HBO just released a whole album of Where Are They Now pics ahead of Euphoria season 3. As Sam Levinson said previously, this new season will take place after the cast graduated college. Well, some of the cast. Rue is in Mexico fleeing drug dealer Laurie (Martha Kelly), which sounds like matriculation wasn’t a high prio these last five years. Nate Jacobs and Cassie Howard are still together (??) and engaged (???) with their wedding being a big set piece of the season (!!!!). It feels like we’re getting new plot details every week, to the point that the show’s April 2026 release feels almost superfluous. JK. We still don’t know what Elliot (Dominic Fike) is up to!
Photo: Patrick Wymore/HBO
“We basically pick up Rue south of the border in Mexico, in debt to Laurie, trying to come up with some very innovative ways to pay it off,” Levinson said at a HBO Max presentation in London last week. Based on the above pic, Rue’s flight has maybe caused her to have a crisis of faith. Or a “come to Jesus” moment. She probably needs it.
Photo: Partick Wymore/HBO
Nate is rocking the suburbs, according to Levinson. And the photo released by HBO indicates the dude is straight grilling. Elordi recently promised Gwyneth Paltrow that Nate Jacobs is “nicer” in season 3 of Euphoria. “I finished filming a new season just recently, and it’s a completely different thing,” he said during his “Actors on Actors” interview. But it’s not like that’s an especially high bar.
Photo: Photograph by Courtesy of HBO
According to Levinson, Cassie Howard is having a harder time of it in the suburbs, compared to Nate. “She’s very addicted to social media and envious of what appears to be the big lives that all of her high school classmates are living at this point in time,” he said. Good to see the feud with Maddy is still a going concern.
Photo: Eddy Chen/HBO
Levinson says Cassie’s baby sister Lexi is trying to make it big in Hollywood. And Lexi is an assistant to a showrunner played by Sharon Stone,” he said, “who is just absolutely delightful and a true icon.” Lexi’s character photo shows her on a Hollywood studio lot, in front of a full Hail Caesar-ass extras. Showbiz!
Photo: Marcel Rev/HBO
Judging by the blurry centurions in Maddy’s photo, she’s on the same lot as Lexi. (The Warner Bros. lot in Burbank to be specific. Peep the rounded soundstage ceilings.) “Maddy is working in Hollywood at a talent agency for a manager,” Levinson said. “She’s obviously got her own side hustles going.”
Photo: Eddy Chen/HBO
Jules is drinking full fat cokes at art school, and we love that for her. Levinson says Jules’ life isn’t as bold and brave as the photo suggests, however. “Jules is in art school, very nervous about having a career as a painter and trying to avoid responsibility at all costs,” he said.
We’ll see how all these crazy kids come together when Euphoria returns to HBO in 2026.
Euphoria fans got a surprise update this weekend, with the show’s third season release date window being revealed.
When is the Euphoria Season 3 release date window?
Speaking to Variety while at the Emmys over the weekend, HBO head Casey Bloys spoke about a litany of content coming up for the iconic network. When it comes to Euphoria Season 3, though, Bloys was surprisingly open about when to expect the third season of the Zendaya-led show.
“It’ll be the spring, but we don’t have a date confirmed yet,” said Bloys when he was asked about when fans might expect a premiere date for Euphoria Season 3. It’s unclear exactly when the show will arrive, but it does seem to be sooner than some fans previously thought.
Euphoria’s third season has been an up-and-down production. Initially, Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, and the rest of the cast of Euphoria were set to begin filming on Season 3 in 2024, but HBO announced that it had postponed production, with stars told to pursue other opportunities while creator Sam Levinson worked on the third season.
Shortly after the postponement, reports began to surface that people at HBO were unsure if a third season would ever happen due to the different visions that the creative team for the show had.
According to reports at the time, early drafts of Season 3 stories were seen as unsatisfying to HBO, with Levinson’s original vision for the new series featuring a five-year time jump. HBO was reportedly happy with the storylines given to Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Elordi’s characters in the early drafts; however, the company took issue with Zendaya’s proposed character arc, which saw her working as a private detective.
Now, though, it seems as if things are progressing well for the show’s highly anticipated third and potentially final season.
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.
Dominic Fike opens up about his sobriety battle while filming “Euphoria”.
In a wide-ranging conversation with Zane Lowe for Apple Music — to promote his second studio album, Sunburn, out July 7— the actor and singer delved into his struggles with addiction and taking drugs while filming the popular drama series.
“I was a drug addict and coming onto a show, you know, mainly about drugs is very difficult,” Fike, 27, told Lowe, revealing that Sam Levinson, the director and writer, even got him a sober coach.
Zendaya (Rue Bennett) and Dominic Fike (Elliot) in “Euphoria” season 2.
— Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery Dominic Fike (Elliot) in “Euphoria” season 2.
— Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery
Fike added that the producers and editors had no choice but to use the scenes he was high in for the show.
When Lowe pointed out that that’s “a bit of a double standard” — wanting Fike to be sober but getting a “great scene” out of him being high — Fike hesitated before replying: “Yeah, that’s entertainment, dude.
“You know, they give you a bunch of money and they’re just like, ‘Yeah, figure it out bud. Sink or swim.”
For more on what inspired Fike’s new album — including the good and bad times — and his experience navigating the complexities of fame, watch the full interview below.
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.
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.
