Fans keeping up with the dramatic journey of “The Idol” are all aware of the infamous Rolling Stone scene that co-creator and star Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye posted on social after the publication published a damning report about the HBO drama’s production. Turns out, the scene didn’t even make the final cut.
The scene, released by Tesfaye on Twitter months before the show aired in March, depicts a conversation between shady nightclub owner Tedros (Tesfaye), pop star Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) and Jocelyn’s publicist (Dan Levy), in which Levy suggests Jocelyn consider Rolling Stone’s offer to feature the artist on their cover. “Rolling Stone, aren’t they a little irrelevant?” Tesfaye said in the clip, before continuing on to say “nobody cares about Rolling Stone,” as Jocelyn turns down the opportunity.
The clip was just enough backup for Tesfaye to shoot back at the outlet after Rolling Stone reported in March that the set of “The Idol” was plagued by production delays, costly reshoots, last-minute script rewrites and a “sense of chaos” during production.
While HBO denied the accusations in statement to TheWrap, which noted that “the creative team has been committed to creating a safe, collaborative, and mutually respectful working environment,” Tesfaye decided to deny the report in his own way.
“Did we upset you?” Tesfaye wrote in a message directed to Rolling Stone on Twitter, hours after the report was published. Tesfaye attached 54-second clip to his tweet, unveiling the first footage of extended dialogue of “The Idol,” which had only released teasers and trailers up to this point.
After Sunday’s grand finale of the five-episode season, fans began to realize that this scene never even appeared in the course of the show, meaning that it was a part of the first iteration of the show which was reshot after Levinson and Tesfaye took the reins of the project upon the exit of director Amy Seimetz.
With news of Seimetz’s departure from “The Idol” circulating in April 2022, it’s unclear whether Tesfaye knew at the time of his post that this scene wouldn’t make the final cut.
