who spoke about script changes, unrealistic expectations and graphic sex scenes.

The informant said: “It was like, ‘What is this? What am I reading here? It was like sexual torture porn.'”

The tweet came as sources in production said TMZ that The Weeknd was in good spirits about the progress of the series, which has been in various stages of production for two years; and pleased with Levinson’s contributions to the project.

Insiders told the outlet that none of the people who spoke to the magazine had seen the finished product, and that the controversial scenes in question might not make it to the final cut.

Sources told the outlet that Levinson replaced original director Amy Seimetz to shape the creative vision that co-creators The Weeknd and Reza Fahim had in mind for the highly anticipated series.

Levinson has done a great job streamlining the series amid the controversial content that has been filmed, sources told TMZ.

The Rolling Stone piece reported that Levinson reviewed previous work done by Seimetz, choosing the likes of Jennie, Hank Azaria and Levy.

Levinson also wrote a script with a revised story and an expanded production schedule, which experts say has improved the show.

In the clip from the upcoming series, the artist, whose full name is Abel Tesfaye, was seen with his co-stars Lily Rose-Depp and Dan Levy discussing the irrelevance of music publishing stalwarts.

The Blinding Lights frontman, playing Tedros, sitting next to Depp’s character Jocelyn, asked: ‘Rolling Stone, aren’t they a little irrelevant?’

In the scene, Depp’s character Lily said, “I don’t know, I think maybe she’s past her prime,” as the characters discussed how her character had outshone the publication’s fans.

The tweet came as production sources told TMZ that The Weeknd was in good spirits about the progress of the series, which has been in various stages of production for two years.

Filmmaker Sam Levinson, pictured last week in Los Angeles, has done a steady job creatively shaping the upcoming project, sources told TMZ in response to the piece.

Sources told TMZ that there was a misconception that The Weeknd felt the initial iteration of the project had been positioned too strongly from a female perspective, but that he views the show as about a woman in Hollywood controlling his narrative.

Insiders said a detail in the report that the budget has approached $80 million was not correct, as reshooting the production didn’t cost that much.

Depp issued a statement to MY! News in support of Levinson, saying: ‘Sam is, for many reasons, the best director I’ve ever worked with. I have never felt more supported or respected in a creative space, my contributions and opinions are more valued.

“Working with Sam is a true collaboration in every way: it’s important to him, more than anything, not just what the actors think about the job, but how we feel about playing it.”

HBO said in a statement that “the creators and producers of The Idol have been hard at work creating one of HBO’s most exciting and provocative original shows.

“Unfortunately, the initial focus of the show and the production of the first few episodes did not meet HBO’s standards, so we decided to make a change.”

The network continued: “Throughout the process, the creative team was committed to creating a work environment that is safe, collaborative and mutually respectful, and last year, the team made creative changes that they felt were in the best interest of the production and the cast”. and crew. We look forward to sharing The Idol with the public soon.”