‘Feud — Capote vs. The Swans’ is About to Take Flight

Perhaps one of the greatest bits of news we heard in 2023 concerned Ryan Murphy’s upcoming Feud docudrama TV series based on Truman Capote’s “swans,” his immensely rich and beautiful circle of female friends, which premieres on FX on January 31, 2024. Just in case you need a Murphy primer, the writer and director has been behind a variety of bingeable TV series for more than two decades. His salacious and scandalous titles include American Horror Story, Glee, Feud: Bette and Joan, Nip/Tuck, and the American Crime Story anthology (season one dove deep into the O.J. Simpson trial, the second on the killing of Gianni Versace, and the last on Bill Clinton’s indiscretion). The first Feud anthology focused on the infamous and combative relationship between two of the OGs of Hollywood diva-dom: Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. After some initial rumblings that the storyline for the second installment would be about the royals, it was announced in April 2022 that Capote and his stylish swans would be Feuding in 2024.

Murphy’s prolific output can make it hard to keep up with his latest series, especially in today’s crowded TV landscape. His latests’ icon-filled cast and juicy premise is enough to warrant a watch for most, but if you need a bit more convincing, we’ve narrowed down a few more reasons to watch Feud: Capote vs. The Swans. 

(1) The fashion. The swans were known for their soigné style and frequently appeared on the best of the best-dressed lists. If you are like us, you’ve lost yourself occasionally Googling their outfits  designed by Schiaparelli, Christian Dior, and Halston. Did we mention that Murphy also did the Halston series on the ’70s icon starring Ewan McGregor as the designer.

(2) The gossip. Capote lived for some juicy tea. It was likely the reason for all his lunch dates at La Côte Basque or being on the phone with his swans for hours on end gathering all the intel. His so-called fictional retelling of these stories in his unfinished book, Answered Prayers (an expert titled “La Côte Basque” ran in Esquire), led to the demise of his relationships with many of these Park Avenue birds of prey.

(3) The cast. Whoever was in charge of assembling the Hollywood talent (all former It Girls in their own right) to play these larger-than-life characters deserves a million clapping emojis: Naomi Watts as Babe Paley (her handsome husband Bill Paley is played by Treat Williams); Calista Flockhart as Lee Radziwill; Chloë Sevigny as style icon C.Z. Guest; Molly Ringwald as Joanne Carson, wife of the famous womanizer and late-night talk show host Johnny Carson; Diane Lane as Slim Keith; and Demi Moore as Ann Woodward, who was suspected of shooting her husband, mistaking him for a burglar.

(4) Casting couch — Our story. We might be inspired to finally write our own roman à clef about our city’s most brilliant, brash, beautiful, and bold characters. To name a few: our dearly departed society sage Alan Peppard who, unlike Capote, was beloved and trusted by all his friends from Dallas’ toniest hoods; former Mansion on Turtle Creek resident Nancy Hamon (we assume you know she had a wooden finger due to a kitchen accident, the carved finger perfectly angled to hold a cocktail); and jeweler to the wealthy and wondrous crowd Miss Louise Eiseman. And of course, we have Cornelia Guest, C.Z. Guest’s swan-derful daughter living in our environs.

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