“The Idol” actor Jane Adams called out “feminists” in a recent Vanity Fair interview for persisting that the controversial HBO series exploited its female actors on set when many of them, from Lily-Rose Depp to Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Adams herself, have stressed otherwise.
“What is amazing to me is no one’s listening—I’ve not seen that before in all my days, such a dogged ‘We refuse to change the narrative,’” Adams said. “I especially want to say to all the feminists, ‘Go fuck yourself.’ All these women that I’m working with are talking about their experience and you’re not listening. You’re not listening!”
“The Idol” generated controversy long before it started its five-episode run on HBO. An investigative report published by Rolling Stone in March claimed the series’ set was exploitative. Many of the show’s female actors have denounced the report and have stressed they felt safe during the making of the show. Depp, whose nudity and sex scenes on “The Idol” ignited controversy, called series co-creator Sam Levinson the best director she’s ever worked with and one who listened to her and made her feel respected on set.
Adams stars on “The Idol” as Nikki Katz, a soulless record-label executive who works with Depp’s pop star Jocelyn. The show has routinely been called misogynistic and “torture porn” by the press.
“I love the show,” Adams told Vanity Fair. “These days, to certain people, you almost have to apologize when you dislike something or you love something. I don’t really care anymore. That is one good thing about being a gray-haired lady — it’s almost like you get a license to not care.”
Adams later said, “Free speech is the license to offend, period, full stop. The funniest stuff, to me, is going to offend a group of people no matter what you do.”
In an interview with PvNew, Adams’ co-star Randolph said she “never saw” any actors being mistreated on set during the making of the series. She admitted the production had long filming hours, but nothing in her mind was unusual about that.
“To be very transparent with you, if I did see anyone being mistreated — especially since I was one of the older actors — I would have said something, or I would have walked off that set,” Randolph said. “But also, we get paid for what we do, meaning it’s long hours, so when they said in the [Rolling Stone] article that it’s long hours, well, any show you’re on, you’re working at least 12 hours. If you walk out there and it’s been 12 hours, that is a good day, girl. So, there were certain things in the article that I was like, ‘Well, wait a minute, now I’m confused because anybody who’s in the industry knows there are long hours.'”
All five episodes of “The Idol” are now available to stream on Max.
