Hollywood thrives on myths. We love the idea of two aging titans clawing at each other’s throats in a desperate bid for relevance. It’s a great story. Honestly, it’s a better story than the reality most of the time. When the FX series Feud Bette and Joan hit screens in 2017, it leaned hard into that juicy, venomous friction between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. But if you’re looking for the line where the script ends and the real history begins, things get kinda messy.
Ryan Murphy didn't just want a campy catfight. He wanted to look at the "hagsploitation" era of the 1960s—that weird, cruel window where actresses over forty were treated like expired milk.
The Love Triangle You Probably Didn't Know About
Most people think the hate started on the set of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? in 1962. Nope. Not even close. You have to go all the way back to 1935.
Bette Davis was filming Dangerous. She fell hard for her co-star, Franchot Tone. Like, head-over-heels, "he's the one" kind of love. The problem? Joan Crawford was already in the picture. Legend has it that Joan decided to mark her territory by inviting Tone over and greeting him completely naked in her solarium. It worked. They got married.
Bette never forgot that. She once said Crawford did it "coldly, deliberately and with complete ruthlessness." Imagine carrying that baggage for thirty years before finally agreeing to share a dressing room.
The Set of Baby Jane: Fact vs. Screenplay
In the FX series Feud Bette and Joan, we see Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange trade some truly legendary barbs. Was the set actually that toxic? Basically, yeah. Maybe even worse.
Take the "kicking" scene. In the movie, there's a moment where Bette’s character, Jane, kicks the paralyzed Blanche. During filming, Bette actually connected with Joan's head. Joan supposedly needed stitches. Bette claimed she "barely touched her."
Then came the revenge of the weights.
Joan Crawford knew Bette had a bad back. So, for a scene where Bette had to drag her across the floor, Joan allegedly wore a heavy weightlifter’s belt under her costume. Some stories say she even put rocks in her pockets. She wanted Bette to feel every single pound. By the time the director called "cut," Bette was screaming in pain while Joan just stood up and walked away.
That Infamous Oscar Night
If there is one moment the FX series Feud Bette and Joan gets absolutely right, it’s the 1963 Academy Awards. It’s the peak of pettiness.
Bette was nominated for Best Actress. Joan wasn't. To most people, that would be a signal to stay home and sulk. Not Joan. She contacted every other nominee in the category—Anne Bancroft, Geraldine Page, Shirley MacLaine—and offered to accept the award on their behalf if they couldn't make it.
When Anne Bancroft won for The Miracle Worker, Joan shoved past a stunned Bette Davis, whispering "Excuse me, I have an Oscar to collect," and swanned onto that stage. She stole the spotlight from a woman who actually did the work. It’s the kind of move you can't make up.
Why the Feud Matters in 2026
We’re still talking about this show and these women because the industry hasn't changed as much as we’d like to think. Sure, we have more diverse roles now, but the way "the system" pits women against each other for a single piece of the pie is still very real.
The show suggests that Bette and Joan could have been friends. Maybe. But the studios and the press fed off their rivalry. It sold tickets. It kept them in the papers.
Moving Beyond the Screen
If you want to understand the real women behind the FX series, you've got to look at the work they left behind. Watching the show is fun, but seeing the actual chemistry (or lack thereof) in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is where the real insight lies.
Next Steps for Classic Film Fans:
- Watch the Source: If you haven't seen the original 1962 What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, do it now. The tension is palpable because it isn't entirely acting.
- Compare the "Hag" Films: Check out Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Joan was originally cast but "got sick" (mostly to avoid Bette) and was replaced by Olivia de Havilland.
- Read the Memoirs: Pick up Bette Davis's The Lonely Life or Christina Crawford's Mommie Dearest for a deeper, albeit biased, look at the personal lives that fueled the fire.
The real tragedy of the FX series Feud Bette and Joan isn't that they hated each other. It’s that they were so busy fighting each other they didn't realize they were both fighting the same losing battle against a town that was done with them.