The Weeknd Celebrates The Idol's Finale, Alludes To 'Bumpy Journey'

The Weeknd is marking the end of The Idol's season on HBO — and acknowledging the swirl of controversy surrounding it.

The pop superstar shared behind-the-scenes photos from Sunday's finale in an Instagram post on Monday, adding this caption: "The finale. Grateful to share this moment with you all as the season comes to an end. Continue to push the vision no matter how bumpy the journey."

The "bumpy journey" he mentions, of course, is the bad buzz that's been attached to The Idol since before it even premiered. The five-episode drama, which starred Lily Rose-Depp as a Britney-esque pop starlet named Jocelyn who falls into an obsessive relationship with a mysterious club promoter played by The Weeknd, was the subject of an explosive Rolling Stone article that detailed 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 in June. Rumors swirled of a swift cancellation, and while HBO pushed back on those, the initially announced six-episode freshman season was reduced to five. Sunday's season finale saw Jocelyn fight back against The Weeknd's character Tedros and use him to reinvigorate her career while cutting him out of her inner circle; read our full recap here. TVLine readers were not kind, giving both the finale and The Idol's freshman season a "D-minus" grade.

A Season 2 is still a possibility, though, with co-star Da'Vine Joy Randolph insisting that "everyone's intention is to have a second season. This was never intended to be a limited series. HBO has been very happy with it." The Weeknd's post is also careful to say the "season" is ending... but not the series.