The Idol: HBO’s Controversial Drama Is Ending One Week Early — Here’s Why (Exclusive)

The Idol‘s tour is ending sooner than we thought.

Next week’s Episode 5 of the controversial HBO drama is being billed as the “season finale,” even though the series was originally reported as having six episodes. The finale, titled “Jocelyn Forever,” will air this Sunday at 9/8c.

An HBO rep declined to comment, but a source tells TVLine, “The season ended up being five episodes when it was all said and done after Sam [Levinson] took over and made significant changes. The story only ended up requiring 5.”

The Idol, starring Lily-Rose Depp as a pop starlet who falls under the spell of a club promoter played by The Weeknd, has been mired in controversy since before it even premiered, with an explosive Rolling Stone article detailing turmoil behind the scenes, including the exit of original director Amy Seimetz and accusations of creating “sexual torture porn” leveled at co-creators Sam Levinson (Euphoria) and The Weeknd. The Idol premiered to scathing reviews at the Cannes Film Festival before debuting on HBO earlier this month. (TVLine readers gave the series premiere a stinging “D” grade.)

Rumors swirled of a swift cancellation by HBO, with the New York Post quoting an inside source as saying: “This was never meant to be a long-running show, it was always … a limited series.” But HBO pushed back on that by tweeting out a denial: “It is being misreported that a decision on a second season of The Idol has been determined. It has not, and we look forward to sharing the next episode with you Sunday night.”

Are you still watching The Idol? Would you watch a Season 2? Hit the comments to give us your thoughts.