The first episode of The Idol  aired on June 4, 2023, on HBO, and people tuned in to see what the hype was all about. 

The Idol has been receiving bad reviews since it premiered on May 22, 2023, at the 76th Cannes Film Festival. Critics complained about the graphic and sexual content on the show.

Needless to say, many people tuned on to watch the show, and it was trending on Twitter. First, people appreciated the Blackpink singer Jennie for her role as Dyanne.

you would think The Idol was a cigarette commercial the way Jocelyn couldn’t do anything without smoking ? pic.twitter.com/bUkuGZK2uX

— garçon (@boymolish)

Secondly, Lily-Rose Depp was trending. However, it was not for her acting or performance in the show.

Rather, it was because of her smoking. 

Lily-Rose Depp smoking in ‘The Idol’

Depp plays the role of Jocelyn in The Idol, an up-and-coming young idol. She has a nervous breakdown which results in her show getting canceled. 

Now, she is on a journey to reclaim her title as the sexiest pop star in America with the help of Tedros, portrayed by The Weeknd. Since Jocelyn is not doing well with her mental health, she resorts to smoking, among other substances.

Jocelyn has smoked like 5 cigarettes and we’re only like 30 minutes into the episode pic.twitter.com/Y4NcIXopmJ

— Tina Bobina Ho. (@Queenofallerass)

As a result, throughout the first episode of the show, Depp was constantly smoking. The smoking was too much for netizens to handle, so they took to Twitter to discuss it.

Most of them made a meme about it. However, many pointed out that the smoking was just too much.

One user , “Just watched the first episode…. That was 54 minutes of Jocelyn smoking cigarettes lol and Abel’s character is creepy af #THEIDOL.”

Lily-Rose Depp acting in pic.twitter.com/3dbq3eTgTx

— mizge (@mihailo____)

“The Weeknd looks like a sleazeball and Lily looks like a 12-year playing dress-up with a serious chain-smoking problem. The feminist in me truly hates this. Yet will I still watch every week? Yes. #THEIDOL,” another person . 

Smoking is not a new thing to Depp. She has been constantly seen smoking outside of The Idol as well.

Jocelyn anytime someone asks her a question pic.twitter.com/XSBO5x7oE8

— ?PsychicSidekick? (@ScammerZexion)

She is often photographed taking a puff or with a cigarette in her hand. Therefore, her smoking in The Idol almost looks like a natural thing. 

Reviews of ‘The Idol’

To say the least, The Idol has received poor reviews since its debut. In March 2023, Rolling Stone published an expose on the series before its launch.

According to the article, the screenplay’s initial tone and subject had shifted, and instead of focusing on a woman’s desire to reclaim her own agency, it had supposedly deteriorated into a humiliating narrative verging on torture porn. 

“y’all acting like you won’t watch the idol” that’s cause we won’t pic.twitter.com/8tkf9lP3Yi

— ۟ (@CH9MPIONS)

Furthermore, there were several really troubling happenings on-site. The Weeknd and Depp, on the other hand, backed the show and Levinson.

Levinson’s viewpoint was also criticized. Many people have stated that he sexualizes and victimizes the female characters in his shows, as shown in Euphoria.

People were still giving it the benefit of the doubt. However, now that one episode has aired, critics are being brutally honest about the show.

oh the idol is BAD bad i cannot believe this monstrosity is replacing succession sunday pic.twitter.com/nZGN43nofX

— elle (@madmens4e7)

Critics are dissatisfied with the show’s presentation, stating that it is too sexualized. They pointed out that The Idol promotes masculine fantasy, which denigrates women.

The series has also been labeled as sexist and predatory. The Idol premiered with a Tomatometer of 20% on Rotten Tomatoes and dropped down to 9%.

However, at the time of writing, it has a 25% on Tomatometer and a 57% audience score.