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SWAN SONG
I tried to stop Truman Capote from writing about his friends nicknamed the ‘Swans’ – he never recovered from backlash
Why the socialites turned on Capote is revealed by his biographer.
AMERICAN author Truman Capote was warned by a friend not to publish gossipy stories that sparked a feud with his entourage of powerful female friends.
Capote never recovered after turning on his elite friend group of 60s socialites known as the Swans.
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Celebrated novelist Capote was at the height of fame in the late 1960s after he released the wildly popular true crime title In Cold Blood.
Capote was known for jet-setting around the globe in search of a great party, but could normally be found in New York City, where he was beloved by the social elite.
Some of the wealthy confidantes included aspiring actress Lee Radziwill, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, of the Kennedy family, socialite Babe Paley, and journalist C.Z. Guest.
Finding friendship was easy for Capote, who brought a much-needed distraction to the wives of businessmen who were tired of their privileged but dull lives.
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"Truman was collaborative, he was fun, and he was great to be with," Clarke, the author of the biography Capote, said in an exclusive conversation with The U.S. Sun.
"He was very intelligent."
Clarke, who became close with Capote during the last decades of his life, said Capote loved the consequences and fame that came with his success.
However, that began to change after the novelty wore off.
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"He went on yachts with them and was at the parties... but after a while, it's not such a big deal," Clarke said.
"It becomes rather boring... I think he got tired of it in a way."
This malaise inspired Capote's next writing project, which would destroy not only his position in New York City but high society altogether.
'THEY'RE NOT GOING TO LIKE THIS'
In 1975, Capote published a chapter of an incoming book in Esquire called La Côte Basque 1965, which was named after a famous French restaurant in New York City.
In the chapter, Capote aired out intimate secrets he learned about his "Swans" through thinly veiled pseudonyms or by outright naming the women.
Some of the scenes included snide remarks the women had said about each other in private, or barely kept secrets of affairs.
One noteworthy part of the piece was when a character based on socialite Ann Woodward murdered her husband.
In 1955, Woodward admitted to killing her financial heir husband William but claimed she shot him because she thought he was an intruder.
Woodward died by suicide before Capote's story was made public and it fueled speculation she had heard about its release.
Clarke remembered reading the story before it was published and warned Capote about the severity of his gossiping.
"I said, 'Truman, they're not going to like this very much,'" Clark said.
"And he said, 'Nah, they won't know who's who.'"
However, the Swans quickly realized what Capote had done, and immediately turned on him.
"It became kind of a cult to hate Truman," said Clarke, who added that none of the women ever forgave him.
"I was shocked by their reaction."
One of the biggest blows that Capote faced was his friend Paley, whom he was close with.
In the story, Capote shared that Paley's husband was cheating on her as he saw how upset it made her.
However, once it was published, she never spoke to him again.
"Babe Bailey was his favorite," Clarke said.
"Truman, in a way was doing it to get revenge for her on Bill."
Clarke believes the blow to the elite class in New York City was so great that it completely wiped out the culture of excess.
"I don't think there is an elite set anymore," he said.
"Rich people, certainly, but there's no sort of social group that runs it.
"There are lots of stylish women, and so on. It just doesn't mean the same as it did.
"Nobody cares that much about it anymore."
TRAGIC DEATH
Capote's story was so powerful that it destroyed the social stratosphere of New York City and himself.
It was well-known that Capote excessively drank and regularly used cocaine and tranquilizers, but once he was ousted by his friends, his addiction took a dark turn.
By the 1980s, he said that he was bored of New York City and became a recluse in his Long Island residence.
On August 25, 1984, he died from liver disease and multiple drug intoxication at the age of 59.
Capote's complex relationship with his female friends is going to be explored by the FX series that airs on Wednesday.
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In an interview with The New York Times, show creator Ryan Murphy said, "It's very easy to do a show where people are just nasty to each other.
"But feuds are never about hate. They're about love."