The Weeknd Dismisses Scathing Rolling Stone Piece About ‘The Idol’ as ‘Ridiculous’

Despite their unbreakable character bond in HBO and A24’s upcoming series “The Idol”, Lily-Rose Depp sometimes maintained her distance from Abel ‘The Weeknd’ Tesfaye while filming the controversial series.

Thania Garcia The Weeknd taps Playboi Carti and “ultimate pop star” Madonna for “Popular,” the second single off “The Idol Vol. 1″ soundtrack. The glittery, upbeat song follows the previously released “Double Fantasy,” featuring Future, and comes ahead of the soundtrack slated for a June 30 debut. “I’m proud of it. I’m definitely proud of it,” said Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, during his appearance on Zane Lowe’s New Music Daily for Apple Music 1. “Me and Carti had this… We’ve had a different version of this song prior. So I’ve had these vocals for a while and I’ve kind of just worked around it, and then kind of kept it in the tuck. But now it felt like it was time.”

This Sunday (June 4) The Idol will premiere on HBO. The Weeknd (or Abel Tesfaye, as he prefers to be known right now)'s TV series screened at the Cannes Film Festival last month and critics took time out of applauding things for nine minutes straight to pan the show, dismissing it as "queasy" and "vulgar" among many other insults.

The Weeknd has released new single ‘Popular’ – featuring Madonna and Playboi Carti. Check it out below.The new track is set to appear on the highly-anticipated HBO series, The Idol — which sees both The Weeknd (going by his birth name Abel Tesfaye) and Lily-Rose Depp in the lead roles.Featuring guest cameos from Playboi Carti and Madonna, ‘Popular’ is the second song that The Weeknd has released ahead of the upcoming drama.

“The Idol” trailer is officially here, and it’s full of tantalizing new footage that will surely make your jaw drop.

McKinley Franklin editor HBO has released the official trailer for its explicit Sam Levinson-directed series “The Idol,” which is set to premiere on June 4. “The Idol” premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, making it the first television show to officially debut at the festival. The series stars Lily-Rose Depp as rising pop star Jocelyn and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye as Tedros, a powerful, sex-obsessed cult leader.  After calling off her latest tour, Jocelyn is on a mission to reignite her career, with big dreams of becoming the biggest star in the industry. After she meets Tedros, Jocelyn is swiftly drawn into his world, where he promises to expand her career to new heights — at any cost.

which stars Lily-Rose Depp as Jocelyn, an up-and-coming pop singer, and Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd, as Tedros, a charismatic self-help guru who is hell-bent on making Jocelyn a superstar.The new trailer for the forthcoming series — from creator Sam Levinson — dropped on Monday, giving fans a look at the sexy and scandalous storylines to come. From partying at cocaine-fueled ragers to blindfolding Jocelyn in the studio, Tedros' antics start to raise eyebrows in her inner circle, as he positions himself as the solution to all the young singer's problems.«You're not a human being,» he tells her in the clip, sounding sinister.

UPDATED: “You’re the American dream. Rags to riches. Trailers to mansions. You are f***ing Jocelyn. Just be you.” HBO released the final trailer Tuesday for music drama The Idol, starring Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye and Lily-Rose Depp, ahead of its June 4 premiere. Watch it above.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer HBO’s buzzy new original series “The Idol” has been steadily building momentum on the road to its June 4 debut — including a lavish world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, followed by one of the most talked-about afterparties on the Croisette. The show follows an embattled young pop star named Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), recovering from a psychotic break after the death of her mother and hounded relentlessly by industry vultures that need her back on top. A sketchy Svengali named Tedros (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye) appears in her life, promising artistic and sexual liberation and fame beyond her wildest dreams. “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson steers the show with co-creators Tesfaye and Reza Fahim.

Lily-Rose Depp plays a modern pop star in the upcoming Max series, but for her inspiration for the character, she drew on icons from different generations.«Of course, there are so many incredible pop stars of today that I have nothing but admiration and respect for — and of course, you can't help but thinking of when you think of a character like Jocelyn — but we're definitely not telling anybody else's story or trying to base her on any real person,» the actress explained to ET's Rachel Smith over a virtual interview from the Cannes Film Festival, where the series premiered its first two episodes this week.«We actually drew from a lot of other influences that are not pop stars,» she added. «We thought a lot about Sharon Stone in and the Gene Tierneys and Lauren Bacalls… all of these women that were very inspiring to me for the role.»There was plenty of pop star inspiration for Depp to draw from on set, as well.