“I don’t think there was a place for her to go,” said Ferreira about her character. “I mean, I think there were places you could go. I just don’t think it would have fit into the show. I don’t know if it was gonna do her justice. And I think both parties knew that.”
“I really wanted to be able to not be the fat best friend,” she continued. “I don’t want to play that, and I think they didn’t want that either.”
Fans had previously relied on rumors from February 2022 that Ferreira stormed off set after clashing with “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson. She told Shepard this narrative had “taken on a life of its own” and that she “got sucked into this drama” which saw fans express their condolences.
“I actually did not walk off set,” Ferreira said. “I did sprain my ankle once and had to go get an X-ray. Maybe that’s what they mean.”
Ferreira said Levinson “writes for things he relates to” and doesn’t think that includes Kat.
Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic/Getty Images
While Ferreira said she would have continued to play Kat “for as long as I was asked to,” the actor reiterated her departure was a mutual decision. She told Shepard it was “a struggle for both parties” as Levinson found it difficult to find a future for her character.
“Sam writes for things he relates to,” she told Shepard. “I don’t think he relates to Kat. I relate to Kat. So I had to follow my own path.”
Ferreira said the rampant gossip about her angry exit “was really rough for me” because it depicted her as being difficult to work with. But she praised Levinson’s creative approach — and said production was “so fun” and made for the “best acting classes ever.”
While “Euphoria” will return for a third season without her, Ferreira said it was “really freeing” for both her and Levinson to have found a mutual understanding. The actor told Shepard she was excited to “get to do my own thing” — but she will never forget Kat.
“It was a character I’ve never seen on TV before,” she said, “and I don’t know if we’ll ever get something like that in that specific way that was so edgy.”
This just in: Gen Z’s favorite bikini brand has partnered with the TikTok demographic’s favorite bombshell on a swim collaboration that is sure to heat up summer 2023. The Sydney Sweeney x Frankies Bikinis collection is the brainchild of the Emmy-nominated actress and producer and the Los Angeles-based beachwear brand, who already teamed up to give us a show-stopping fashion moment in season two of Euphoria. Fans of the hit show likely recall Sweeney’s character, Cassie, stepping out in the brand’s Gemma one-piece as an act of rebellion—and a shameless attempt to garner attention from Nate Jacobs—in the notorious hot tub scene at Maddy’s birthday party. In fact, the partnership came about specifically because of that scene. This time though, instead of revenge, the theme is romance.
Gorgeous silhouettes, lace and ruffle details, and a kiss print using Sweeney’s own lips (more on that later) are just some of the design elements you can expect in the capsule. The accompanying campaign, photographed in Rome by Sonia Szóstak, exudes femininity and romance. It could almost be mistaken for a lingerie campaign—the fact that it’s swimwear makes it even sexier and cooler, not to mention more captivating.
Inspired by Italian summer romance, the first release from the collaboration lands on March 14th, with a second drop in early April. Below, Sweeney talks exclusively with ELLE about the collection, where she’s currently wearing the pieces, kissing, and more.
More From ELLE
Firstly, why swimwear?
I grew up on the water, always running around in a bikini. If I wasn’t swimming in the lake or the ocean, I was skiing or attempting to surf. So there was always a part of me that wanted to create something that truly felt like me, and with Francesca [Aiello] and her incredible company, we really created something special.
Sonia Szóstak
I heard the collaboration came about after Francesca saw you wear Frankies Bikinis on Euphoria. Did that episode inspire the overall vibe of the collection?
It definitely sparked the conversation! We met in person at her Venice office and instantly hit it off. We were throwing around ideas and mood boards.
In the press release, you mention that these pieces will “make you feel like your most romantic and sexy self.” Why do you think it’s important to embrace your sexiness?
I think it’s powerful to show the world you are unapologetically yourself. We wanted pieces that made people feel confident and free in their bodies.
The collection is also inspired by “Italian summer romance.” There’s one campaign image in particular that looks almost bridal or religious. What’s the story behind that look?
We felt Rome really captured and invoked the feelings behind the collection. We wanted a space that complimented the details on the pieces, but also somewhere we had the freedom to move and play.
Sonia Szóstak
Did you get to explore Rome while you were there? Where would you want to wear these pieces next?
I was actually filming Immaculate in Rome during that time, so I was there for four months! I love Italy. I’m in Australia now filming, and wearing my pieces almost everyday. It’s the perfect place: beach, hot, sunny, and romantic!
What’s your favorite piece from the collab and why?
I don’t know if I could pick just one! But I love the cherry bikini pieces—it’s a bit of both Francesca and I.
Walk me through the process of making the kiss print using your own lips. Was it hilarious, hot, or both?
It was both! I was coating on different shades of red lipstick and kissing paper and sending pics to Francesca. And it was this funny back and forth about how much my lips should be parted or [how much] color [I should apply], so my bathroom became covered with pages of my lipstick marks.
Frankies Bikinis Gemma Wrap One Piece Swimsuit
Credit: Courtesy
Frankies Bikinis Nana Triangle Bikini Top
Credit: Courtesy
Frankies Bikinis Spice Skimpy Bikini Bottom
Credit: Courtesy
Frankies Bikinis Serafina Satin Tank
Credit: Courtesy
Frankies Bikinis Serafina Satin Micro Skirt
Credit: Courtesy
Frankies Bikinis Rue Ruffle Mini Dress
Credit: Courtesy
The first drop from the Sydney Sweeney x Frankies Bikinis collection is available to shop now at frankiesbikinis.com, with a second release following in early April.
