Vampire hive, are you excited? The highly anticipated adaptation of Nosferatu from Robert Eggers released its first trailer and yes, I am ready to make this my entire personality. Even if I have to wait until Christmas to see it. I can stay spooky that long.
Look, it is spooky season. Do I wish Nosferatu was coming out in October? Yes. But as a Scorpio, I am ready and willing to keep the haunting vibes alive until Christmas to celebrate Eggers’ take on a vampire story. We’ve been waiting a while for the Eggers version of the iconic story. And what a perfect time to dive into the horrifying tale.
Nosferatu is a story that many know well. A vampire stalks a young woman, terrifying many throughout the years. The cast includes Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok and Lily-Rose Depp as the object of his desire, Ellen Hutter. The rest of the cast includes Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney and Willem Dafoe.
The original film is pretty classic. Thomas Hutter (Hoult) is summoned to Orlok’s castle and it is made clear that Orlok’s new obsession is Hutter’s wife. We don’t know exactly what changes Eggers made for his take on Nosferatu but it is a pretty perfect pairing. Eggers is known for his darker work and it has us excited.
This new trailer though? Gone is the allure of being the subject of a vampire’s obsession because this is already terrifying.
Part of what makes vampire stories appealing comes from the overtly sexual nature of their stories. Eggers’ trailer for Nosferatu is probably one of the first times where I’ve felt like being around a vampire is the last thing I’d ever want. And I’m here for it!
Vampire girlies, it is our time
I love being a vampire girl. Well, to be fair, I am both a vampire girl and a witchy woman. I’d call myself a Witch sun and a Vampire rising. The point is: Many of us love a great vampire story. And one of the best of all time was the original Nosferatu. Pulling heavily from the story of Dracula, it left audiences haunted by the idea of the creatures of the night.
With the release of Salem’s Lot this October, we’re in it now with our vampire stories and that’s exciting. Who doesn’t stop and think about how our world would look if vampires were real? I can’t be the only one and Nosferatu brought that thought out in a lot of us!
While some movies do not need remakes, I do think that a modernized take on Nosferatu has a place in this world. Which is why I am so excited about the Eggers version. This trailer really captures what makes Eggers’ vision so breathtaking and while I still don’t know what he’s changing from the original film, I am more than ready (and willing) to head to theaters to see his film.
Can’t wait to force my entire family to go and see a vampire movie on Christmas.
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LOS ANGELES—With the child of Hollywood royalty clinching the role through the sheer force of genetics, the trailer for the new Pixar animated feature Inside Out 2 revealed this week that Maya Hawke will be voicing a new character called Nepotism. “We’re so lucky to have Maya playing a character who is spunky, possesses zero self-awareness, and is the pure embodiment of vanity and favoritism,” said director Kelsey Mann, explaining that the daughter of actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman beat out both Lily-Rose Depp and Emma Roberts as the most-connected person for the role. “The little orange being voiced by Maya is the most privileged character in the film, and her wants and desires will always take precedence over the other emotions. In a way, she is meant to represent the little voice inside of all of us that says, ‘I’ll never have to strive for anything because my parents will take care of everything for me.’” According to studio insiders, Maya’s father makes a cameo in the movie as a teacher who gives her license to do whatever she wants.
Lily-Rose Depp has such an interesting (in a good way) sense of style, so I’m always intrigued by what trends she chooses to wear. She’ll wear a Chanel tweed jacket with gym shorts and look amazing in it. The most recent off-duty outfit she was photographed in while out walking in New York City was a bit more low-key than what she usually wears, but it certainly wasn’t trend-less.
For the brisk fall day, Depp went with a pair of jeans, ballet flats, a shoulder bag, and the coat trend that everyone loses it over: a scarf coat. It can be argued that Toteme is responsible for the current popularity of scarf coats with its wildly popular iteration, but Depp’s scarf coat was a seafoam-green vintage Chanel one from 2001, proving that this isn’t the first rodeo for the coordinating trend. If you’re as into it as everyone else is (Depp included), scroll on to shop some of the best scarf coats on the market right now.
After only one highly criticized season, The Idol is over.
On Monday, HBO announced the TV drama from Sam Levinson and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye would not return for a second season.
“The Idol was one of HBO’s most provocative original programs, and we’re pleased by the strong audience response,” HBO said in a statement. “After much thought and consideration, HBO, as well as the creators and producers have decided not to move forward with a second season. We’re grateful to the creators, cast, and crew for their incredible work.”
The Idol‘s five-episode season, starring Tesfaye and Lily-Rose Depp, was certainly “provocative,” but not well-received.
The drama follows Jocelyn (Depp), a pop superstar who navigates through dark corners of Hollywood and falls in love with her abuser, the rat-tail-sporting cult leader Tedros (Tesfaye). Through ample nudity and real lines like “Mental illness is sexy,” co-creators Tesfaye and Levinson spun a dark, often laugh-worthy narrative shunned by critics and viewers alike.
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Even before its debut in June, there was controversy surrounding The Idol. Director Amy Seimetz quit the production in April, and was replaced by Levinson, who reshot many scenes. One month later, Rolling Stone released a report claiming the show is a “rape fantasy” that was filmed on a film set with a toxic, disorganized work environment. (In response to the Rolling Stone article, Tesfaye notably shared a deleted scene from The Idol that sees his character call the outlet “irrelevant.” The post has since been deleted.)
As The Idol aired, more negative press rolled in. GQ said The Idol gave viewers “the worst sex scene in history,” and described Tesfaye’s performance as one with “all the energy and sexual enticement of Gollum scurrying for a fish.” The Guardian said Tesfaye ought to “be tried at The Hague” for his performance, alongside the “limp, glazed-over, chain-smoking nothingness of Lily-Rose Depp.”
thinking about how sam levinson said the idol was about to be “the biggest show of the summer” only for it to be cut short and cancelled after 1 season
I mentioned in my last article about The Idol that I felt this sick curiosity as a writer to watch the show. If you didn’t gather from my review of episodes 1-3, I was quickly reminded why sometimes you need to listen to the general public. Sam Levinson and The Weeknd’s Max original is something of a car wreck, and (SPOILER ALERT!) episodes 4 and 5 are much worse, for different reasons.
Sure the final two episodes of what should’ve been a 6-episode series had much less focus on sex and nudity…but I quickly learned – at what cost? I took two full pages of notes while watching, so I’ll include some of my candid, raw reactions. But, the show turned sickeningly unbearable. I’m borderline offended by it?
I mean, with cast members like Jane Adams telling the feminists (I guess me in this circumstance) to “go f*** yourself,” I can imagine the feeling is quite mutual at this rate. Poor, misunderstood Sam Levinson created a show so artistically advanced that the entire world didn’t understand it! Ever wonder if it was just bad and that’s why people don’t get it?
Whatever. Back by popular demand, here are all my thoughts while watching the final two episodes of The Idol. Pray for me, and you’re welcome.
The Idol, Episode 4 Recap
We see that Tedros (The Weeknd, Abel Tesfaye, I don’t know anymore) has completely taken over Jocelyn’s estate. However, good news! The team is officially convinced that he’s up to no good. Hallelujah, surely they’ll do nothing.
They even approach Joss and say his real name is Mauricio Jackson and he was charged for kidnapping his ex, holding her hostage, and beating her. I know, pretend you’re shocked that the guy with the rat tail did this. Anyways, Joss ignores feminism entirely and says he’s simply misunderstood. Aren’t we all?
