What is HBO’s ‘The Idol’ about?

HBO launched its newest drama series, The Idol. The series stars Johnny Depp‘s daughter, Lily-Rose Depp as the pop star known as Jocelyn, and Abel ‘The Weeknd‘ Tesfaye stars as Tedros. Alongside those two, other huge names, like Troye Sivan and BLACKPINK’s Jennie will also appear in the series.

The show faced a fair bit of controversy before its release. While it did receive a standing ovation during its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, it currently has a low critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes of 25 percent. Not to mention, there were reports of staff being exposed to “disturbing sexual content” and the show’s director, Sam Levinson facing backlash due to the show’s production.

So what is this show about and why did it receive such poor reviews from fans and critics alike?

What is HBO’s The Idol about?

HBO’s The Idol will have a total of six episodes, with the first already out on Max. The series was created by The Weeknd and it was confirmed on Entertainment Weekly that it’s completely fictional and isn’t based on a true story. However, PopSugar reported that it took some influences from the dark side of the music industry, something that we rarely hear on the news.

According to the show’s official synopsis, The Idol is about a pop star that gets involved in a complex relationship with a self-help guru and cult leader after suffering a nervous breakdown. Originally, the show was meant to be a dark parody of the pop music industry. But a Rolling Stone report stated that the show ended up looking more like “sexual torture porn” after Levinson got involved. There were also reports that Levinson changed the script to the point where it “weakened the show’s overarching message.”

Episode one of The Idol sets the scene for the drama that’s about to unfold as Jocelyn meets Tedros for the first time. If you want to know what happens next, The Idol airs on HBO every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET and will be available to stream on Max.