While Don’t Worry Darling was forgettable, the drama between Olivia Wilde, Harry Styles, and Florence Pugh will live on forever. Just ask American Horror Story, which referenced the 2022 scandal — a year later — in the twelfth season, titled Delicate.
But again, who could forget? Pugh skipping the movie’s press conference at the Venice Film Festival and arriving late to the red carpet, the sordid report of a “screaming match” between Pugh and Wilde on set due to the director’s alleged frequent disappearances with Styles, and the viral “spit-gate” between Styles and co-star Chris Pine.
The moment – now rooted in entertainment history – was equally horrifying and entertaining, which can also be said about the latest installment of Ryan Murphy’s hit anthology series.
Episode two, titled “Rockabye,” features celebrity publicist Siobhan Corbyn, played by an impressive Kim Kardashian, as she preps rising star Anna Victoria Alcott, portrayed by Emma Roberts, for the Gotham Awards ceremony.
Siobhan claims the award is an opening door to Oscar buzz, which is, well, a far-fetched statement to be made, but adds to the campy aspects of the entire season.
The award ceremony does not go off smoothly and Anna, wearing Madonna’s 1991 Oscars dress, makes a fool of herself on stage after seemingly killing a passionate fan, moments before accepting her award, in the bathroom. She hallucinates during her speech and pictures the fan in the audience, causing her to stumble over her words and vomit a black substance before fainting.
The following morning, Anna wakes up in her bed to Siobhan singing a haunting rendition of “Rockabye Baby” and immediately checks the news cycle. “I blew it, my Oscar chances,” Anna solemnly says to Siobhan as she sees articles from The Cut, E! News and TMZ about her vomit-filled acceptance speech. Siobhan tells her, “The news cycle has a seven second memory. There’s no such thing as bad press.”
The publicist continues, “We are gonna pull a ‘wild card,’ as in Olivia Wilde. Don’t mention what happened and wait until everyone forgets, slash lowkey gaslight the people who do ask, and make them think that they’re the problem.” Siohbhan pauses and raises an eyebrow, “Because, you know, sexism.”
Zinger! While short, that speech was cold-hearted and did not hold back. Frankly speaking, it’s been about 12 hours since I’ve first seen the episode, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the scene. Possibly because the Wilde scandal has since faded into oblivion, making the recollection of it seem harsher than the words themselves. It’s iconic – the shadiest of shade. Especially after the Tom Sandoval diss in the first episode, which felt oddly topical despite the assumption that the script was finalized ages ago.
“Olivia Wilde found dead,” wrote one fan on social media after viewing the episode. “The Olivia Wilde shade?? My god,” expressed another, likely clutching his chest while typing those words.
While the first two episodes of the season have not been perfect, they have included several fun, popular culture callouts. With Andy Cohen, Sandoval, and Wilde being brought into the drama, as well as a Zachary Quinto cameo seemingly as himself, actor Zachary Quinto, despite already existing in the American Horror Story universe as many different characters, and Kardashian subtly shading her own Marilyn Monroe dress controversy, we can’t wait to see who gets dragged next.
Delicate may not be the scariest or most clever season ever, but it sure is the meanest.
American Horror Story: Delicate Part 1 airs Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. on FX, and streams next-day on Hulu.