Sam Levinson, the director of “The Idol,” supported the show’s intimate scenes and hoped that his project’s criticism would help it become the most popular show of the summer.

He said that the new HBO show about a pop star trying to make a comeback is supposed to make people think.

“We know that we’re making a provocative show. It’s not lost on us,” Levinson told reporters on Tuesday. “When my wife read me the (Rolling Stone) article, I looked at her and said ‘I think we’re about to have the biggest show of the summer.’”

Reuters says that Levinson took over late in the series’ filming after the previous director left suddenly in April 2022 as part of what HBO called “creative changes.”

Rolling Stone magazine said in March that HBO’s teen hit “Euphoria,” created by Levinson, was put on hold while it was rewritten and reshot to have more sexual material and show more skin. It also said that the plot was changed to give Abel Tesfaye, better known as the singer The Weeknd and one of the show’s creators and stars, a bigger part.

Lily-Rose Depp plays the pop singer Jocelyn in “The Idol.” Tesfaye plays Tedros, the owner of a Los Angeles bar who Jocelyn likes and who is also the leader of a secret cult. The show will start airing on June 4.

After the show’s first two episodes aired at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday night, some reviewers pointed out the show’s multiple, sometimes naughty, sex scenes and lack of clothing. The Hollywood Reporter said the show was “more regressive than transgressive.”