Feud: Capote vs. The Swans shines a light on a deliciously soapy scandal from the 1970s

Naomi Watts in Feud Capote vs The Swans

Credit: Pari Ducovic/FX

Under Her Eye


Feud: Capote vs. The Swans shines a light on a deliciously soapy scandal from the 1970s

By Kayleigh Dray

1 year ago

2 min read

Are you ready to dive into the feud that set New York’s upper-class society on fire? Tune in, then, to Feud: Capote vs. The Swans


Ryan Murphy is the king of soapy and provocative dramas (or, y’know, ensemble pieces about a group of ambitious misfits), so you’d best believe we’re expecting more of the same from Capote vs. The Swans, aka the second chapter in his anthology series, Feud.

Based on the bestselling book Capote’s Women: A True Story Of Love, Betrayal And A Swan Song For An Era by Laurence Leamer, the series shines a light on Truman Capote and how he earned the trust of New York’s most elite socialites.

Earned their trust, that is, until he decided to use all of their most embarrassing secrets as inspiration for a scandalous short story.

Watch the trailer for Feud: Capote vs. The Swans below.

Ah, Truman. Just call him the blueprint for Gossip Girl’s Dan Humphrey, we guess… XOXO.

What’s Feud: Capote vs. The Swans about?

Set in the 1970s – and ending with Capote’s death in 1984 – this miniseries sees him stab his closest female friends (aka his ‘swans’) in the back when he mines their lives for the very juiciest content.

From a husband’s dalliance with the governor’s wife to a fatal accident reframed as a murder, is it any wonder that New York’s high society was set on fire when Capote published La Côte Basque 1965 in Esquire in 1975?

Who stars in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans?

As is so often the case with Ryan Murphy’s TV projects, the cast for this one is ridiculously impressive: Tom Hollander, Naomi Watts, Diane Lane, Chloë Sevigny, Demi Moore, Calista Flockhart and Molly Ringwald, to name just a few.

What are people saying about Feud: Capote vs. The Swans?

Hollander, who leads the cast as Capote, tells Interview: “He was damaged, and I don’t think he felt it was possible to ever feel whole. In the contemporary world, we talk a lot about our feelings, feeling our best, living our best life and our truth. That language was not really around then.”

He continues: “People had to have other strategies for dealing with their pain, and he, by any contemporary standard, had dealt with an awful lot of it… it’s all coping mechanisms, writing was his estimable route out, and drugs and alcohol and sex were the less estimable versions, and that he succumbs to the last three, I think.”

When can we watch Feud: Capote vs. The Swans?

The series will air in the UK and Ireland from Wednesday 17 April via Disney Plus.

Will you be watching?

Images: Pari Ducovic/FX

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