Ryan Murphy Loved Olivia de Havilland’s IDGAF ‘Feud’ Response
The events of Ryan Murphy’s FX Feud took place long enough ago that precious few actually lived through them firsthand. Even a 100 year-old Olivia de Havilland amusingly disregarded Feud’s authenticity, to which Murphy concedes “everything that she says and does should be treasured.”
Murphy previously stated that he “didn’t want to intrude on Ms. de Havilland” to evaluate Catherine Zeta-Jones’ portrayal of her younger self, let alone Susan Sarandon’s Bette Davis or Jessica Lange’s Joan Crawford. Still, when reached via email at her Paris address, de Havilland hilariously dismissed even remembering 1963 events, let alone having seen the show:
I have received your email with its two questions. I would like to reply first to the second of these, which inquires of me the accuracy of a current television series entitled Feud, which concerns Bette Davis and Joan Crawford and their supposed animosity toward each other. Having not seen the show, I cannot make a valid comment about it. […]
As to the 1963 Oscar ceremony, which took place over half a century ago, I regret to say that I have no memory of it whatsoever and therefore cannot vouch for its accuracy.
It’s a solidly blithe burn, but as Murphy tells E! News, he’s taking it in stride:
I love Olivia De Havilland. She is forever a lady. My favorite part of the quote was she said that she couldn’t vouch for anything at the ‘63 Oscars because she couldn’t remember it. I love that it was such a little blip in her life! But she’s amazing and everything that she says and does should be treasured. I loved what she said.
The next season of Feud will skew a bit more recent with the divorce of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, leaving a bit more room for historical perspective from those involved. That said, we can only hope someone reaches out to Ms. de Havilland to expertly shade those events as well.
In the meantime, the first season of the FX drama will come to a head this Sunday.