Seriously, the most infuriating part about the show is that no one has a backbone. More on that later.
So one of Joss’ team goes to one of Tedros’ minions, Chloe, who has a wonderful singing voice. The catch? Tedros found her while she was addicted to heroin and she claims she’s 18, but we all know the truth there.
They’re all at Joss’ mansion to record music together, but naturally Joss’ track is missing something. So, in front of an entire crowd of record executives and this cult, Tedros starts to — I can’t bring myself to write it but just know he performs a sexual act on her. To which her agent says on the phone, “Jocelyn is on some weird S&M shit with this dude,” the only honest musing in the show.
So let’s get to the point, what everyone’s talking about: Troye Sivan’s torture scene. Troye is obviously a great singer, so The Weeknd hides in his room while he showers and sings to himself and asks why he claims he tore his vocal chords. Dumb Troye’s character, Xander, decides to tell the truth (???) and say Jocelyn was basically jealous and her mom outed him and he never sang again.
What’s the only viable option that happens here? The Weeknd tells Jocelyn and they start shocking him despite his pleas for help. But the main point of the episode is only to tell you that everyone is spiraling.
The Idol, Episode 5 Recap
At the end of episode 4, JENNIE from BLACKPINK shows up to Jocelyn’s and Chloe, on molly, spills that Tedros and JENNIE, who just stole “World Class Sinner” from Joss, were an item. Essentially, this is us learning Tedros was trying to infringe on Joss’ fame the whole time.
Big whoop, if that weren’t clear from episode one then I don’t know what to say. Literally he has a rat tail and you’re supposed to be shocked that he was using her?!! So episode 5 starts with Jocelyn trying to kick Tedros out of the house and keep his artists.
This was like the one moment of the show where I ever felt proud or anything other than immense, overwhelming hatred for every character. But I knew, deep down in the depths of my soul, they were going to let me down.
If you strip down the bad acting, this show is pure comedy. It’s like The Office but what’s funnier is that Sam Levinson and The Weeknd meant for this show to be serious.
But what’s even better is that it takes five minutes for Tedros to insert his ugly tail back in the picture. At the party the night before, Jocelyn proceeds to invite her ex over to make Tedros jealous and obviously the natural reaction is for Tedros to frame him for sexual assault.
Of course this is handled in an offensive, not even funny or ironic matter. No one tells Jocelyn this, but the assistant goes to Xander and asks if she knows what’s happening. To which newly brainwashed Xander said of course Joss knows. Because evil, evil Joss loves covering up sexual assault?
So this begins the downfall of Tedros. The agents get him, something about the IRS, there’s a speech about hunting the Big Bad Wolf, Josselyn saves her tour, and the final scene is at So-Fi Stadium, where Tedros’ people are her opening act alongside Xander and Tedro’s minions. Joss’ team is cackling about how they ended him.
Mauricio Jackson is then let into the stadium with an artist pass for Jocelyn, which makes no sense considering she’s the technical reason he was exposed. Tedros goes backstage and picks up the hair brush her mother beat her with and realizes it’s brand new.
What they want you to think is that Josselyn was the manipulator all along- stealing Tedros’ people and making him think he’s all that just to whittle him back down to broke ass Mauricio Jackson. JENNIE also couldn’t record “World Class Sinner”, so Joss keeps that, too. She’s the evil of the show, not Tedros, he was just a victim.
I have to laugh. Truly. Because of the flippant ways they throw sexual assault and victim’s stories around, and because of the way they treat consent, and also because the writing was so awful that the show was doomed from the beginning. And to think these pompous actors are defending this train wreck and calling for a season two?
Gaslighting is when people make you think The Idol is good and you just “didn’t understand it.” Honesty is realizing this show is vile down to its core.
The first trailer for HBO’s The Idol landed nearly a year ago, promising a warped fairy tale of a mainstream pop star entrapped in a sex cult. In telling “the sleaziest love story in all of Hollywood,” from “the sick & twisted minds” of The Weeknd and Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, the teaser promised provocation, titillation, and an examination of the machinery behind it all. During the protracted lead-up to the show’s debut, HBO released edgy promotional footage, and Rolling Stone published a report detailing alleged behind-the-scenes issues, reportedly stemming from a creative overhaul and the exit of the series’ original director, Amy Seimetz, who was replaced by Levinson. In statements to Vanity Fair, HBO and star Lily-Rose Depp denied allegations of tensions on set. For his part, The Weeknd shared what appeared to be a clip from the show featuring himself, Depp, and costar Dan Levy, in which his character, Tedros, said, “Yeah, nobody cares about Rolling Stone,” with the singer captioning his post, “@RollingStone did we upset you?”
Alas, that scene never made it into the final cut of the show, one of many red herrings and unresolved plot points that seem less an incentive for a second season and more a result of misguided storytelling. Instead, viewers were treated to an abrupt role reversal that saw Depp’s Jocelyn reclaim the reins to her life from the ultimately powerless Tedros, despite what all conventional and studied wisdom about cult deprogramming suggests. Also missing from the finale were the promised backstory of Tedros’s now infamous rattail haircut and the resolution regarding that sexually explicit photo of Depp’s Jocelyn that seemed so vital in the premiere episode.
Despite The Idol’s prerelease noise, its first episode held some potential, particularly in its commentary on show business via Jocelyn’s inner circle, played by Levy, Da’Vine Joy Randolph,Eli Roth,Hari Nef,Jane Adams,Rachel Sennott, and Hank Azaria. Viewed in its best light, the series felt as if it could be a warped cousin to Max’s The Other Two, which lambasted the entertainment industry for three seasons. In The Idol’s debut, an intimacy coordinator gets locked in a closet so that Jocelyn can strip in peace; in The Other Two, it’s a COVID-safety official who gets trapped so that the show can go on.
The series inherited the HBO Sunday night slot recently occupied by the likes of The Last of Us and Succession. That high profile, and a healthy dose of curiosity, lured more than 3.6 million viewers across HBO and Max in the show’s first week, but the ratings dropped precipitously over the course of the season; the penultimate episode reportedly hooked only 133,000 viewers on HBO.
Numbers for the unsatisfying season finale have yet to be released (Vanity Fair has reached out to HBO for information), but is there any metric—ratings or otherwise—by which The Idol ever truly succeeded?
Given The Idol’s reported $54 million–$75 million price tag, the show’s makers have understandably been on the defensive since its debut.
Supporting cast members were deployed to address lingering questions. In a Today appearance, Azaria said claims about the alleged “chaotic nature of the set and how it was really haphazard…[are] ridiculous.” Randolph even kept the dream of a second season alive, telling Variety: “I think that everyone’s intention is to have a second season. This was never intended to be a limited series. HBO has been very happy with it.” And Adams expressed outrage over the outrage, telling VF, “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,’” she 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!”
After an intimate moment between Tedros and Jocelyn was deemed “the worst sex scene in history” by British GQ, The Weeknd granted an interview to American GQ, insisting that there was “nothing sexy” about the scene and that any secondhand cringe was intentional. “However you’re feeling watching that scene, whether it’s discomfort, or you feel gross, or you feel embarrassed for the characters, it’s all those emotions adding up to: This guy is in way over his head, this situation is one where he is not supposed to be here,” the actor said.
