The Idol has outraged viewers once again due to a “sickening” line about Jeffrey Epstein in episode three.
HBO released the third instalment of the controversial series on Sunday (18 June), with the episode now available to watch in the UK on Sky Atlantic and NOW.
The show has been largely lampooned by viewers over the course of its first two episodes for the “atrocious” dialogue and questionable actions performed by its lead characters, cult leader Tedros (The Weeknd aka Abel Tesfaye) and the pop singer under his spell, Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp).
However, in episode three, it was a “sickening” line spoken by Live Nation representative Andrew Finkelstein – played by Eli Roth – that left viewers feeling “appalled”.
*Warning – offensive material follows*
During the scene in question, Andrew tells Joceyn’s manager Chaim (Hank Azaria) that he wants to cancel her tour due to the singer’s lack of new music.
When Chaim asks Andrew why he wants to do that, as the tour is going to make him “millions of dollars”, he replies: “Right now, she’s making me have IBS. I'm f***ing s***ting more blood than a kid at Epstein's island.”
The line is a reference to convicted sex offender Epstein, whose accusers say the billionaire’s private paradise of Little St James in US Virgin Islands was the centre of an international sex trafficking ring.
“Who the f*** wrote this line? Absolutely sickening,” one viewer wrote, with another stating: “I’ve been enjoying The Idol, but the Epstein’s island joke was tasteless AF.”
One viewer said it is “disgusting” that someone thought it would “make a good joke”, while others have threatened to boycott the series once and for all.
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“Okay, the Epstein’s Island comment was too far for me in the new episode of The Idol,” one person wrote, adding: “Let’s not joke about child trafficking.”
Also following the episode, which was written by Tesfaye and co-creator Sam Levinson, viewers mocked the former’s pronunciation of the phrase “carte blanche”.
In March, the show came under fire after Rolling Stone published an exposé featuring anonymous interviews with those who worked on the series. They alleged that Tesfaye, Levinson and the show’s producers had taken the show “disgustingly off the rails” to create a drama “about a man who gets to abuse this woman and she loves it”.
However, some are defending the series, with many saying the scenes are supposed to be tough to watch as Tedros is taking advantage of Jocelyn’s “vulnerability” – and that the show is depicting their relationship as “sick”.
Depp, who stars in the show, has said she wanted to leave room for viewers “to be surprised” by avoiding discussing the show in depth before it aired.
Meanwhile, Tesfaye said that viewers are not supposed to like Tedros, commenting on a graphic scene featured in episode two: “There’s nothing sexy about it. However you’re feeling watching that scene, whether it’s discomfort, or you feel gross, or you feel embarrassed for the characters. It’s all those emotions adding up to: this guy is in way over his head, this situation is one where he is not supposed to be here.
The Idol continues Sundays on HBO and Sky Atlantic.
