The Idol Cancellation Uproar: HBO Responds to Report That Controversial Drama Won’t See a Season 2

Is The Idol being yanked off the airwaves already by HBO? Not so fast.

Despite a report in the New York Post that The Idol won’t return for a second season, just two episodes into its run, HBO is standing behind the controversial drama starring Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd. In fact, the network took the unusual step of denying the report in a tweet: “It is being misreported that a decision on a second season of The Idol has been determined. It has not, and we look forward to sharing the next episode with you Sunday night.”

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The Post contends that the show will be one-and-done, quoting an inside source as saying: “This was never meant to be a long-running show, it was always … a limited series.” But in the same story, an HBO source contends that “the door is definitely still open — it’s definitely not a decision [yet]. At this point, this is normal in our process… We’re only two episodes in.”

The Idol — starring Depp as a pop starlet who falls under the spell of a club promoter played by The Weeknd — attracted bad press before it even premiered, with an explosive Rolling Stone article detailing turmoil behind the scenes, including the exit of original director Amy Seimetz and accusations of creating “sexual torture porn” leveled at co-creators Sam Levinson (Euphoria) and The Weeknd. The Idol premiered to scathing reviews at the Cannes Film Festival before debuting on HBO earlier this month. (TVLine readers gave the series premiere a stinging “D” grade.)

After drawing 913,000 total viewers with the series premiere, The Idol pulled in around 800,000 in Week 2 — but with delayed viewing, the premiere has already surpassed the first episodes of The White Lotus and Euphoria at the same point in time.

Are you enjoying The Idol so far? Do you want to see it come back for a Season 2? Drop your thoughts in a comment below.

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