"The Idol" Actor Jane Adams Told "Feminists" To "Go F— Yourself" For Ignoring Lily-Rose Depp And Other Women Who Said The Set Was Not Exploitative And Misogynistic

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The Idol has taken method acting to a whole new level.

Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd sitting in the backseat of a convertible in The Idol. They are both wearing sunglasses
Eddy Chen/HBO

In a recent Vanity Fair interview, actor Jane Adams called out “feminists” for claiming the divisive HBO series mistreated its female actors on set despite most of them, including series star Lily-Rose Depp and Jane, saying the claims are untrue.

A closeup of Jane Adams on a panel at the Cannes film festival
Pool / Getty Images

The irony! Jane plays Nikki Katz, a ruthless and cynical record label exec who doesn’t waste time sharing her controversial opinions about the pop star Jocelyn’s career. Now, Jane has some spicy words of her own to shut down the accusations the production was misogynistic “torture porn.”

Jane in character on set of The Idol

And there's more: A second arc of the show centers around a Vanity Fair exposé, so this dynamic might be familiar to folks who watched the series.

Eddy Chen/HBO

“What is amazing to me is no one’s listening — I’ve not seen that before in all my days, such a dogged, ‘We refuse to change the narrative,’” Jane said.

  Pierre Suu / WireImage
Pierre Suu / WireImage

“I especially want to say to all the feminists, ‘Go fuck yourself.’”

  Julie Sebadelha / AFP via Getty Images
Julie Sebadelha / AFP via Getty Images

The Hacks actor insisted nobody is paying attention to the cast members who are speaking out. “All these women that I’m working with are talking about their experience, and you’re not listening. You’re not listening!” she added.

  Frazer Harrison / Getty Images
Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

Even before the five-episode series premiered, The Idol sparked controversy, especially after Rolling Stone published a story in March claiming the production exploited its female actors. Lily-Rose, Jane, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph each defended the show and denounced the accusations.

Lily-Rose in a recording studio in a scene from The Idol
Eddy Chen/HBO

“I love the show,” Jane explained to Vanity Fair. “These days, to certain people, you almost have to apologize when you dislike something or you love something. I don’t really care anymore. That is one good thing about being a gray-haired lady — it’s almost like you get a license to not care.”

Jane sitting on a couch on set of The Idol
Eddy Chen/HBO

“Free speech is the license to offend, period, full stop. The funniest stuff, to me, is going to offend a group of people no matter what you do,” Jane added.

  Julie Sebadelha / AFP via Getty Images
Julie Sebadelha / AFP via Getty Images

In an interview with Variety, Da’Vine Joy chimed in that she had never witnessed any actors being mistreated on set. She played Destiny, a witty co-manager of Jocelyn who used her street smarts to sniff out any wrongdoing from series villain Tedros.

A closeup of Da'Vine leaning against a car
Eddy Chen/HBO

“To be very transparent with you, if I did see anyone being mistreated — especially since I was one of the older actors — I would have said something, or I would have walked off that set,” Da’Vine said.

Da'Vine at a red carpet media event for The Idol
Laurent Koffel / Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

The Only Murders in the Building actor also defended working long hours on set as par for the course in the industry. “But also, we get paid for what we do, meaning it’s long hours, so when they said in the [Rolling Stone] article that it’s long hours, well, any show you’re on, you’re working at least 12 hours.”

  Pool / Getty Images
Pool / Getty Images

“If you walk out there and it’s been 12 hours, that is a good day, girl. So, there were certain things in the article that I was like, ‘Well, wait a minute, now I’m confused because anybody who’s in the industry knows there are long hours.'”

  Steve Granitz / FilmMagic
Steve Granitz / FilmMagic

All five episodes of The Idol are available to stream on Max.