The Weeknd Fires Back at ‘Rolling Stone’ Report That His Show ‘The Idol’ Has Gone ‘Disgustingly Off the Rails’

Following a report by Rolling Stone claiming that the production of The Weeknd’s new HBO series, The Idol, is having issues, the singer-turned-actor has fired back at the publication.

On Wednesday, Rolling Stone released a lengthy article claiming that the show — created alongside Euphoria’s Sam Levinson — has “gone wildly, disgustingly off the rails” with regard to chaotic scheduling, going over budget and last-minute script changes and overhauls on graphically violent and sexual scenes.

In response, The Weeknd — whose real name is Abel Tesfaye — shot back at the report Wednesday afternoon, sharing a clip from the series, in which The Weeknd’s character — a cult leader and self-help guru named Tedros — slams Rolling Stone magazine for being “irrelevant.”

The Weeknd threw additional shade in the caption, writing, “@rollingstone did we upset you?”

In the scene, Tedros is cozied up with pop star Joceyln (played by Lily-Rose Depp), as her publicist (played by Dan Levy) pitches the idea of Joceyln doing a photo shoot for the magazine.

“Rolling Stone? Aren’t they a little irrelevant?” The Weeknd’s Tedros asks, before pulling out his phone to look at their Instagram. “Rolling Stone has 6 million followers on Instagram, half of them probably bots. And Jocelyn has 78 million followers, all real I’d assume. So she does a photo shoot, she tags them, they get her followers. More money for Rolling Stone, nothing for Jocelyn.”

“There’s a lot for Jocelyn,” Levy’s character counters.

“Not in Rolling Stone,” Tedros shoots back.

While The Weeknd appears to be claiming that Rolling Stone‘s negative report about alleged behind-the-scenes friction on set is something personal, HBO has also denied the claims made in the article.

Specifically, claims regarding why the show’s original director, Amy Seimetz, left the series, why several episodes were allegedly scrapped entirely, and how The Weeknd allegedly had a problem with the show heading toward having too much of a “female perspective.”

HBO released a statement to Varietyon Wednesday, explaining, “The initial approach on the show and production of the early episodes, unfortunately, did not meet HBO standards so we chose to make a change. Throughout the process, the creative team has been committed to creating a safe, collaborative, and mutually respectful working environment, and last year, the team made creative changes they felt were in the best interest of both the production and the cast and crew.”

Several teaser trailers have been released for the series, which is slated to premiere sometime in 2023, but no specific date has yet been announced.