“The Idol” has turn into infamous for its controversial sex scenes and nudity — and Lily-Rose Depp is defending the “nasty” scenes after viewers branded it as “torture porn.”
The HBO series — created by Sam Levinson (“Euphoria”), Reza Fahim and Abel Tesfaye (aka The Weeknd) — follows pop star Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp, 24, daughter of Johnny Depp) and her strange and raunchy relationship with nightclub owner and cult leader Tedros (Tesfaye, 33).
It’s been slammed for its graphic sex scenes and has garnered controversy for behind-the-scenes mess. In March, Rolling Stone reported that sources on the production described a chaotic filming environment, and called it “torture porn” and “rape fantasy.”
But Depp is shutting down the criticism, saying the sex scenes within the show are “necessary” and “intentional.”
“We all know that we’re making something provocative and we should not shying away from that. That’s something I knew I used to be getting down to do from the start,” she told Vogue Australia in an interview for the July cover story. “I used to be never excited about making something puritanical. It’s okay if this show isn’t for everybody and that’s fantastic – I feel all the very best art is [polarizing].”
Depp continued, “On the subject of the nudity and the risqué nature of the role, that to me was really intentional. That was really necessary to me and something that I used to be enthusiastic about doing. I’m not frightened of it. I feel we live in a highly sexualized world. I feel that’s an interesting thing to explore.”
She also maintained that the environment on set was a “really protected creative space.”
“I’ve never felt more respected and more protected on a set, truthfully,” Depp told the outlet. “And I feel the trust that all of us built with one another, you and I, and Sam and I, and Abel and I, that may only make for a very safe-feeling set.”
“The creative environment that Sam creates on set, to me, is conducive to the very best work I feel like I actually have done and it brought the very best out of everyone…And I just couldn’t have felt more supported by Sam. It felt like a giant creative playground where we were free to try things and have it work or not work.”
Depp also admitted that her time playing troubled pop princess Jocelyn “modified” her and taught her “so, so, a lot.”
“I’ll never say goodbye to Jocelyn. It was such a gorgeous time in my life, truthfully,” she shared. “I’ll always remember it and it can live in my heart endlessly. I like this character a lot.”
However the show isn’t getting many positive responses.
Episode 2 of the HBO show — which contained the “worst sex scene in history” — lost greater than 100,000 viewers from the premiere, with a 12% drop in viewership. About 800,000 people tuned in to the second episode in comparison with the 913,000 who watched the premiere, Variety reported
Even the official Oreo Twitter account gave their thoughts on “The Idol,” starting a feud with The Weeknd.
After it was announced that a second season of the series was not guaranteed, milk’s favorite cookie tweeted, “Finally some excellent news.”
An intimacy coordinator told Variety they felt “betrayed” by HBO and was “appalled” particularly by one scene showing a fictional intimacy coordinator being locked in the toilet.
“The Idol” is currently streaming on Max. It was originally slated to have six episodes, but an episode was allegedly cut, and the season ended on Episode 5.