The Weeknd has also been active on social media throughout the season—often posting memes, retweeting fan accounts, and clapping back at haters. And there has been a lot of online chatter. Search interest for The Idol soared by 1,134% after its debut at the Cannes Film Festival, according to a report of Google Search data by JeffBet. Research conducted by Parrot Analytics and reported by the Los Angeles Times found that audience demand for the show was more than 20 times higher than the demand for the average series. “Traditional ratings have been dismal, which suggests that people are more interested in posting about how bad The Idol is than they are in actually watching it,” wrote the LA Times. Anecdotally speaking, a post-episode search on Twitter will find engagement, yes, but mostly of the negative variety, save for the ardent stan support of Blackpink’s Jennie Ruby Jane, who plays the largely thankless role of wannabe pop star Dyanne.
As a writer, there are times when you almost feel morally obligated to complete a task that no one else wants to do. In this case, I fed the inexplicable, dark need within the depths of my soul to watch Sam Levinson and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye’s show on Max, The Idol.
The Idol has quickly become the internet’s most talked about television show for all the wrong reasons. It’s not the fan fervor that followed other Max shows like White Lotus or Succession. It’s morbid curiosity at best.
Following its debut at Cannes Film Festival, no one has been able to stop talking about its insanity: unnecessary vulgar sex scenes, a plot that was filled with holes and questions, and a debate about whether it’s a product of bad acting or bad writing…or both.
But are we really shocked that Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, known for his borderline concerning references to sex and violence in his shows — who argued with actress Barbie Ferreira over character Kat’s storyline and caused her eventually to leave the show, who had multiple actresses express discomfort in the amount of nudity, who had no writers room — created this disaster?
The Drama Surrounding The Idol
Originally, this catastrophe was directed by Amy Seimetz who left when most of the series was finished. With HBO citing a major creative overhaul, reports swirled elsewhere that The Weeknd was unhappy with the female direction the show was taking. Out with female directors, in with resident evil Sam Levinson.
Not only did this cost the show around $70 million, it also caused delays. Levinson then peppered in his signature overseasoning of sex to really mess the whole thing up. It started with reports saying the show had more sex than even Euphoria, which broke boundaries being a show following hyper-sexual teenagers. In a tell-all expose, Rolling Stone reported:
“Four sources say that Levinson ultimately scrapped Seimetz’s approach to the story, making it less about a troubled starlet falling victim to a predatory industry figure and fighting to reclaim her own agency, and more of a degrading love story with a hollow message that some crew members describe as being offensive.”
Levinson was absent from the set early on, says Rolling Stone, devoting most of his time to the Emmy-award-winning Euphoria. Subsequently, this gave Tesfaye free reign. The show “drastically changed” from the original Seimetz version to something more…of a joke.
So I Watched The Idol Myself
Needless to say, the scathing reviews and meme-worthy clips I’d seen on my social media were not enough to keep me away. The show had an absurd premiere week, with over 900,000 viewers, surpassing Max’s biggest shows: Euphoria and White Lotus. My sick curiosity killed the cat.
It’s every bit as terrible as expected, despite a star-studded cast of The Weeknd, BLACKPINK’s Jennie, Troye Sivan, and Lily-Rose Depp, who plays popstar Jocelyn. Jocelyn, who is known in public for her scandals and mental breakdowns, falls under the spell of The Weeknd’s Tedros. That’s about all I know for sure.
Tedros is supposedly the leader of a cult, but you wouldn’t get that from episode one…which fails to reach many points other than Jocelyn wanting to expose herself on the cover of her album. Jocelyn attends a club (sans security because that would make too much sense) and meets Tedros (who unfortunately has a rat tail) and is instantly enamored.
This is all the proof I need that Jocelyn has no real friends. If Tedros approached me at a club, my friends would already have tackled him linebacker-style before we could say hello. No shot.
But the reviews don’t lie, there’s too much sex. It’s all about sex. There are constant lewd references, vulgar, NSFW dialogue, and full-frontal nudity. I can’t even take the show seriously because I spend half of it fast-forwarding through sex scenes.
I understand that they are trying to convey that Lily-Rose Depp’s character is vulnerable and clearly lacking any sort of creative direction…but they spend 30 minutes on each scene. Surely there’s a better way to speed up the plot?
I cringe every time The Weeknd comes on screen, partly because I know there is some sort of sexual act about to occur and also because I can’t imagine letting his creature of a character within 50 yards of me at any point in my life.
Overall, it’s horrid. I can’t even tell you it’s worth the watch because I struggled to get through three episodes and my roommate got mad at me for making her watch with me. In short, if you watch The Idol, your friends will like you less.
Ever since “The Idol” premiered earlier this month, there’s been much critique about its sexual material, including a scene in the premiere episode where pop star Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) decides to flash her nipples during a photoshoot, despite the nudity rider in her contract.
In the scene, her intimacy coordinator (played by Scott Turner Schofield) immediately interrupts the shoot for her album cover and reminds the photographer (Eddy Chen) about the nudity rider, which only permits Jocelyn to show her “side-boob, under-boob and side flank.” He emphasizes that the contract has been reviewed by “the label and her people,” and that any changes require the photo session to be delayed 48 hours, even though Jocelyn took it upon herself to expose her breasts.
She asks the coordinator, “I’m not allowed to show my body?”, who then responds, “Not in the general human rights structure of it all.”
Then, Jocelyn’s manager Chaim (Hank Azaria) gets involved — he shoves the coordinator behind a door and pays a random passerby $5,000 to keep him locked in the bathroom until the shoot is over.
While the scene depicts a fictional coordinator, the information about the structure surrounding intimacy coordination wasn’t necessarily inaccurate, as per a real-life intimacy coordinator named Marci Liroff — with no connection to “The Idol” — who evaluated the scene for Variety.
“To be honest, I had a very visceral reaction. I was appalled,” Liroff — whose credits as an intimacy coordinator include “Hightown”, “From Scratch”, and “This Is Us” — told the outlet.
“I’m not alone in this, in terms of my intimacy coordinator communities: We look at HBO as our stalwart home, so to speak, because their work with Alicia Rodis was so good that they made it mandatory that all projects on HBO [featuring sexually intimate scenes] must hire in an intimacy coordinator,” she said, referring to the first-ever intimacy coordinator who was hired for a major U.S. production — “The Deuce” — in 2018. “It set a standard, and many other streamers and networks have followed along. So I felt really betrayed that they were making fun of us and the job. They were using us as the butt of the joke.”
However, intimacy coordination is still a relatively new field and, despite “The Idol”‘s “heightened” depiction of it, it somewhat resonates with Liroff.
“I have been in some situations where there’s a lot of pushback from a director or producer who doesn’t quite understand what we bring to a set,” she said. “Our position is very similar to a stunt coordinator, and you would never do some of the stuff that [has been done to me] to a stunt coordinator. So I sat with it and I realized that this actually was a very accurate — although heightened and extreme — depiction of some of the crazy pushback that I’ve experienced.”
Liroff then broke down intimacy coordinators’ job, beginning with conducting meetings with the people in charge of a project.
“In this case, probably the photographer and her manager to find out what they’re looking for,” she said of the series, which also stars The Weeknd. “I’d drill down and get very specific about what body points we are going to be seeing.”
After that, a one-on-one meeting occurs between the intimacy coordinator and the performer to determine what the talent is comfortable with. If their boundaries don’t align with a director’s requests, further meetings take place until a solution is reached in the talent’s best interest, to which a nudity rider is put in writing and signed. If a change is made to the rider, a 48-hour delay in production is required to avoid putting the performer on the spot with the new request, ultimately preventing them from reconsidering their boundaries on set.
In the episode, it’s clear that Jocelyn did not meet with the intimacy coordinator before the shoot.
