The Weeknd and Sam Levinson’s new HBO series The Idol is here, and so far, the response has been… not great: It has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score for any HBO show ever, currently at 26 percent (with a 58 percent audience score). The Weeknd doesn’t seem fazed by this, though. In fact, it looks like he’s happy with how things are going, as he indicated in a new GQ interview.
At the top of the conversation, he was asked how he’s feeling about the response to the show after the first two episodes, and he responded, “I’m loving it. It’s definitely shaken up the culture for sure [laughs]. We knew we were making something dark and controversial but true to what we want to say.” When asked if he thinks “the audience is engaging with it in the way” he intended, he replied, “I just think discussion is healthy, no matter what. To me it’s like, I’m just happy that there’s conversation. That’s important for anything I do, especially this new medium that I’m in.”
.@TheWeeknd isn’t trying to seduce you with his Tedros performance in #TheIdol:
“He’s despicable, a psychopath—why sugar coat it?… And we did that on purpose with his look, his outfits, his hair—the guy’s a douchebag.”
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— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) June 13, 2023
Meanwhile, The Weeknd continues busting out new music as new episodes premiere. The fresh tracks that followed this past weekend’s episode were “Family” by The Weeknd with Suzanna Son and “Devil’s Paradise” by Mike Dean.