From start to finish, HBO's The Idol has garnered a ton of controversy. Not to mention an array of pretty horrendous reviews. Fortunately for haters of the show, the Lily-Rose Depp and Abel Tesfaye (AKA The Weeknd) series may not get a second season. Perhaps another person happy about this likelihood is Selena Gomez. After all, many believe that she is actually one of the inspirations for Depp's main character, Jocelyn.
According to The Daily Mail, a source close to Gomez claimed that the pop star/actor herself believed The Idol was based on her life and career in the music industry. Here's every reason why she, as well as numerous fans, may believe this...
9 Selena Gomez Used To Date Idol Creator The Weeknd
One of the main reasons why so many, and possibly Selena Gomez herself, believe that The Idol is based on her life is the fact that she used to date Abel Tesfaye.
Tesfaye, also known as The Weeknd, is credited as the co-creator of the HBO show alongside Reza Fahim and Euphoria mastermind Sam Levinson. Of course, Tesfaye also co-stars in the series as Tedros, a club owner and cult leader who attempts to control superstar Jocelyn's career.
Selena Gomez dated Abel Tesfaye in 2016 for 10 months before their breakup in 2017. According to The Daily Mail, the fact that the show not only featured parallels to her own life but also was created by her ex-boyfriend is really what "creeped" her out. And fans seem to agree as various posts on TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram seem to draw multiple connections between the two. This goes far beyond the fact that both the main character on The Idol and Gomez are pop stars, or that they both dated Tesfaye (Tedros in the show).
8 Did Abel Tesfaye Base Jocelyn In The Idol On Selena Gomez?
Abel Tesfaye, AKA The Weeknd, has made no comment on whether or not he based Jocelyn on his ex-girlfriend, Selena Gomez. Although he has used his past relationship with Gomez in the past. Most notably in the lyrics of his song "Call Out my Name" which featured the line, "Guess I was just another pit stop / 'Til you made up your mind / You just wasted my time."
According to The Daily Mail, Tesfaye may have felt slighted after Gomez ended things with him only to strike up a rekindled romance with her on-and-off-again flame, Justin Bieber. So, while he has not confirmed this, it's not entirely out of the question.
Additionally, according to Daily Dot, at a Cannes Film Festival press congress, Tesfaye did admit that he drew inspiration from various pop stars he'd encountered in the music business. But co-creator Sam Levinson added that the show wasn't supposed to be an homage to any one particular artist.
7 Did Selena Gomez Comment On Her Connection To The Idol?
At the time of this writing, Selena Gomez has not officially commented on her alleged connection to her ex-boyfriend's show, The Idol. However, a source reportedly close to her told The Daily Mail that she and her team are taken aback by the whole thing.
"The similarities between Selena's life and Jocelyn's life are just uncanny," The source told The Daily Mail. "Being [that] she actually dated The Weeknd, it is even more creepy for her. Her real-life pain was used for entertainment value and that really irks her out. Everyone in her team who has known her for a very long time is dumbfounded by this, but at the end of the day Selena is going to do what she always does – rise above and move on."
6 Selena Gomez And Jocelyn Are Both Child Actors Turned Pop Stars
In The Idol it's revealed that Lily-Rose Depp's Jocelyn began her career as a child star on a hit kid's TV series. If this sounds familiar it's because Selena Gomez also began her career this way working for Disney Channel's The Wizards of Waverly Place.
As she grew up, Gomez launched a pop music career that was notably more sultry and scandalous than her Disney Channel image. Most notably with the music video for "Good For You" which both looked and sounded like something Jocelyn would have done.
Of course, Gomez is far from the only female celebrity to follow a similar career trajectory. Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) and Britney Spears (The Mickey Mouse Club) are just two more examples.
5 Selena Gomez And Jocelyn Both Wore A Hospital Bracelet During Their Comeback
At the beginning of The Idol, we learn that Lily-Rose Depp's Jocelyn has had to take some time off to deal with some personal issues. This sparks her season-long attempt at staging a comeback. And she does this by taking scandalous images in lingerie and the hospital bracelet from her time seeking help.
This is eerily similar to Selena Gomez's own comeback following her hospitalization. In her music video for "Bad Liar", Gomez can be seen in bed in a skin-tight nightgown rocking her own hospital bracelet. According to Buzzfeed, Gomez's music video was also criticized for featuring moaning noises which parallel the sexed-up image that Jocelyn adopts to recapture her fan's attention. Not to mention how one of Jocelyn's songs actually features these sounds.
4 Selena Gomez's Complicated Relationship With Her Mom Mirror's Jocelyn's
Without a doubt, Jocelyn's relationship with her dead mother is the linchpin to a lot of the drama in the series. It was also incredibly tumultuous. One can't say the same for Gomez's relationship with her mother, Mandy Teefy. However, according to Us Weekly, the pair have gone through ups and downs in their relationship. This includes the revelation that Gomez blamed her mother for divorcing her father.
Gomez eventually felt bad for being so tough on her mother, particularly because Teefy was extremely supportive of her career early on. However, their relationship was further tested due to her dating Justin Bieber. Like many of Gomez's fans, Teefy had "trust issues" with Bieber as his rocky relationship with her daughter progressed. But as Gomez's mental and physical health were tested, including her diagnosis of Lupus, Teefy was there to support her daughter in every way she could.
3 Why Selena Gomez Canceled Her Tour
In the first episode of The Idol, viewers learn that Lily Rose-Depp's Jocelyn canceled her recent tour due to suffering the loss of her mother. In 2016, Selena Gomez canceled her own Revivals tour in order to deal with the fallout of being diagnosed with Lupus. According to People, she cited "anxiety, panic attacks, and depression" as the reason why she had to cancel the highly-anticipated tour.
“I want to be proactive and focus on maintaining my health and happiness and have decided that the best way forward is to take some time off," Gomez said to People in 2016. "Thank you to all my fans for your support. You know how special you are to me, but I need to face this head-on to ensure I am doing everything possible to be my best. I know I am not alone by sharing this, I hope others will be encouraged to address their own issues."
2 Selena Gomez And Lily-Rose Depp Blow Kisses In The Same Way
According to The Daily Mail, many fans have noticed the similarity between how Selena Gomez blows kisses to the camera and her fans and the way Lily-Rose Depp's Jocelyn does it in The Idol. While this may seem insignificant, it could be yet another sign that Abel Tesfaye was mining specific moments from Gomez's life for inspiration for his show.
1 Selena Gomez And Abel Tesfaye Weren't Afraid Of PDA Just Like Tedros And Jocelyn
Selena Gomez has always been fairly into PDA, particularly when she was with Justin Bieber. However, she was seemingly far more touchy-feely with Abel Tesfaye when they dated in 2016 -2017. This includes on the red carpet, in images posted to Instagram, and when they were spotted by the paparazzi.
A similar energy can be found in The Idol between Tesfaye's Tedros and Lily-Rose Depp's Jocelyn... albeit on steroids as many of their scenes together are about their most intimate moments.
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