A FATAL FEUD
The silver-purple dress catches every light. Harper poses on the red carpet, then rushes back to a tall man standing at the edges. She presses a kiss to his cheek then turns back to the cameras and smiles.
Darrien Lancaster: I was Harper’s date to the Oscars.
I didn’t clock how subdued she was—even when she won.
And then at the after-party we started hearing rumors of that other actress getting into an accident.
She didn’t even act calm about it. She got through to her publicist, who got through to the other girl’s publicist and confirmed it wasn’t a life-threatening crash.
And then she switched the fun Harper act back on.
Stephanie Cameron: I had to talk her out of sending flowers. I mean, come on Harp. I’m all for taking the high road, but this girl had been nothing but awful to her. But that’s just the sort of person Harper was.
Darrien Lancaster: An Academy Award nomination is as big as it gets. But I saw more emotion from Harper in those ten minutes of circulating rumors than at any other point in the night.
Ivan Drozdov and Nadine Heywood leave a hospital, his arm shielding her from the waiting cameras.
Ivan Drozdov: I’ve seen the press do a lot of cruel things to Nadine, but that ranks amongst the worst.
In that hotel room in London, Nadine plucks at a stray thread on her dress, her eyes lingering shut for just a moment before she looks up into the camera.
Nadine Heywood: I wasn’t jealous of Harper. But the press? The hounding? That was it for me, the moment that made the rivalry something to win. The point of no return.