idolizing.The upcoming HBO show “The Idol” — starring Lily-Rose Depp and Abel Tesfaye, aka “The Weeknd,” who is also a co-creator — is not getting glowing reviews from its debut at Cannes, where it screened its first two episodes on Monday.“The Idol,” or 50 SHADES OF TESFAYE: A Pornhub-homepage odyssey starring Lily-Rose Depp’s areolas and The Weeknd’s greasy rat tail,” one critic derided after viewing it.“Love that this will help launch the HBO Max rebrand, should slot nicely next to House Hunters!”Co-created by Sam Levinson of “Euphoria” fame, “The Idol” is about an up-and-coming pop star Jocelyn — played by Depp, who is the 23-year-old daughter of Johnny Depp — as she gets entangled with a sinister self-help guru, Tedros played by Tesfaye. The production has already been besieged by scandal, including an April report from Rolling Stone in which sources on the production described a chaotic environment behind the scenes and called it “torture porn” and “rape fantasy.”At the time, Tesfaye, 33, replied by posting a taunting message: “Did we upset you?”Another viewer who caught it at the film festival commented, “Ep 2 is straight-up pornographic there’s an entire 10-minute scene of The Weeknd talking dirty to Lily while she fingers herself for him, then he tells her to suck his c–k and she gives him head. The worst part is that Sam Levinson originally wanted that scene to be longer, too.”She also added that Depp’s character is nude or having sex in every episode.

Lord, give me strength. From the first minute of “The Idol,” the already controversial music-based television series from HBO Max (sorry, Max), it’s clear that creators Abel Tesfaye (formerly known as The Weeknd), Sam Levinson, and Reza Fahim want to incite a reaction.

The Weeknd has responded to a Lady Gaga meme that has gone viral has he announced the change of his stage name.This week, the Canadian pop star – real name Abel Tesfaye – announced that he was retiring his stage name and will be known from now by his birth name. It came after he vowed to “kill” his alter-ego.Last month, he shared a tweet reading: “ABEL formally known as The Weeknd?” and this week (May 15) then changed his social media profiles to the name Abel Tesfaye.Since then, fans have been reacting to the news on social media, with one Lady Gaga meme dominating the conversation.In one tweet, a fan shared the caption: “The assistant in the record store when I ask if they have any Abel Tesfaye albums in stock,” alongside a video of Lady Gaga performing the song ‘Babylon’ live, in which she sings: “We only have the weekend.”Tesfaye shared his love for the meme, replying with the crying laughing emoji.

The Weeknd is blasting Rolling Stone yet again.

The Weeknd is speaking out against criticism surrounding his upcoming HBO Max series,, addressing creative shakeups and a lengthy report alleging that production had «gone wildly, disgustingly off the rails.»The 33-year-old pop star-turned-series creator opens up in a profile for 's new issue, on newsstands May 30, responding candidly to a March article claiming that behind-the-scenes turmoil on the set included chaotic scheduling, going over budget and last-minute script changes and overhauls on graphically violent and sexual scenes.By his estimation, The Weeknd — whose birth name is Abel Tesfaye — now says he interpreted the report's subtext as, «These are rapists trying to make a rape fantasy.»At the time the allegations were first published, Tesfayeresponded by sharing a clip from the show in which his character deems «irrelevant.» «I thought the article was ridiculous,» Tesfaye tells. «I wanted to give a ridiculous response to it.»Meanwhile, Tesfaye remains unapologetic about the source material for the show.

The Weeknd is speaking out.

The Weeknd has changed his name across social media, following comments that he wanted to “kill” his alter-ego.The Canadian pop star rolled out the new title on his social media platforms yesterday (May 15), and now goes by his birth name Abel Tesfaye, instead of The Weeknd.He first posed the idea to his fans and followers on Twitter last month (April 3), when he shared an update reading: “ABEL formally known as The Weeknd?”. Currently, the tweet has over 124,000 likes and a substantial amount of replies, with fans sharing their thoughts on the change of name.The R&B singer also announced his intentions to switch names earlier this month, when he admitted that he wanted to “close The Weekend chapter”, and continue his creative endeavours under the new title.​​”I’m going through a cathartic path right now… It’s getting to a place and time where I’m getting ready to close The Weeknd chapter,” he told W Magazine.

Earlier this month (May 8), The Weeknd revealed he would be working on his final album under his stage name in this month's W Magazine cover story, hinting he was thinking of releasing music under a new moniker.

The Weeknd appears to be getting ready to move on. The musician and now actor has changed his name on social media to Abel Tesfaye, the name he was born with. He’s still retained his social media handles.Jenna Ortega and The Weeknd set to star in new film: Here’s everything we knowLily-Rose Depp reveals relationship with rapper Danielle BalbuenaA post shared by Abel Tesfaye (@theweeknd)Tesfaye hasn’t revealed why he’s made the change, but he’s been speaking to the press about his upcoming series, “The Idol,” which he co-created and co-stars.

A certain pop-star might be making rebranding himself. The Weeknd made a noticeable change on his social media which is causing fans to ask: Is The Weeknd retiring?