The controversy surrounding “The Idol” continues even after the five-episode season concludes.
Jane Adams, who plays Jocelyn’s (Lily-Rose Depp) label exec, said Vanity Fair that rumors of a toxic set are unfounded, especially after female stars like Depp and Da’Vine Joy Randolph shut down claims of misogyny by series creators Sam Levinson and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye.
“What’s amazing to me is nobody listens — I’ve never seen this before in all my days, such a stubborn ‘We refuse to change the narrative,'” Adams said. “I especially want to say to all feminists, ‘Go fuck yourself.’ All these women I work with talk about their experience and you don’t listen. You are not listening!
Adams went on to say that she doesn’t care if the show offended people.
“Free speech is the license to offend, period, period. The funniest thing, to me, is going to offend a bunch of people no matter what you do,” Adams said, adding, “I love the show. These days, with certain people, you almost have to apologize when you don’t like something or love something. I don’t really care anymore. That’s one good thing about being a gray-haired woman: It’s almost like you have a license not to worry.
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Co-star Randolph recently said Variety that he would have “walked off that set” if there was any toxic behavior.
“To be very transparent with you, if I saw someone being bullied — especially because I was one of the older actors — I would have said something, or walked off the set,” Randolph said. “But we also get paid for what we do, which means it’s long hours, so when they said in the (Rolling Stone) article it’s long hours, well, any show you’re on, you work at least 12 hours. If you go out and it’s been 12 hours, it’s a good day girl. of work.'”
Lead actress Depp said at the series premiere that rumors of a chaotic set were merely media fodder.
“It’s kind of sad and disheartening to see these petty and untrue things about someone you really care about and know you don’t,” Depp said. “I felt I had the privilege of creating this character, from the inside out and the outside in.”
Showrunner Levinson is reportedly known for conducting a unique creative process on set, even with the HBO series “Euphoria” featuring long work hours and last-minute script changes. ‘The Idol’ underwent re-shoots, a change of casting and a change of director ahead of its Cannes launch.
Levinson defended “The Idol” during its 2023 Cannes premiere, saying, “We know we’re making a provocative show. We didn’t miss it, but it’s strange. People can write whatever they want. If I have one small objection, it’s that they intentionally omitted everything that didn’t fit their narrative. But I think we’ve seen a lot of that lately… In terms of the specifics of what was inside, it felt completely foreign to me. But I know who I am.
