The Weeknd is being lampooned over an “egregious” pronunciation in the latest episode of The Idol.
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 mocked 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).
Then, in episode three, those watching were left feeling “appalled” by a “sickening” Jeffrey Epstein joke. But, they couldn’t help but laugh at Tesfaye’s pronunciation of the phrase “carte blanche”.
During the episode, Tesfaye’s character is speaking to Jocelyn’s creative director Xander (Troye Sivan), when he pronounces “carte blanche” like “car-tay blan-shay”.
Many expressed confusion, thinking that perhaps it was an acting decision to emphasise Tedros’ strangeness, but have shared posts lampooning the singer-turned-actor.
“Watching The Idol is worth it just to hear the weeknd say ‘car-tay blansh-ay’ instead of carte blanche,” one person wrote, with another adding: ”When he said ‘carte blanche like that on The Idol I became receptive to the idea that they’re doing at least some of it on purpose.”
An additional viewer wrote: “I want to believe that Tedros’ egregious mispronunciation of ‘carte blanche’ is a character choice but The Idol’s writing is not good enough for that to be an accurate analysis of that moment.”
Some are arguing, though, that the Canadian star speaks French, and was pronouncing it with an accent.
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”.
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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.
