HBO unveiled its new drama series The Idol on Sunday night, and fans on social media weren’t holding back one bit.
The show already had its fair share of controversy leading up to the series premiere, titled Pop Tarts & Rat Tails, which aired on Sunday.
The series, co-created by Euphoria’s Sam Levinson, The Weeknd (born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye) and Reza Fahim, was called “toxic” and “disturbing” in the first wave of criticism.
During its 9pm ET/6pm PT premiere, many fans took to social media to voice their thoughts on the show.
While some seemed to be entertained by the show, many were clearly not entertained by the sexually charged series.
Reactions: HBO unveiled its new drama series The Idol on Sunday night, and fans on social media didn’t hold back one bit.
Toxic: The series, co-created by Euphoria’s Sam Levinson, The Weeknd (born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye) and Reza Fahim, was called “toxic” and “disturbing” in the first wave of criticism.
Fired: “Whoever wrote this show should be fired immediately #TheIdol,” wrote Twitter user @Honeymoononika
“Whoever wrote this show should be fired immediately #TheIdol,” Twitter user @Honeymoononika wrote.
@Joejoema20xpack added: ‘Girl I’m ten minutes in and this writing is absolutely terrible. It’s also like I can tell they’re acting like #TheIdol.’
Some fans focused on Hank Azaria’s character Chaim, the co-director of Lily-Rose Depp’s character Jocelyn, who sported a strange accent.
@BranyanTowe tweeted: ‘What is this accent Hank Azaria? OMG #TheIdol while another tweeted about a weird scene early in the series.
The show opens with Jocelyn doing a photo shoot and there are discussions about how much nudity can be shown due to her contract.
One of the producers, Daniel (Scott Turner Schofield) says they’d have to redo the rider and come back in two days, though Chaim argues they already paid for the day… so he proceeds to pay someone $5K to lock Daniel up in bathroom. for the rest of the day.
@MrOctober05 tweeted: ‘Locked someone in a bathroom for $5K? #TheIdol’ referring to that scene.
@JasperDW added: ‘So… is #TheIdol supposed to be funny? Because so far it seems like a dark satire more than a drama.
@MarcelIsNirvana tweeted: ‘After 15 minutes, we’re still talking about the #TheIdol sex photo.
The series follows Lily-Rose Depp’s character Jocelyn, a singer who suffered a nervous breakdown on her last tour.
Naked ambition: Depp appears topless in several scenes of the debut episode
Explicit Photo: On the show, a graphic image of the pop star goes viral
The show follows pop star Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), who is recovering from a nervous breakdown on tour, the death of her mother and, just as the episode begins, a raunchy photo of her with c** on his face.
The singer has an album she’s getting ready to release, though she’s not confident about the first single where she sings about being a ‘weirdo’.
Her journey is even compared to Britney Spears’ on the show by her inner circle.
During a night out after her opening photo shoot, Jocelyn meets nightclub owner Tedros (The Weeknd), who she makes out with in the club.
While little is known about Tedros in the first episode, he gives off some pretty creepy vibes, and Jocelyn’s friend Lelia even commented the next day that he gives off “rape” vibes, though Jocelyn said that’s why she likes him.
Shocking moments in the episode include Depp naked during a photo shoot, a masturbation scene in which he was also choking at the same time, and the final shot.
The final shot is at Jocelyn’s fancy house, where Tedros says he doesn’t think she knows ‘fuck’ because of her vocal performance.
He then proceeds to wrap a sash over her face and tie it around her neck to restrict her breathing… before cutting a hole in the sash for her to breathe and telling her to sing now.
Terrible: @Joejoema20xpack added: ‘Girl I’m ten minutes in and this writing is absolutely terrible. It’s also like I can tell they’re acting #TheIdol’
Accent: @BranyanTowe tweeted: ‘What is this accent Hank Azaria? OMG #TheIdol while another tweeted about a weird scene early on in the series.
$5K: @MrOctober05 tweeted: ‘Locked someone in a bathroom for $5K??? #TheIdol’ referring to that scene
Hilarious: @JasperDW added: ‘So… is #TheIdol supposed to be hilarious? Because so far it seems like a dark satire more than a drama.