“I have a feeling that Jocelyn’s team looked this over and spoke for her,” Liroff said, noting that this often happens in real life. “There are many times when I’ll be in a situation where I need to speak directly to the talent, and let’s say they’re very high-level talent, and I never actually get to speak specifically to that person, which is really a shame.”
While Liroff isn’t sure how she feels about the handling of “The Idol”‘s explicit content, one thing’s for sure — Depp certainly gave the creators her consent.
“People are talking about how exploited Lily-Rose Depp is, but I’ve also watched and read several interviews with her, and what is very clear to me is that she is 1,000% on board with this,” she said. “This is not some young, helpless actress that comes from middle America, shows up in Hollywood and is completely taken advantage of.”
Liroff adds that, behind-the-scenes, Depp’s feelings aren’t the only ones that were considered.
“We have a nudity rider in place not only for the performer. It’s also for the crew,” she explained. “The crew needs a head’s up on what they’re going to be experiencing that day. They need to know if they’re seeing, for instance, a very violent rape scene. A scene that is very sensitive could be triggering, not just for the performers, but for the people that are watching it from 10 different angles… It’s the crew giving their general consent to witness this.”
Liroff concluded by pointing out that “this job is very nuanced and complex. It’s very hard to explain, in one scene, what we do.
“And that scene used us as the butt of a joke, at the end of the day.”
Lily-Rose Depp, the popular star kid-turned-actress is now garnering excellent reviews for her performance as a troubled rock star in the latest HBO drama series, The Idol. After the first episode of the show hit the screens, the budding actress is now receiving immense love from the audiences and has been considered a solid talent. However, it is Lily-Rose Depp’s recent fashion choice, which is making headlines lately.
Lily-Rose Depp makes a bold fashion statement at The Idol premiere
The young actress recently took to her official social media handles and posted a series of pictures from the making days of The Idol to the show’s recently held premiere. However, what caught the eye of fashion enthusiasts is the bold fashion choice the actress made, on the premiere of her ambitious HBO show. In the picture, Lily-Rose Depp is seen in a sheer white naked dress with a halter neck. She completed her look with a messed high bun, and statement cat eye make-up look.
“The idol premieres tonight <3 I can’t put into words how I’m feeling right now! This show and the people I was lucky enough to make it with mean everything to me. Shooting it was the most special experience I’ve ever had, and I thank my lucky stars every day for the most beautiful little family we all built together. My idol fam you know who you are- I love you guys so much,” wrote Lily-Rose Depp, who also thanked the makers, cast and crew of her show, in the post.
Check out Lily-Rose Depp’s post, below:
All you need to know about The Idol
In The Idol, Lily-Rose plays the central character Jocelyn, a troubled pop star. Abel ‘The Weekend’ Tesfaye appears in the role of a mysterious self-help guru. The series features a promising star cast in the supporting roles, including Suzanna Son, Troye Sivan, Moses Sumney, Jane Adams, Dan Levy, Jennie Ruby Jane, Eli Roth, Rachel Sennott, Hank Azaria, and many others. The Idol is produced by Abel Tesfaye, Reza Fahim, and Sam Levinson.
Like Madonna’s 2018 collaboration with Quavo and Cardi B on “Champagne Rosé,” “Popular” marks another unexpected trifecta in terms of musical partnerships for the Queen of Pop. And yet, as also indicated by “Champagne Rosé,” it’s clear Madonna wants to be more involved in the genre of music that tends to outshine pop in the present landscape. Because, save for Taylor Swift, it’s difficult for people to get “excited” about pop music anymore. Certainly not the way they once did when Madonna first rose to fame in the early 80s. Indeed, it’s easy to say that Madonna invented pop as we know it, itself a diminutive of popular. Which brings us back to the title of the song she’s featured on, along with Playboi Carti, by The Weeknd. As the second single from The Idol’s soundtrack, The Idol Vol. 1, it arrives just two days before the series’ official premiere on HBO. Those who have been following the drama of the series’ rollout are aware that it isn’t exactly “on-brand” with Madonna’s usual liberal-sanctioned philosophy vis-à-vis toxic masculinity. But the “brains” behind the show claim that parading toxic masculinity is the point. Or used to be before “it went from satire to the thing it was satirizing.”
Unfortunately, speculation about the reshoots involved stem from how “the original version of the series…focused heavily on the ‘female perspective,’ which both The Weeknd and Levinson took issue with.” This was around the time writer-director Amy Seimetz bowed out of participating in The Idol when it was eighty percent finished. Who knows if that was before or after Madonna agreed to collaborate on a song for it (perhaps in part due to one of her go-to producers, Mike Dean, appearing on the show…in addition to co-producing “Popular” with Metro Boomin)? But either way, it’s clear that M might have been drawn to the story as a result of its own resonance with her pre-fame drive. And while, sure, everyone is making the automatic comparison between Lily-Rose Depp’s Jocelyn character and Britney Spears, the OG for fame hunger as a pop star will always be Madonna. As the now well-known lore goes, a nineteen-year-old college dropout Madonna moved to New York in 1977 with nothing more than thirty-five dollars in her pocket and a dream. She didn’t precisely know what shape the dream of being famous would take, but she knew it somehow involved “the arts.” Initially, she thought that meant being a dancer (not the topless kind, mind you), but soon realized that entailed blending in when all she wanted to do was stand out.
Thus, her next foray into fame-seeking was being in a band…as the drummer. But it didn’t take her long to see that she was still in the background that way, too. She needed to be front and center. She needed to be a solo act. By 1982, she had betrayed many people along the way to get a record deal with Sire (Seymour Stein signed her while in a hospital bed, but Madonna couldn’t have cared less—she just wanted the contract, to make that Faustian pact, as it were). So if anyone can sing the lyrics to “Popular” (not to be confused with M.I.A.’s song of the same name) with conviction, it’s Lady M. After all, the chorus goes, “Beggin’ on her knees to be popular/That’s her dream, to be popular/Kill anyone to be popular/Sell her soul to be popular/Popular, just to be popular/Everybody scream ’cause she popular.” And everyone was screaming because Madonna was so popular by the time The Virgin Tour took hold of stages throughout the U.S. in 1985. In fact, no female artist until Madonna seemed to attract hordes that would scream so much. Before Madonna, such ardor was reserved solely for male bands and solo acts (see: Beatlemania). Hence, Madonna later reflecting on those “wannabes” as follows: “If I was a girl again, I would like to be like my fans, I would like to be like Madonna.”
Britney certainly wanted to be like Madonna too, never hiding her love of Mother Pop Star as her career took off. It was in 2003 that the trio (a more logical trio than Madonna, The Weeknd and Playboi Carti) of M, Britney and Christina Aguilera took the MTV VMAs by storm when the Queen of Pop kissed both Princesses of Pop. But it was the beso with Britney that grabbed the most headlines, with splashy images of their kiss reprinted and replayed everywhere. Certain types might have likened it to some kind of “illuminati ritual,” while Madonna referred to it simply as symbolically “passing the baton” of pop stardom to a younger generation. And yet, Madonna would never “take a bow” regardless of such statements feigning that she’s “lost her influence” somehow. If anything, Madonna remains more relevant than ever in an era where the conversation about famous women aging while “refusing” to leave the spotlight has become, somehow, a hotbed issue. Enter the lyrics to the chorus that go, “She mainstream ’cause she popular/Never be free ’cause she popular.”
