“The Idol” director Sam Levinson laughed as he ordered The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp to film a “disturbing” rape scene for the controversial show, Page Six can exclusively reveal.
An eyewitness tells us a “non-consensual semen scene” was shot for last Sunday’s episode of the HBO drama series, but ended up being cut from the final edit.
We’re told The Weeknd (real name: Abel Tesfaye), who plays duplicitous nightclub owner-turned-opportunist Tedros, and Depp, who portrays impressionable rising pop star Jocelyn, were filming a sex scene in the bathroom of the Grammy winner’s real-life Bel Air mansion when Levinson gave impromptu instructions.
The spy explains that the Emmy-winning “Euphoria” creator “explicitly directed” the character of Tedros to “strangle” the character of Jocelyn and ejaculate “inside her without her consent.” The spy makes sure to clarify that Tesfaye himself “did not literally” ejaculate inside Depp.
Sam Levinson ordered The Weeknd’s character in “The Idol” to ejaculate inside Lily-Rose Depp’s character without consent, Page Six can exclusively reveal.HBO
Levinson was allegedly “by the monitor, laughing and feeding lines to Abel’s character, like, ‘I own you,’” the insider tells us.
Though both Tesfaye, 33, and Depp, 24, “went along with Sam’s direction,” the source says the majority of those on set found the scene “extremely disturbing.”
A second source, who confirms the scene was filmed, tells us it was “originally set up to lead to a pregnancy scare for Jocelyn and ultimately was cut because of storyline adjustments, which is a normal part of the creative process on a television series.”
An eyewitness tells us Levinson “explicitly directed” the character of Tedros to “strangle” the character of Jocelyn.Eddy Chen/HBO
This insider insists Levinson, 38, “does not take issues of consent lightly” and that the show’s creative team “was committed to creating a safe, collaborative and mutually respectful working environment on set, which included having an intimacy coordinator for various scenes.”
The intimacy coordinator for “The Idol,” Mam Smith, did not respond to our numerous requests for comment.
Levinson’s rep had “no comment,” and reps for both Tesfaye and Depp did not respond to our repeated inquiries.
The insider claims Levinson was “by the monitor, laughing and feeding lines to [The Weeknd’s] character, like, ‘I own you.’”FilmMagic
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for HBO shares, “‘The Idol’ is a fictional show with flawed, fictional characters. The director and actors were all doing their jobs. It is a television series and therefore not real.”
“The Idol,” which premiered on June 4, has since received tons of backlash for its “X-rated” sex scenes and storylines.