@hiraeth1007 tweeted succinctly, ‘What I’m seeing’ with three skull emojis and the hashtag #TheIdol.
Some fans were apparently excited to see Jennie Kim’s character Dyanne, with @Zibaddiejad93 tweeting, ‘YES JENNIE #TheIdol’ and @internetgutz also tweeting ‘JENNIIIEEEEEEE #TheIdol.
However, some fans liked the show, with @oxynoon tweeting, ‘#TheIdol low key, still not that bad,’ and @werkOnsel adding, ‘This fun ngl sh*t #TheIdol.’
Still, they seemed to be in the minority, with others like @kayleeee tweeting, ‘This dialogue is so… bad oml.’
@triatan__ added: ‘I don’t know how to feel about this show tbh #TheIdol’.
@Mr_October95 added: ‘Why is Jocelyn always bare-bottomed and dancing is a**… #TheIdol?’
@JasperDW added: ‘I see why #TheIdol got terrible reviews. The first 18 minutes have already danced in every third line of entertainment and laughed about it.
Skull: @hiraeth1007 tweeted succinctly, ‘What I’m seeing’ with three skull emojis and the hashtag #TheIdol
Jennie: Some fans were apparently excited to see Jennie Kim’s character Dyanne, with @Zibaddiejad93 tweeting, ‘YES JENNIE #TheIdol’
Excited: @internetgutz also tweeted ‘JENNIIIEEEEEEE #TheIdol
Not bad: Some fans liked the show, with @oxynoon tweeting, “#TheIdol low key, still not that bad.”
Funny: @werkOnsel added: ‘This funny ngl sh*t #TheIdol’
Dialogue: Still, they seemed to be in the minority, with others like @kayleeee tweeting, ‘This dialogue is so… bad oml’
IDK: @triatan__ added: ‘I don’t know how to feel about this show tbh #TheIdol’
Nude: @Mr_October95 added: ‘Why is Jocelyn always completely nude and the dance is a**… #TheIdol?’
Terrible: @JasperDW added: ‘I see why #TheIdol got terrible reviews. The first 18 minutes have already danced in every third line of entertainment and laughed about it.
Shot: @MarcelIsNirvana tweeted, ’15 minutes later and we’re still talking about the pic c**shot #TheIdol
Ciggy: @Rylo63804905 added: ‘His mother died of cancer while smoking a cigar! #The idol’
Sock: @minospw added: ‘Human c**sock is insane #TheIdol’
Nicki: @laurspo tweeted, ‘AHHH THEY’RE ALREADY PLAYING NICKI #THEIDOL WAS ONLY 10 SECONDS BUT STILL’
Question: @ScammerZexion shared a meme of a man holding several cigarettes and tweeted: “Jocelyn every time someone asks her a question #THEIDOL”
Dracula: @N0BODYGETSME added: ‘I can’t take Tedros seriously with that Dracula head of hair’
WTF: @N0BODYGETSME added: ‘Literally how weird was that… #theidol
Smoking: @wildesidegrande shared an animated photo of a woman smoking, adding: ‘Jocelyn every 2 minutes #TheIdol
Confused: @mateogeovanny shared a photo of a confused child, adding: “My face, the entire first episode from start to finish.”
So bad: @kyleedvis added ‘Idol was so bad it was funny’
Succession: @english_shamar tweeted a photo of Succession’s Kieran Culkin on a computer, adding: “Sam Levinson reading people’s reaction to #THEIDOL from his disposable account.”
Horse: @AaronSerna showed a picture of a drawn horse and added: ‘HBO Sundays nights going from Succession to The Idol’
I don’t know: @leseracals added: “I just finished the first episode of #THEIDOL and you know what to think.”
Smoked: @Queenofallerass added: ‘Jocelyn has smoked like 5 cigarettes and we’re only 30 minutes into the episode #THEIDOL’
@Rylo63804905 added: ‘His mother died of cancer while smoking a cigar! #The idol.’
@minospw added: ‘The human c** sock is insane #TheIdol’.
@laurspo tweeted, ‘AHHH THEY’RE ALREADY PLAYING NICKI #THEIDOL IT WAS ONLY 10 SECONDS BUT STILL.’
The Idol returns for its second episode of the six-episode season on Sunday, June 11 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
