Lily-Rose Depp defends raunchy sex scenes in ‘The Idol’: ‘We live in a highly sexualized world’

“The Idol” has become infamous for its controversial sex scenes and nudity — and Lily-Rose Depp is defending the “nasty” scenes after viewers branded it as “torture porn.”

The HBO series — created by Sam Levinson (“Euphoria”), Reza Fahim and Abel Tesfaye (a k a The Weeknd) — follows pop star Jocelyn (Depp, 24, daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis) and her strange and raunchy relationship with nightclub owner and cult leader Tedros (Tesfaye, 33).

It has been slammed for its graphic sex scenes and has garnered controversy for behind-the-scenes mess. In March, Rolling Stone reported that sources on the production described a chaotic filming environment, and called it “torture porn” and “rape fantasy.”

But Depp is shutting down the criticism, saying the sex scenes in the show are “important” and “intentional.”

“We know that we’re making something provocative and we are not shying away from that. That’s something I knew I was setting out to do from the beginning,” she told Vogue Australia in an interview for the July cover story. “I was never interested in making something puritanical. It’s OK if this show isn’t for everyone and that’s fine — I think all the best art is [polarizing].”

Depp continued, “When it comes to the nudity and the risqué nature of the role, that to me was really intentional. That was really important to me and something that I was excited about doing. I’m not scared of it. I think we live in a highly sexualized world. I think that’s an interesting thing to explore.”

She also maintained that the environment on set was a “really safe creative space.”

“I’ve never felt more respected and more safe on a set, honestly,” Depp told the outlet. “And I think the trust that we all built with each other, you and I, and Sam and I, and Abel and I, that can only make for a really safe-feeling set.”

“The creative environment that Sam creates on set, to me, is conducive to the best work I feel like I have done and it brought the best out of everyone … And I just couldn’t have felt more supported by Sam. It felt like a big creative playground where we were free to try things and have it work or not work.”

Depp also admitted that her time playing troubled pop princess Jocelyn “changed” her and taught her “so, so, so much.”

“I’ll never say goodbye to Jocelyn. It was such a beautiful time in my life, honestly,” she shared. “I’ll never forget it and it will live in my heart forever. I love this character so much.”

But the show isn’t getting many positive responses.

Episode 2 of the HBO show — which contained the “worst sex scene in history” — lost more than 100,000 viewers from the premiere, with a 12% drop in viewership. About 800,000 people tuned in to the second episode compared to the 913,000 who watched the premiere, Variety reported 

Even the official Oreo Twitter account gave their thoughts on “The Idol,” starting a feud with The Weeknd.

After it was announced that a second season of the series was not guaranteed, milk’s favorite cookie tweeted, “Finally some good news.”

An intimacy coordinator told Variety they felt “betrayed” by HBO and was particularly “appalled” by one scene showing a fictional intimacy coordinator being locked in the bathroom.

“The Idol” is currently streaming on Max. It was originally slated to have six episodes, but an episode was allegedly cut, and the season ended on Episode 5.