Without a doubt, Truman Capote's La Côte Basque 1965, became a literary scandal that well extended over the course of a decade. The story of his falling out with his high-society friends is detailed in Feud: Capote vs The Swans. One of the things he exposed in his piece was the alleged Bill Paley and Slim Keith affair.
But did the affair really happen? How did Capote expose this affair in his published chapter? Spoiler Warning: This article includes spoilers for Feud: Capote vs The Swans, so proceed with caution.
Is Ina Coolbirth Slim Keith in Real Life?
When Capote wrote La Côte Basque 1965, he planned to write about people he knew using "thinly disguised characters." The writer said he was going to "assassinate them all" with the use of a pen instead of a gun.
“There’s the handle, the trigger, the barrel and, finally, the bullet. And when that bullet is fired from the gun, it’s going to come out with a speed and power like you’ve never seen — wham!”
Although Capote never finished his novel, Answered Prayers, his La Côte Basque 1965 chapter was published in Esquire magazine against the advice of his editor.
Originally, the writer thought this story would give his readers a taste of his upcoming novel. But things got really ugly for Capote, especially with the friends he betrayed in this chapter.
One of them was a character called Lady Ina Coolbirth, a stand-in for Slim Keith (played by Diane Lane). Capote described her as an American married to a chemicals tycoon from the UK.
Coolbirth was also described as a tall woman (taller than most men) and a "big, breezy peppy broad."
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Bill Paley and Slim Keith Affair: Did They Really Have One?
Before we proceed, we would like to note that there is no real evidence that the Bill Paley-Slim Keith affair happened in real life. But the closest information we could get to this was that Keith met with a lawyer to sue the writer for libel.
So how did Capote reveal this in his excerpt?
In his excerpt, Capote wrote that Babe Paley (played by Naomi Watts) allegedly caught her husband, Bill (played by Treat Williams), in bed with another woman.
It was Lady Ina Coolbirth who spilled the tea on the alleged affair to PB Jones, Capote's stand-in in his novel. Coolbirth also revealed that she used to sleep with her friend's husband.
When La Côte Basque 1965 was published, Capote called the Paley household to ask their opinion on the excerpt. Bill is said to have lied about throwing out the publication before reading it.
Babe, on the other hand, never spoke to Capote again after this. She had terminal lung cancer when the excerpt was published.
In reports, it was revealed that Capote tried to reconcile with Keith on several occasions. Unfortunately for him, Keith was only interested in a libel suit.
Again, this is simply based on what happened according to the series, Feud: Capote vs The Swans.
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