The beloved fish-out-of-water comedy about an American football coach blazing in to manage an English soccer team—a sport he knows zilch about—is back. But a scene in the premiere has fans theorizing that Ted Lasso threw shade at Harry Styles; the man who Olivia Wilde dated shortly after splitting from her fiancé, and the show’s creator, Jason Sudeikis.
In season one, Ted’s relationship with his wife, Michelle, is obviously strained. When she and their son, Henry, come to visit him in London from Kansas, everything seems normal until Ted finds her crying in the bathroom. Michelle tells Ted she no longer loves him. Later, she explains that his constant optimism became too much for her and by the episode’s finale, they agree to separate.
“If there was something I could do or something I could say to make you happy, just being with me, I’d do it,” a teary-eyed Ted tells Michelle in a heartbreaking scene before she heads to the airport with Henry. “But I ain’t got no control over that. You don’t have to keep trying anymore. It’s OK.” They go their separate ways and while Henry remains in the custody of his mother, father and son continue to have a strong relationship. That is, until Michelle meets a new “friend”.
Did Ted Lasso Shade Harry Styles?
Did Ted Lasso shade Harry Styles? Fans certainly seem to think so. In the season three debut which dropped on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, the episode centers a lot on Ted’s relationship with his son, Henry. At the end, Ted and Henry are FaceTiming (which they do sporadically throughout the show). Henry shows his dad an Infinity Gauntlet toy that someone called “Jake” gave him. “Who’s Jake?” Ted asked. “Mommy’s friend,” Henry replied, which we can all assume is kid speak for mom’s new love interest.
If you remember the drama from 2021, there was a rumor that Harry Styles was the reason for Jason Sudeikis and Olivia Wilde’s breakup, which ended up being very messy—and public—considering they share two children. The rumor was Wilde met on the set of her film, Don’t Worry Darling, when he was cast as one of the main characters, Jack.
Now, the above reference to supervillain Thanos and the Marvel Cinematic Universe seems benign but that choice of toy might have a deeper meaning. Styles very briefly played Eros, Thanos’ brother, in Eternals. And for all of those Don’t Worry Darling fans reading, “Jake” sounds suspiciously similar to “Jack”, does it not? We can’t help but feel there are no coincidences in Hollywood.
Olivia Wilde, Jason Sudeikis. Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images
In November 2020, Sudeikis and Wilde announced they’d split after nine years of being together and two years of being engaged. In January 2021, Wilde was spotted holding hands with Harry Styles after they met on the set of Wilde’s film, Don’t Worry Darling. A source told People Sudeikis was “heartbroken” and that “he would like to have hope that maybe there’s a way for them to repair things.”
Wilde confirmed the relationship running its course in an interview with Vanity Fair in September 2022 but denied she had cheated on Sudeikis with Styles. “The complete horses— idea that I left Jason for Harry is completely inaccurate,” said Wilde. “Our relationship was over long before I met Harry. “Like any relationship that ends, it doesn’t end overnight. Unfortunately, Jason and I had a very bumpy road, and we officially dissolved the relationship towards the beginning of the pandemic.”
“Once it became clear that cohabitating was no longer beneficial for the children, it became the responsible thing to not, because we could be better parents as friends who live in different houses,” she said of her custody battle of their kids. “I evolved a lot between when I was 27 and 35. I found myself as a director. And I think I found myself as an individual. And sometimes when you evolve, you evolve out of relationships that were based on an earlier version of yourself.”
Ted Lasso is available to stream on Apple TV Plus. Here’s how to get a free Apple TV Plus subscription.
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