But Madonna has never really wanted to be “free” from fame, despite recent posturings about family being her more valued focus. Because fame was always, whether she was fully aware of it or not, the only way she could fill the void where her mother’s love had been lost. Dead at the age of thirty, when Madonna was just five, the loss of Madonna Ciccone Sr. to breast cancer was one that the junior M would feel all her life. The type of black hole that would prompt a girl to seek out becoming the most beloved, famous woman in the world (until being beloved gave way to being constantly condemned). So when she opens “Popular” with the solemn lines, “I’ve seen the devil down Sunset/In every place, in every face,” she knows what she’s talking about.” Funnily enough, however, Madonna has never styled herself as much of a “Hollywood type.” Sure, like any famous person, she’s set up shop there via real estate (including her purchase of The Weeknd’s Hidden Hills property in 2021), but, by and large, she’s never really made it her home à la, say, Lana Del Rey.
When she was first “initiated” into fame, she definitely spent more time drinking Hollywood’s Kool-Aid, complete with living in Malibu after marrying Sean Penn and taking a shine to L.A. life during her “movie star era” that consisted of dating Warren Beatty and being one of the leads in his 1990 comic adaptation, Dick Tracy. Yet Madonna seemed forever beholden to the opposite coast, constantly going back to it and eventually writing off Los Angeles as somewhere “for people who sleep.” Not to mention writing an entire song (called, what else, “Hollywood”) about the false seduction of the place formerly known as El Pueblo de Los Angeles. The Weeknd has expressed similar opinions in his music, including lyrics like, “This place is never what it seems…/Take me out of LA/This place will be the end of me.” This from a song entitled, appropriately, “Escape From LA.” Elsewhere on that After Hours track, The Weeknd also criticizes (despite insisting “I don’t criticize”), “LA girls all look the same/I can’t recognize/The same work done on their face.” On the same album, The Weeknd also declares on “Snowchild,” “Cali was the mission but now a nigga leaving” in relation to the epiphany that fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Madonna would explore that topic in detail on one of the first records of its kind, Ray of Light, particularly via the opening track, “Drowned World/Substitute For Love.” A song that began to bubble up after giving birth to her first child, Lourdes Leon, in 1996, at which time Madonna was suddenly in search of greater meaning in her life. Hence, turning to Kabbalah for spiritual comfort in her erstwhile material world. Eventually, Madonna would render Kabbalah into another trend as well, with many celebrities in the early 00s sporting the signature red string, from Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher to Angelina Jolie to none other than Britney Spears herself. This being one reason why Madonna chose to sardonically sport a “Cult Member” t-shirt while leaving the Kabbalah Center circa 2004 (L.A., to be sure, has just as many cult leaders doubling as members). For, after M and Brit performed together at the VMAs in ’03, the latter adopted the red string bracelet signifying her “Kabbalah commitment” as well, intended to ward off the “evil eye.” If that was the case, maybe Brit actually shouldn’t have taken it off so soon after declaring in 2006, “I no longer study Kabbalah. My baby is my religion.” Because it was 2007 when shit would really start to hit the fan for her. Indeed, that’s the period of Brit’s life that The Idol appears to be “inspired by,” with The Weeknd obviously playing the Sam Lutfi figure.
Spears and Lutfi met at a nightclub at the end of 2007 and, fittingly, The Weeknd plays nightclub owner/“self-help guru” (a.k.a. cult leader) Tedros. Like Lutfi, Tedros seems to have a knack for “attaching himself to celebrities, often at vulnerable moments for them.” And no one was more vulnerable than late ’07 Britney (which is perhaps how Lutfi was allegedly able to feed her a steady cocktail of Risperdal and Seroquel). In this sense, Madonna stands out as a singular pop star for her strength and bulletproof nature, seemingly designed to endure media scrutiny and unremitting criticism without letting it get the better of her. As she says in her “Popular” verse, “I know that you see me, time’s gone by/Spend my whole life runnin’ from your flashin’ lights/Try to own it, but I’m alright/You can’t take my soul without a fuckin’ fight.”
Madonna’s love of religious motifs in her lyrics continue with, “Put it in her veins, pray her soul to keep.” This fixation on praying and keeping one’s soul is also present on a song like 2015’s “Devil Pray,” during which Madonna sings, “But if you wanna save your soul/Then we should travel all together/And make the devil pray” and “Ooh, save my soul/Devil’s here to fool ya.” Devil imagery has also come up in Madonna’s recitation of the Book of Revelation on 1990’s “The Beast Within,” as well as 2008’s “Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You.” Her frequent lyrical ruminations on a battle between good and evil is clearly culled not just from her Catholic upbringing, but her extensive time spent in a world where carnal temptations are the name of the game. And not everyone is able to resist (on a pertinent note, Madonna has always been well-known for her abstinence…from drugs).
At varying points in the trailer for The Idol, Tedros says things to Jocelyn like, “You’re the American dream. Rags to riches. Trailers to mansions” and “You’re not a human being. You’re a star.” Both of these sentiments more overtly apply to Spears (though Madonna didn’t exactly grow up in “baller” circumstances either) as she’s been turned into tabloid fodder in a manner that Madonna wasn’t—not to the same extent, anyway—in her early career. For she came up at a time when TMZ-level shaming had not yet become a phenomenon. Thus, back in late November of 2021, Spears wrote on her always cryptic Instagram, “I just shot a movie titled “THE IDOL”… it’s guaranteed to have hits and a lot [of] bright pics to put in my beautiful family’s faces!!!!!”
Months later, Spears appeared in a photo with Levinson and The Weeknd. It hardly seemed a coincidence. Nor does it that Madonna is involved in the soundtrack. For not only can she speak to the kind of fiendishness for fame that “Popular” dissects, but she also witnessed Spears breaking down and breaking free (showing up to her wedding as an honored guest to support that revelation) in real time. So from whatever angle one looks at it, no one has a better view on this subject matter than Madonna. Thus, even if the show isn’t “brilliant,” at least Madonna “joining the cast” on “Popular” is.
And this summer, you simply can not talk about It Girls without talking about Lily-Rose Depp.
Lily-Rose is a nepo baby (we’ll get to that later), so she already has the makings of classic It Girls like Paris and Nicole. And, as a true Gen Z muse, her Y2K-inspired vibe mirrors the women of the early-2000s. Like Paris, she’s never been shy about liking a party (what I wouldn’t give for an invite). Like Kate Moss, she’s a high fashion model by day with a “rockstar” edge.
Take her stint at Cannes. She’s posing on the red carpet, then smoking a cig outside her hotel. Her French Girl coolness and Mama Vanessa Paradis’ model-inherited looks have served her well. So it’s no wonder she’s all the internet is slavering over. Especially due to her breakout role in the upcoming HBO drama, The Idol.
What is going on with The Idol on HBO?
The Idol is the latest drama from Sam Levinson, the creator of Euphoria. Which is to say, who didn’t expect a messy medley of sex, drugs, and the male gaze? Even before the first signs of trouble came out in a Rolling Stone expose months ago, Levinson was a controversial figure. Euphoria is often criticized for glamorizing drug use, as well as for flat character arcs for many of the cast and the semi-toxic environment on set. While other projects like Malcolm & Marie, which he wrote alongside Zendaya, wrought arguments about exploitation and representation.
