The Weeknd Responds to 'The Idol' Backlash: "We Did That on Purpose"
“There’s nothing sexy about it.”
At long last, The Weeknd (aka Abel Tesfaye) has opened up about the intention behind his and Sam Levinson’s HBO series The Idol, as the show continues to receive endless criticism.
Speaking to GQ about the show, which was filmed in The Weeknd’s own home, the actor explained that all of the deeply uncomfortable and seemingly misogynistic moments are “intentional to heighten the camp of it all.” He added that the visual identity of Tedros was created specifically to give him a weird persona that the audiences see, “But the reality is, there’s nothing really mysterious or hypnotizing about him. And we did that on purpose with his look, his outfits, his hair—the guy’s a douchebag,” he adds.
“You can tell he cares so much about what he looks like, and he thinks he looks good. But then you see these weird moments of him alone—he rehearses, he’s calculated. And he needs to do that, or he has nothing, he’s pathetic. Which is true of a lot of people who are a fish out of water, put into these scenarios,” the artist explains.
Speaking about the viral sex scenes, particularly that “nasty” moment in episode 2, The Weeknd put it plainly: “There’s nothing sexy about it. When we use Basic Instinct as a reference, we’re using Verhoeven. Verhoeven is the king of ’90s satire thriller—yes, there are moments of ‘sexy’ in his films but there are other moments that are very cheesy and hilarious.”
He continued, “How ever 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.”
Stay tuned for more details coming soon, as The Idol continues weekly on HBO and Now.
In related news, here’s everything you need to know about ice cube sex.
