You have to give credit to Olivia de Havilland - she filed this lawsuit, albeit through her lawyers, the day before she turned 101.
That really is dedication. The two-time Oscar-winning actress, who was played by Catherine Zeta-Jones in Ryan Murphy's trashy exposé on the bitter rivalry between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, is suing FX and Murphy for "unauthorised use" of her name and likeness, as well as portraying her in the series as a bitter gossip.
The lawsuit, which goes on for 33 pages, states that de Havilland "steadfastly refused to engage in typical Hollywood gossip about the relationships of other actors," and that she "refused to use what she knew about the private or public lives of other actors (which was a considerable amount) to promote her own press attention and celebrity status."
More pointedly, however, is de Havilland's claim that she never gave any interviews about the relationship between Crawford and Davis - something that Feud does, in a manner of speaking. For anyone who hasn't watched the series, it's basically punctuated by pseudo-documentary talking head moments where the actors - made up to look like their character at an older age - are giving context as to what's going on in that episode or scene.
As stated in de Havilland's lawsuit, she claims that FX and Ryan Murphy "intended for the audience to believe that the events depicted and the statements made by role players in Feudwere accurate, and were actually quotes from real people."
Murphy and FX have yet to respond to the lawsuit, however Murphy did admit in a THR interview that he didn't speak to de Havilland before, during or after Feud was created. Chances are he'll have to talk to her soon.
You can read the full lawsuit papers here.
