We bet Ree Drummond — star of Food Network‘s The Pioneer Woman — being connected to Martin Scorsese wasn’t on your Bingo card for this year. Yet, somehow, here we are.
Scorsese’s Killer of the Flower Moon, which is set to come out this week, is based on a 2017 book of the same name by David Grann. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, it follows the investigation into the brutal murders of Osage tribe members after oil was found on their land nearly a century ago. The harrowing killing spree, which took place between 1921 and 1926, later became known as the “Reign of Terror.”
So, how is the Food Network personality intertwined with such a dark part of American history? While her family hasn’t been directly involved in the murders, an invisible string tying her to the tribe’s loss of land still exists.
You see, Ree operates her business ventures — from her lifestyle blog to her television show — out of her hometown of Pawhuska, Oklahoma in Osage County. Not only was the town one of the filming locations for Killers of the Flower Moon and where one of the real-life trials was held, but it also happens to be the actual Osage land the movie is based on, per Distractify.
Ree is also married to fourth-generation Drummond family member, Ladd Drummond, who is the second cousin to Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond. According to the Bloomberg podcast series In Trust, the Drummond family owns a total of 9% of Osage County land that once belonged to the Native American tribe. Because of this, the affluent family has become the largest landowner in Osage County, per Bloomberg.
After looking into interview tapes, financial records and government reports, the podcast further revealed that the Drummond family acquired the large amount of land using money they made from, or borrowed from, the Osage.
Moreover, Bloomberg reported that they used business practices that “bumped up against the line of what was considered legal,” per The Oklahoman.
The outlet added, “They were put in charge of Osage families’ finances, borrowed from Osage estates, probated Osage wills, and collected on debts that they claimed as owners of a government-licensed store. They bought headright fractions, even as they lobbied for the headright system to be abolished. And they bought land. Lots of it.”
So, in case you need a new “Roman Empire” to think of — as one X user put it — now you know the coincidental connection between the Pioneer Woman and the Reign of Terror.
Killers of the Flower Moon comes to theaters on Friday, Oct. 20.