The Weeknd will get candid about ‘The Idol’ backlash: ‘Did not take it individually’
The Weeknd is opening up in regards to the hurricane of grievance surrounding his arguable HBO sequence, The Idol.
Chatting with Selection in a profile printed Friday, January 10, the Grammy-winning artist — born Abel Tesfaye — admitted that whilst the backlash wasn’t simple to forget about, he selected to not take it to center.
“After all, it will get to you — I’m now not announcing I wasn’t suffering from it,” he mentioned. “I’m announcing I didn’t take it individually. Like, no one’s out to get you, ?”
The display, which Tesfaye, 34, co-created with Euphoria’s Sam Levinson, adopted a pop megastar (performed by means of Lily-Rose Depp) navigating popularity and a poisonous courting with Tesfaye’s persona, a nightclub proprietor and cult chief.
Even though The Idol boasted a high-profile solid and price range, its specific topics and reported behind-the-scenes turmoil sparked controversy, resulting in its cancellation after one season in 2023.
Regardless of the fallout, the Starboy hitmaker expressed delight within the sequence and its workforce. “We had a perfect solid and workforce,” he shared. “Possibly it might had been informed otherwise, possibly now not… Now not the entirety you place out goes to attach, and that’s advantageous.”
As Tesfaye strikes on from The Idol, he’s gearing up for brand spanking new initiatives, together with his album Hurry Up The next day to come, out January 24, and a self-written mystery starring Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan.
“Some other people may hate it, however that’s now not why I’m doing this,” he mentioned. “I’m an artist — it’s how I think, and that is what I need to say.”
