"What is amazing to me is no one’s listening."
The controversy surrounding “The Idol” continues even after the five-episode season concluded.
Jane Adams, who portrays Jocelyn’s (Lily-Rose Depp) label executive, told Vanity Fair that the rumors of a toxic set are unfounded, especially after female stars like Depp and Da’Vine Joy Randolph have shut down claims of misogyny from series creators Sam Levinson and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye.
“What is amazing to me is no one’s listening — I’ve not seen that before in all my days, such a dogged ‘We refuse to change the narrative,’” Adams said. “I especially want to say to all the feminists, ‘Go fuck yourself.’ All these women that I’m working with are talking about their experience and you’re not listening. You’re 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, full stop. The funniest stuff, to me, is going to offend a group of people no matter what you do,” Adams said, adding, “I love the show. These days, to certain people, you almost have to apologize when you dislike something or you love something. I don’t really care anymore. That is one good thing about being a gray-haired lady — it’s almost like you get a license to not care.”
Co-star Randolph recently told Variety that she would have “walked off that set” if there was toxic behavior.
“To be very transparent with you, if I did see anyone being mistreated – especially since I was one of the older actors – I would have said something, or I would have walked off that set,” Randolph said. “But also, we get paid for what we do, meaning it’s long hours, so when they said in the [Rolling Stone] article that it’s long hours, well, any show you’re on, you’re working at least 12 hours. If you walk out there and it’s been 12 hours, that is a good day, girl. So, there were certain things in the article that I was like, ‘Well, wait a minute, now I’m confused because anybody who’s in the industry knows there are long hours.'”
Lead actress Depp said at the series premiere that rumors of a chaotic set were simply media fodder.
“It’s a little sad and disheartening to see these mean, false things about somebody that you really care about and that you know is not like that,” Depp said. “I felt I was given the privilege in the creation of this character, from the inside out and from the outside in.”
Showrunner Levinson allegedly is known for leading a unique creative process on set, including with fellow HBO series “Euphoria” with long hours and last-minute script changes. “The Idol” underwent reshoots, a casting change-up, and a director switch before launching at Cannes.
Levinson defended “The Idol” while at the 2023 Cannes premiere, saying, “We know we are making a show that is provocative. It is not lost on us, but it’s an odd one. People can write whatever they want. If I have a slight objection, it’s that they intentionally omitted anything that didn’t fit their narrative. But I think we have seen a lot of that lately…In terms of the specifics of what was in it, it just felt completely foreign to me. But I know who I am.”