This new project is a collaboration with The Weeknd, aka Abel Tesfaye. And Lily-Rose Depp is the star. It follows Depp’s character, Jocelyn, a world-famous pop star recovering from her mother’s death and trying to reclaim her status as the biggest name in Hollywood. Doesn’t sound crazy yet? Well, it’s self-proclaimed as “the sleaziest love story in Hollywood.” And that’s where Tesfaye’s character comes in. When Jocelyn falls for him, she begins a downward spiral that, according to reviews from Cannes, is an exhausting tour of depravity for depravity’s sake.
It’s a star-studded production, featuring many musicians-turned actors such as Jennie from Blackpink, Troye Sivan, Moses Sumney, and more.
It premiered at Cannes on Monday, May 22, and many reviews confirm the reports: although visually stunning, it’s a mess. Depp, by all accounts, gives a riveting performance. And she deserves recognition for her acting chops. But I wish this praise was coming down for literally any other project. The Idol will perform as promised, shocking audiences and provoking reactions, but is that always a good thing?
And yet … despite the problematic creators, its shoddy premise, and the shitshow of the show itself, it still got a 5-minute standing ovation at Cannes.
But what does audience praise at Cannes truly mean anymore? That, of course, brings us to Depp’s father … The Other Depp.
What has Lily-Rose said about Johnny Depp?
It was a father-daughter weekend on the Croisette, with both Lily-Rose and her father, the actor Johnny Depp, debuting projects at Cannes.
J. Depp has a starring role in the French period film Jeanne du Barry, in which he plays King Louis XV. The film was both the first film of the festival and Depp’s first film role since his highly publicized defamation trial against his ex-wife, Amber Heard (not counting his cameo in Rihanna’s Fenty show … yikes).
His appearance caused much controversy at Cannes. Although he won his lawsuit — and although TikTok memes and internet frenzy confirmed he’d emerge from the lawsuit even more beloved than ever — there’s no denying or doubting the acts of abuse he committed against Heard.
As his daughter, Lily-Rose Depp has been fielding questions about her father since the trial — most of which she has declined to answer.
In her infamous 2022 ELLE cover interview, she tried to distance herself from her father’s press by saying: “When it’s something that’s so private and so personal that all of a sudden becomes not so personal…I feel really entitled to my secret garden of thoughts. I also think that I’m not here to answer for anybody, and I feel like for a lot of my career, people have really wanted to define me by the men in my life, whether that’s my family members or my boyfriends, whatever. And I’m really ready to be defined for the things that I put out there.”
However, after her father received a 7-minute standing ovation on opening night, she gushed about it to ET. “I’m super happy for him. I’m super excited,” she said. “And it’s so awesome that we get to do projects that we’re super proud of.”
Speaking of her famous parents, remember what she said about nepo babies?
When both you and your father are standing on one of the most spectacular red carpets of the year, you’re never beating the nepo baby allegations.
Though this is Depp’s breakout role, she has been in the spotlight her whole life — and working in the industry since she was 16.
But she resents the term “nepo baby.” She told ELLE, “ The internet seems to care a lot about that kind of stuff. People are going to have preconceived ideas about you or how you got there, and I can definitely say that nothing is going to get you the part except for being right for the part,” she says.
Though many people have since contested this assertion in the great nepo baby reckoning of 2022, it is what it is. Depp continued: “The internet cares a lot more about who your family is than the people who are casting you in things. Maybe you get your foot in the door, but you still just have your foot in the door. There’s a lot of work that comes after that.”
While I don’t doubt that Depp has worked hard in her career … she’s also a 5’2 runway model. Like, c’mon. Be a little more self-aware.
Who is Lily Rose-Depp Dating
Alongside her disdain for being judged based on her parentage, Depp is equally tired of how the media has linked her to her ex-partners.
We must assume she’s referring to her most high-profile relationship with Timothee Chalamet. The French-American pair made quite the chic couple. Except for maybe those embarrassing pap pics of them making out on a yacht — oh to be young, rich, and in love.
In the past, Depp has remained pretty private about her relationships. The exception, however, is her current relationship with singer, 070 Shake.
This is Depp’s first public relationship with a woman. Shake, who was most recently featured on the hit song “Escapism” by RAYE, was previously linked to Kehlani before debuting a now very-public, very hands-on relationship with Depp. The two are not shy about PDA. They publicly lavish each other with affection and post about their relationship on social media.
This fresh approach to her dating life might be part of a new era. Who knows? Perhaps her role as Jocelyn brought out a new persona — one that is more prone to sharing her life with the world.
Whatever the reason, Depp is cementing her icon status in Cannes. From her vintage Chanel outfits to her It Girl attitude, Lily-Rose is one to watch. Even if you don’t tune in to watch her show, The Idol.
The 2023 Met Gala theme is “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” referencing the lines of Lagerfeld’s famous sketches. The exhibition will feature Lagerfeld’s work across Chanel, Fendi, Balmain, Patou, Chloé, and his eponymous brand. Of course, Lagerfeld is most closely associated with his 36-year tenure at Chanel, so we can expect to see plenty of archival looks as well as outfits inspired by the French house.
I predict we won’t see these 10 specific Chanel looks on the 2023 Met Gala red carpet. Why? Because they’ve already been worn to Met Galas in previous years and are not likely to be repeated at the exact same event—after all, fashion has an undying obsession with newness. Scroll down to revisit 10 iconic Chanel looks from previous Met Galas.
Of all the powerful and effortlessly trendy It girls we’ve featured here on Who What Wear, there’s one who’s risen to the forefront of the Parisian runways, red carpet events, and street fashion while remaining a woman of mystery: the lovely Lily-Rose Depp. Now we’ve also highlighted a number of stylish individuals who have created a platform for themselves based entirely on their association with a famous family member, friend, or partner (often receiving the notorious label nepo babies).
Nepo baby or not, this woman has a huge pull in the world of fashion and has established a reputation as the ultimate player in French-and-American style, becoming an icon of her own merit. We’re highlighting our favorite Lily-Rose Depp makeup moments over the past couple of years that we can’t stop thinking about and telling you how to create them using products by French brands. Keep reading to find out which ones are taking up real estate in our minds.
Fashion, like most industries, has always been rife with nepotism. But right around the mid-2010s, celebrity children suddenly seemed to be taking over modeling: From the Hadids to Kendall Jenner to Kaia Gerber to Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin), a famous last name started to feel like a prerequisite for casting directors. Since then, we’ve only seen more descendants of famous families come of age, get thousands of Instagram followers and sign Miu Miu contracts.
We’ve also seen nepotism re-emerge as a hot topic of conversation, with stars like Zoë Kravitz, Maude Apatow and Lily-Rose Depp addressing the privilege from which they may or may not benefit in interviews.
“The internet cares a lot more about who your family is than the people who are casting you in things,” Depp said in her recent Elle cover story. “Maybe you get your foot in the door, but you still just have your foot in the door. There’s a lot of work that comes after that.”
Depp, a Chanel ambassador, straddles the line between Hollywood and fashion, and her comments spurred Instagram-story reactions from prominent models without famous last names.
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“You have no fucking idea how much you have to fight to make people respect you. TAKES YEARS. you just get it by free day one,” wrote Vittoria Ceretti, for instance.
Love it or hate it, “nepo babies,” as Depp called them, are continuing to emerge as fashion darlings, and a new wave of them are perfectly positioned to dominate the industry and our Instagram feeds in 2023. We’re here to tell you about them, not judge.
Based on hours of Instagram stalking, scanning Miu Miu front rows and Chanel event tip sheets and polling industry colleagues, we compiled the below list of up-and-coming fashion nepo babies to watch. There are fashion and skin-care heiresses, scions of the world’s most famous tech entrepreneurs, gorgeous supermodel offspring and much more. Get to know each of these budding multi-hyphenate “It” girls below.
