Dateline NBC To Stir Up Some S*** With Special Murder In The House Of Gucci
"Dateline NBC," tied only with "48 Hours" for the title of America's true crime gateway drug, is throwing their hat into the Gucci ring and pumping out their own special on the murder of Maurizio Gucci. If you plan to bet on whether or not they'll also be hit with a lawsuit threat, like the director of "House of Gucci" Ridley Scott, you might want to place those bets now. Either way, it's got to be a weird time to be a Gucci ... or to work for Gucci. Has anyone checked on their social media team?
Look, I grew up watching "Dateline," so I have a soft spot for their particular brand of softcore true crime, but does this feel a little wilder than usual to anyone else? Titled "Murder In the House of Gucci," the special will air on December 3, 2021, and it riffs right off of Ridley Scott's movie title. Is this an SEO grab? Is it a cash grab? Is it "C: all of the above?" Probably. Do the interviews sound truly fascinating? Yes. Would it be a fun double feature with "House of Gucci?" Probably also yes, but the jury is still out on that one. It might be too much Gucci for one night.
Father, Son, And Murder In The House of Gucci
But speaking of those interviews, they might be enough to reel in anyone who is fresh off of watching Scott's melodramatic telling of events. The main conversation takes place between Sheree Loud, Maurizio Gucci's ex-girlfriend of five years, and correspondent Natalie Morales as they talk about Maurizio (played by Adam Driver in the film), Patrizia Reggiani (played by Lady Gaga) and the whole sad tale. In a snippet from the interview published by Deadline, which is Loud's first, she describes Reggiani as "unkind, always put him down, didn't want to do anything that he wanted to do. He said he didn't love her anymore. He said he just had enough." On top of all that, the program also features a chat with Reggiani's friend/psychic Pina Auriemma (played in Scott's film by Salma Hayek).
I know I was furiously googling the timeline after walking out of "House of Gucci," and I don't think I'm alone. While the murder of Maurizio very much happened, a lot of the story portrayed in the film feels too over the top to be real, and this is a convenient way to sort out some of the fact from the fiction. It's still too soon to say if the Gucci family will take issue with this more sober approach to the Gucci story, but I'm sure we'll hear from them one way or another.
While there is certainly a lot of money flowing around the story of this murder, and I don't know if the Gucci family is just looking for their slice of the pie, I have to say, it must be rough to relive the death of someone you loved over and over again. That's the rub when it comes to true crime, unless you're looking far enough back in the past, you have to grapple with the fact that you're spending your free time being entertained by a tragedy that someone could be actively grieving. It's something to always keep in mind.