This article contains minor spoilers for the first episode of The Idol.
The Idol, HBO’s new show from Euphoria creator Sam Levinson and “Blinding Lights” singer Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, is not shy about its intentions to shock and cause a reaction in those watching. Its story centers on Jocelyn, played by Lily-Rose Depp, a pop singer puppeteered by a team of fussy managers and executives, who is making her big comeback after a year of recovery from what everyone keeps dismissively labeling a “psychotic break.” Sound familiar?
Whether it does it successfully or not, it’s up to spectators to decide, but with The Idol Levinson and Tesfaye set out to create a critique of the music industry and the way it treats its bread and butter – the female pop star. And there’s no bigger pop star, that has been more mistreated, than Britney Spears, whose heartbreaking struggle to break free from a conservatorship managed by her father and lawyer made headlines the world over in 2021.
Depp’s Jocelyn and Britney don’t just share some of the same plights, they also look alike — blonde, skinny, and beautiful. But did the creators of The Idol intentionally base Jocelyn on the “Baby One More Time” hitmaker?
The connections between Britney Spears and The Idol
The references to Britney on The Idol aren’t just intentional, they’re explicit. Not only did an early trailer for the show feature the famous singer’s “Gimme More” as its soundtrack but there is also a moment in the season premiere where Jocelyn’s publicist Benjamin directly compares the fictional pop diva and her real-life counterpart.
While Jocelyn practices the choreography to her upcoming single, Benjamin and the record label executive Nikki, played by Jane Adams, tell a Vanity Fair writer (Hari Nef) that it’s supposed to be an homage to Britney. Benjamin comments on how “unique” yet “universal” Jocelyn and Britney’s experiences are — what Jocelyn has had to overcome, and how “brutal” the press has been just like it was with Britney. “People count them out, and this is Jocelyn saying ‘I will not be written off,'” he says.
Although The Idol isn’t exactly about Britney, the inspiration is obvious. Both Tesfaye and Depp have mentioned in the past that the singer, whose career blew up in the 90s when she was just 16 years old, informed the writing as well as the performances on the show.
“It’s not about Britney at all, but how could we not pull inspiration from Britney, from Madonna, from every pop star that’s gone through any kind of serious pain?,” the R&B singer told The New York Times. Meanwhile, Depp said in an interview with E! News that there was “so much inspiration to be drawn, from somebody like Britney Spears, (…) and all of the other incredible pop icons of our time.”
Britney met with The Idol co-creators Levinson and Tesfaye in early 2022 and even shared a photo with the duo on her Instagram. The post has since been deleted. Before that, she announced on the same platform that she had shot a movie called The Idol, but it’s unclear whether it might have any correlation.
For now, only the first episode of The Idol is available to stream on Max — and no Britney cameos so far!