Eve Jobs
Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
Instagram:@evejobs/460K Famous relative: Steve Jobs (parent) Born: 1998 Occupation(s): model, influencer Representation: DNA Models Fashion Credits: Glossier campaign, Coperni Spring 2022 runway, Louis Vuitton Fall 2022 front row and handbag campaign, 2022 Met Gala, Vogue Japan cover
Isadora Bjarkardóttir
Photo: Imaxtree
Instagram:@d0lgur/26.8K Famous relatives: Björk and Matthew Barney (parents) Born: 2003 Occupation(s): model, actor Representation: ITG Fashion credits: Miu Miu Fall 2022 campaign and Spring 2023 runway
Carly Sturm
Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Instagram:@charlysturm/65K Famous relatives: Dr. Barbara Sturm (parent) Born: 2006 Occupation(s): works for mom, model, socialite, influencer Fashion credits: JW Anderson Spring 2023 runway, Stella McCartney Spring 2023 front row
Chase Sui Wonders
Photo: Raymond Hall/GC
Instagram:@chasesuiwonders/105K Famous relative: Anna Sui (aunt) Born: 1996 Occupation(s): actor, model, Harvard grad Fashion Credits: Sofia Coppola-directed Calvin Klein campaign, Anna Sui x Batsheva campaign, Sandy Liang campaign, Ferragamo campaign, Coach campaign, Madewell campaign, Miu Miu Spring 2023 front row, Thom Browne Fall 2022 front row, worked with Chanel
Ever Anderson
Photo: Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images
Instagram:@everanderson/526K TikTok:@everanderson/807K Famous relatives: Milla Jovovich and Paul W.S. Anderson (parents) Born: 2007 Occupation(s): model, actor Fashion credits: Miu Miu ambassador, Miu Miu campaign, Re-edition cover, Muse Magazine cover, Marfa Journal cover
Leni Olumi Klum
Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images
Instagram:@leniklum/1.7M Famous relatives: Heidi Klum (parent), Seal (adoptive parent) Born: 2004 Occupation(s): model, influencer Representation: CAA Fashion Fashion credits: About You collaboration, Dior Beauty ambassador, Intimissi campaign (with Heidi), Hunger cover, Glamour Germany cover, Harper’s Bazaar Germany cover (with mom), Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda 2021 runway
Isabella Massenet
Photo: Frazer Harrison
Instagram: @isabellamassenet/11.8K Famous relative: Natalie Massenet (parent) Born: 2000 Occupation(s): model, DJ, NYU student Representation: IMG Models Fashion credits:Wonderland cover, Frame campaign, DJing for fashion parties
Phoebe Gates
Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
Instagram:@phoebegates/167K Famous relatives: Bill and Melinda Gates (parent) Born: 2002 Occupation(s): fashion influencer, activist, Stanford student Fashion credits: Michael Kors Spring 2023 front row, Valentino Spring 2023 front row, Stella McCartney Spring 2023 front row, British Vogue internship
Yumi Nu
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Instagram:@_yumi_nu/148K Famous relatives: Rocky Aoki (grandfather), Steve Aoki (uncle), Devon Aoki (aunt) Born: 1996 Occupation(s): model, designer, singer Representation: The Society Management, Wilhelmina Models Fashion credits:clothing line Blueki, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue 2022 cover, Vogue Hong Kong cover, Teen Vogue digital cover, Gap campaign, Jacquemus campaign, Jacquemus Spring 2022 runway, Vogue cover (group shot), Vogue Beauty Secrets video, Markarian Spring 2023 runway, Brandon Maxwell Spring 2023 runway, Puma September 2022 runway, Vogue World runway
Zaya Wade
Photo: Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images
Instagram:@zayawade/616K Famous relatives: Dwyane Wade (parent), Gabrielle Union (stepparent) Born: 2007 Occupation(s): all-around style star, high schooler Fashion credits: Miu Miu Spring 2023 front row, Gucci Love Parade front row, styled by Thomas Christos Kikis
Lily-Rose Depp is the latest star to grace Elle’s cover (alongside her co-star, Blackpink’s Jennie Kim), promoting HBO Max’s forthcoming series “The Idol.” In the accompanying story, which has now been widely circulated, Depp shared some thoughts on being called a “nepo baby” — and let’s just say her remarks have sparked some reactions among major fashion-industry figures.
“I’m familiar. The internet seems to care a lot about that kind of stuff,” Depp tells Véronique Hyland in the interview. “People are going to have pre-conceived ideas about you or how you got there, and I can definitely say that nothing is going to get you the part except for being right for the part.”
The 23-year-old then adds: “The internet cares a lot more about who your family is than the people who are casting you in things. Maybe you get your foot in the door, but you still just have your foot in the door. There’s a lot of work that comes after that.”
The term “nepo baby” — short for “nepotism baby” — references the privilege that comes with being part of a wealthy, powerful family. In the past year, Hollywood stars like Maude Apatow and Zoë Kravitz have also been criticized for having their careers easily fed to them from a silver spoon. So have models like Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber and Gigi and Bella Hadid.
As is made clear by her name, Depp is the daughter of actors Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis — the latter also a longtime Chanel muse and model. After nabbing a few film roles, Depp has been seen across various magazine covers, music videos and is hounded by paparazzi. She’s now largely regarded for her modeling career, and was even selected by the late Karl Lagerfeld to be Chanel’s ambassador for its Chanel No. 5 fragrance when she was only 17 years old.
Since Depp’s cover story released on Nov. 17, some of the industry’s biggest models have responded with their own perspectives on nepotism and privilege.
Italian model Vittoria Ceretti, who has been in the industry since the age of 14, took to Instagram to share her thoughts.
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“Just want to share a thought here because I can,” she began in a now-deleted Instagram Story post. “I bumped into an interview of a so-called ‘nepo baby,’ whatever y’all call it… Yes, I get the whole ‘Im here and I work hard for it,’ but I would really love to see if you would have lasted thru the first five years of my career. Not only being rejected, because I know you have an experience with it and you can tell me your sad little story about it (even if at the end of the day you can still always go cry on your dad’s couch in your villa in Malibu).”
Ceretti, now 24, continued, “You have no fucking idea how much you have to fight to make people respect you. TAKES YEARS. you just get it by free day one.” She finished with, “I know it’s not your fault, but please, appreciate and know the place you came from.”
On Friday morning, Anok Yai also commented on the situation. The Egyptian-born Sudanese-American model recalled the difficult early days of her career on her Instagram Story. “I remember at the beginning of my career…there was this perceived notion that I had an upper hand, [but] I can tell you it was quite the opposite.”
Yai revealed that when she moved to New York, she had only college debt and $30 in her name, and it wasn’t until a photo of her during Howard University’s 2017 Homecoming went viral that her career took off. Even then, she said, she’s had to fight for every single thing.
“Just weeks into my career, my agent sat me down and told me – ‘Everyone thinks you’re rich now so you have to play the part…’ I remember barely being able to afford living in New York but having to budget out flights, hotels and cars for work; taking out loans so I could buy food, drowning in debt, seeing myself on billboards but having a few dollars to my name. I didn’t mind – I wanted to earn my stripes.”
She then added that, “I will see some of you privilege kids stress about not booking a job because of the impact of your career while there are those of us who stress because we don’t know if we’ll be able to take care of our parents this months or put our siblings through school.”
