The Idol; did Sam Levinson’s alleged behaviour on the set of The Idol cost him a third season of Euphoria?

The much maligned HBO series “The Idol” has now finished after a truncated five-episode season overnight, but speculation from one particular gossip website has led to talk that Sam Levinson’s involvement in the Lily-Rose Depp/The Weeknd vehicle has now led to HBO bosses possibly cancelling his hit show, “Euphoria,” ahead of its third season.

News first emerged from tea-spilling gossip site Deux Moi, with an anonymous tip suggesting that Levinson had “broke protocol” during the filming of “The Idol,” which is being used by HBO bosses as a means to cancel the next season of the Zendaya-starring “Euphoria.” 

The same anonymous tip stated that his behaviour was “tolerated” due to the success of the series, however the universal damning of “The Idol,” from it’s pre-screening at Cannes to its fraught pre-production that saw original writer Amy Seimetz walking away from the show has given HBO heads food for thought. Its also given them a reason to part ways with the one-time celebrated screenwriter. 

That news comes parallel to accusations of Levinson making “improper” requests during the filming on one particular scene involving Jocelyn (played incredibly well by Lily-Rose Depp) and Tedros (played not so well by Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye). Levinson was alleged to have directed a sex scene involving The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp that was both extremely violent and non-consensual.

Multiple media outlets have now run with the story, which claims a witness claims that Sam Levinson ordered Tedros, played by The Weeknd, to forcefully ejaculate on Lily-Rose Depp’s character Jocelyn while she was unconscious. The witness recalls Levinson’s presence “by the monitor, laughing and feeding lines to Abel’s character, like, ‘I own you.’” The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp may have followed Levinson’s instructions, but the rest of the crew was horrified by the graphic violence they were asked to film.

According to eyewitnesses, the crew members suffered severe psychological distress from seeing such gory details, bringing up serious concerns for the mental health and safety of the cast and crew while filming emotionally taxing and potentially traumatic scenes. Ironically, one of the themes of “The Idol” was also regarding the psychological distress the main character, Jocelyn, was experiencing after a faltering pop career and physical abuse from the hands of her recently deceased mother.

A representative for HBO responded to the allegations by stressing that The Idol is a work of fiction and that the director and actors were merely acting out their parts, but should Deux Moi be correct, the financial pay off for Levinson’s involvement in the show coupled with Warner Bros. Discovery continuing their “slimlining” of their revamped Max streaming service (formerly HBO Max) might be enough to sever their ties with the writer ahead of a new season of “Euphoria.”

As for The Weeknd, who has seemed week in and week out to defend the show, he’s remaining unusually quiet as both the allegations of Levinson’s improper conduct and the potential cancellation of the hugely popular “Euphoria” must be weighing on his mind - it was The Weeknd who proved the nucleus to change the show from it’s one darkly satirical look of feminism in the music industry to the thirsty five episode series we’ve grown to dislike.