The Weeknd’s long-awaited — and controversial — series The Idol finally got its release date today, along with a new teaser trailer. The Idol will make its debut on Sunday, June 4 at 9 pm ET on HBO, as well as streaming on the recently-renamed Max. The new teaser reveals few details of the plot that we didn’t already know, but does feature some steamy scenes of Abel’s cult-ish character getting close to Lily-Rose Depp’s pop singer Jocelyn.
The Idol — which was co-created by Euphoria‘s Sam Levinson before he took over as director at The Weeknd’s request — has been the subject of contentious rumors and fan speculation after Rolling Stone published a feature revealing some of the behind-the-scenes snafus with the production, including the original director Amy Seitz being replaced by Levinson when Abel apparently became worried that his character’s screen time was being curtailed to emphasize a more feminist story from Jocelyn’s point-of-view.
Some of the scripts produced after the change — which came after 80 percent of the show had already been filmed — drew criticism from the crew for containing problematic themes. The Weeknd himself took issue with the Rolling Stone article, lashing out on Twitter with a scene from the show itself that didn’t much help his case, and circumspectly addressing the rumors in an Interview magazine conversation with Jeremy O. Harris.
We’ll find out how it all plays out on 6/4 on HBO. Check out the new trailer above.