She wrapped up her post by summarizing an unfortunate reality of the modeling industry for many, writing, “What bothers me is when power players in the industry (brands, directors, editors, etc) pretend to be ignorant to that fact…I know you work hard and have your struggles like the rest of us, but goddamn if you only knew the hell we go through to stand in the same room that you were born in.”
When the controversial Amber Heard v. Johnny Depp defamation trial went on air, it quickly became a public spectacle. Heard was found guilty of ruining Depp’s career though her 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which Heard identified herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” Depp was awarded $15 million in damages and an unbelievable career comeback — the stuff of Hollywood dreams — a spot in the Fenty Fashion Show.
Meanwhile, Heard was publicly humiliated and endlessly memed by social media and on TikTok. She posted a statement after the verdict warning against the impact her own trial could have on other women.
But now — months later — a consortium of feminist organizations and prominent feminist individuals have penned a letter in support.
“The vilification of Ms. Heard and ongoing online harassment of her and those who have voiced support for her have been unprecedented in both vitriol and scale. Much of this harassment was fueled by disinformation, misogyny, biphobia, and a monetized social media environment where a woman’s allegations of domestic violence and sexual assault were mocked for entertainment,” the letter reads.
The letter was posted on AmberOpenLetter.com. It calls for any other supporters to sign the letter. Prominent figures like Gloria Steinem, over two dozen feminist organizations, as well as over 90 domestic violence experts and survivors’ advocates from around the world, and signed the letter.
The goal of the letter isn’t merely to vindicate Heard, but it’s a letter of support for all victims of domestic abuse who feel silenced. And now more than ever may feel like they’ll be punished for speaking out.
“In our opinion, the Depp v. Heard verdict and continued discourse around it indicate a fundamental misunderstanding of intimate partner and sexual violence and how survivors respond to it. The damaging consequences of the spread of this misinformation are incalculable. We have grave concerns about the rising misuse of defamation suits to threaten and silence survivors.”
But why did it take so long for this public support?
An anonymous spokesperson for the group behind the letter told NBC News that after the Heard v. Depp trial “individuals were afraid to speak out because they saw what was happening to the few who had.” The spokesperson was another victim of this harrassment. Hence, the anonymity of the letter.
Kathy Spillar, the executive director of the Feminist Majority Foundation, told NBC News her organization signed the letter after it observed what she called a “growing backlash” against women who speak out against perpetrators of sexual assault, domestic violence and intimate partner violence. “If this can happen to Amber Heard, it will discourage other women from speaking up and even filing reports about domestic violence and sexual assault,” Spillar said.
Heard supporters were not the only ones who were persecuted. Depp’s 23-year-old daughter — actress Lily-Rose Depp — recently spoke out in a November Elle cover story and all the hate messages she received.
Depp fans aggressively called on Lily to support her father. However, she remained silent during the trial. “When it’s something that’s so private and so personal that all of a sudden becomes not so personal,” she told Elle. “I feel really entitled to my secret garden of thoughts … I also think that I’m not here to answer for anybody, and I feel like for a lot of my career, people have really wanted to define me by the men in my life, whether that’s my family members or my boyfriends, whatever.”
“I’m not here to give myself to the world to be eaten alive,” a sentiment shared by many of the women implicated in the trial. Focused on her own career and stepping out of her parents’ shadow, Lily-Rose said, “I’m really ready to be defined for the things that I put out there.”
Jennie Kim and Lily-Rose Depp cover the December Issue of Elle Jennie Kim of Blackpink and Lily-Rose Depp grace the cover of Elle in Chanel ensembles styled by Patti Wilson. Depp tells writer Véronique Hyland about growing up in the public eye, specifically recent headlines surrounding her family. “People have really wanted to define me by the men in my life, whether that’s my family members or my boyfriends, whatever. And I’m really ready to be defined for the things that I put out there,” Depp says. As for Jennie Kim, she talks with Laura Sirikul about her first acting gig, the Blackpink world tour and answers burning questions from Blinks. “It was my first time ever doing anything close to being an actor, so hopefully they like it,” the K-pop idol shares. The two are set to star in HBO’s upcoming and highly anticipated series, “The Idol.” See more images below.{Elle}
Gabriela Hearst wants you to know about nuclear fusion Chloé Creative Director Gabriela Hearst has always been environmentally conscious in her work, having been credited with the fashion industry’s first carbon-neutral runway in 2019. Nowadays, Hearst is taking her passion to the next level with her research into nuclear fusion, a cleaner (yet presently unattained) energy alternative. Heart’s Spring 2023 collection is inspired by visits to nuclear fusion labs across the country and the globe, her runway featuring physics-inflected designs and chemical patterns across clothes. Meanwhile, Hearst’s latest resort collection was aimed at spreading fusion literacy to the public, through motifs like laser-cut stars and spangled leather jackets. “What I can do is to use whatever platform I have to communicate about this energy,” the designer says. {Vanity Fair}
To stir up even more publicity for its cruise collection—and incite jealously among its legion of fashion fans—Chanel tapped Sofia and Roman Coppola to direct a short film promoting its stopover at the Faena Hotel in Miami. (The runway show first took place on the beach in Monte Carlo back in May.) Set to the soundtrack of “This Town” by The Go-Go’s, the vintage-tinged vignettes showcase the coastal city’s greatest hits, including Ocean Drive, Art Deco architecture, sprawling beaches, and, as a finishing touch, the house’s iconic CCs scrawled on the sand. The lyrics say it all: “This town is our town / It is so glamorous / Bet you’d live here if you could / And be one of us.”
Lily-Rose Depp attends Chanel’s cruise 2022/2023 show in Miami.
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For the past 24 hours, everyone who wasn’t in South Florida probably wishes they were…for once. From the idyllic setting overlooking the ocean to the star-studded guest list (Lily Rose-Depp, Marion Cotillard, and Lori Harvey), performances (Nile Rodgers and Chic with a cameo by Pharrell Williams for “Get Lucky”), and spread (quintessential Florida fare like stone crab claws, Cuban sliders, and key lime pie), these were, to quote Rodgers wailing on the microphone, the good times. And that’s without factoring in the clothes.
Against the backdrop of red and white-striped umbrellas and chaise loungers, the collection blended old-world French glamour and athleticism—specifically, auto racing and racquet sports—with models holding biker helmets and toting quilted leather tennis bags over their shoulders. The silhouettes ran the gamut from jumpsuits to tailored suiting and, for the finale, an elegant long-sleeve sequin dress, but the retro-meets-motorsports theme becomes most apparent in the details—think: crochet racing gloves, dresses emblazoned with starter flags, and baseball caps in Chanel’s signature tweed.
Nile Rodgers performs at the after-party.
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Though originally shown in the French Riviera, the collection moves seamlessly to stateside shores. Perhaps not so coincidentally, Formula 1 was also held in Miami this year, further cementing the locale as the new Monaco. When asked why the resort destination was the ideal place for its replica cruise show the next day during a masterclass held at the Faena Forum, Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel’s fashion activities and president of Chanel SAS, said, “Why Miami? Chanel loves Miami.” And really, what’s not to love?
Lori Harvey, Arden Cho, and Ella Balinska.
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See the finale looks from the Chanel Cruise 2022/2023 show in Miami, below.
Claire Stern is the Deputy Editor of ELLE.com. Previously, she served as Editor at Bergdorf Goodman. Her interests include fashion, food, travel, music, Peloton, and The Hills—not necessarily in that order. She used to have a Harriet the Spy notebook and isn’t ashamed to admit it.
