Blackpink’s Jennie Entangled in The Weeknd’s ‘The Idol’ Chaos

Despite the hype surrounding her acting debut, it appears that Blackpink’s Jennie has minimal screen time in the upcoming HBO series, The Idol. 

Although the production challenges faced by HBO’s upcoming series, The Idol, director Sam Levinson managed to attract a star-studded cast for the show’s reshoots in May 2022. 

Notably, he added Rachel Sennott, Dan Levy, Hank Azaria, Moses Sumney, and producer Mike Dean to the cast. However, the biggest addition was K-pop superstar Jennie. 

Blackpink’s Jennie has minimal screen time in the upcoming series, The Idol. (Source: jennierubyjane/Instagram)

Although teasers showed her in several scenes, sources from the production crew alleged that the K-pop star has minimal screen time and an inconsequential story arc. 

Crew members claimed to Rolling Stone that Jennie barely has any air time and further said, “It was like three or four lines per episode for her. They didn’t let her talk that much. Her job was to sit there [and] look pretty, basically.”

This news may come as a disappointment to her fans, who were excited to see her on-screen in a supporting role, but it remains to be seen how her character will fit into the overall narrative of the show.

A fan noted, “So basically, Jennie gave The Idol ALL the hype and this is how they decided to treat her…?”

Another fan tweeted, “Idk if it’s true or not but yeah them taking jennie in the idol is a huge publicity stunt and jennie is obviously pretty. She can sit, look pretty and everyone will still talk about her.”

The Weeknd’s ‘The Idol’ scandal explained

The Weeknd’s The Idol has been making headlines, with production delays and rumors of creative struggles plaguing the upcoming HBO series. 

Initially set to premiere in the fall of 2021, the show has been shrouded in secrecy, with no concrete release date yet announced.

Sources close to the production have revealed to Rolling Stone that the show was plagued by delays, reshoots, and rewrites, with director Amy Seimetz leaving the project with 80% of the series finished.

After Levinson took over as director, he reportedly scrapped Seimetz’s approach to the story, making it less about a troubled starlet fighting against a predatory industry figure and more of a degrading love story that some crew members found offensive. 

According to five production sources, most of the crew from the first shoot did not return when production resumed in May 2022. 

The crew was very worried about Levinson changing the show’s original message and turning it into a warped and jarring drama that lost its overall impact.

“It was a show about a woman who was finding herself sexually, turned into a show about a man who gets to abuse this woman and she loves it,” the sources claimed.

According to three sources with knowledge of the situation, there were several unsettling sexual and physically violent scenes between Depp and Tesfaye’s characters in Levinson’s scripts.

Seimetz’s version of The Idol was also intended to have graphic material, including sex scenes and nudity, but Levinson drastically increased the amount of sexual material as per sources.

The delay and alleged creative struggles have left fans and industry insiders wondering what the final version of The Idol will look like and when it will finally make it to air.