Despite reports of "egomaniacal" conduct on set, it is rumored that there will not be a second season of "The Idol" produced by singer and songwriter The Weeknd.
Abel Tesfaye, more famously known by his stage name, has come under fire for his co-production and star role in a show which sits uncomfortably with many critics; it has been described as "comically bad."
However, an anonymous informant divulged to Page Six that this show was designed as a limited series from the start: "This was never meant to be a long-running show, it was always...a limited series."
Despite the response to its graphic show on its HBO Max streaming service, the network has kept the door open for good.
According to an inside source, it's "definitely not" decided yet, and this is standard procedure since only two episodes have aired.
A source familiar with the co-creator and director of the show, Sam Levinson, declared the expected quality of this series when they said, "You know what you're getting with a Sam Levinson show." Of course, Sam is also responsible for the network's widely surprising drama series "Euphoria."
Lily-Rose Depp stars as Jocelyn in "The Idol," a portrayal of a fictionalized version of Britney Spears's life.
Opposite her is The Weeknd, Tedros, an enigmatic cult leader.
However, according to Page Six sources who worked with him on set, the "Starboy" hitmaker was reportedly tough and egomaniacal.
One source even went so far as to express that they were not interested in repeating such an experience.
Lily-Rose, 24, publicly acknowledged that she had to be careful around the singer-songwriter during filming due to the intensity of his work.
Nevertheless, she could not stress enough her admiration for him; "I love Abel. He has this ability to completely change himself for a role which is quite remarkable."
When queried about The Weeknd conduct on the job, someone well-acquainted with the project revealed to Page Six that he was "cherished" by all.
They stated: "He made his house available for everyone involved in the show. Almost the entire production was filmed onsite in his residence."
Although the majority of six episodes had already been filmed by original director Amy Seimetz, The Weeknd and Sam decided to scrap the first iteration of "The Idol" series and begin anew. Amy has yet to discuss her experiences with the show thus far.
According to reports from industry sources, reworking storylines for The Weeknd and Sam's project resulted in an estimated additional cost of $8 million per episode.
Comparisons were made to a "rape fantasy" as they cut out the previously feminist-leaning plots. The revisions took the story in a different direction.
An industry insider recently revealed that HBO Max's new show was made to be a huge hit.
"It had all of these big stars and it created a lot of excitement," they commented. "But unfortunately, after HBO executives saw it, they knew it wouldn't do as well as expected."
Even though reviews for the show labeled it as "comically bad" and British GQ referred to one of its sex scenes as "the worst in history," an HBO source reported that Casey Bloys, head of HBO, is still optimistic about the prospects of a second season.
They stated that "[the] only person who makes the decision [about a second season] is the head of HBO, Casey Bloys."
On June 4, HBO reported that the series premiere of "The Idol" received an impressive viewer base 913,000 across all platforms. Unfortunately, this number dropped to 800,000 for the second episode.
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