Olivia De Havilland

In June, 2017, lawyers for OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND filed a lawsuit against FX and Ryan Murphy Productions regarding her portrayal in their series  “FEUD”, about the fractious relationship between Joan Crawford and Bette  Davis .

Olivia signed a declaration, which included the following:

“I did not give my permission to the creators of ‘Feud’ to use my name, identity or image in any manner.”

“I did not tell any director or producer that my sister Miss Joan Fontaine was a bitch. This kind of vulgarity is not language that I use.”

“I reside in Paris, France. My date of birth is July  1, 1916 and am at present 101 years old.”

Olivia De Havilland, Catherine Zeta-Jones

Catherine Zeta-Jones portrays Olivia in the series and is seen being interviewed about Joan and Bette, an interview which is fictitious.

The producers have claimed their First amendment right to create works about matters of public interest. Ryan Murphy is quoted as saying that he did not want to trouble Ms de Havilland.

A judge has ruled that there should be a jury trial on Nov.27. 2017.

FEUD is due on BBC 2 at Christmas.

Lara Fowler of Backlots.net (http://backlots.net) will be at the trial in Los Angeles as a press member and will provide updates.