MEAWW.COM / NEWS / CELEBRITY NEWS

Fans blame HARRY STYLES for 'Ted Lasso' Season 3's gloomy start

'Is it just me or are there a lot of thinly veiled Harry Styles references in Ted Lasso?' a fan asked

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Season 3 of 'Ted Lasso' finally released on Apple TV+ on Wednesday, March 15. However, the sports comedy-drama, that made its long-awaited return after Season 2 ended in October 2021, left fans wondering why the show, where Jason Sudeikis plays the American football coach who's tasked with leading an English football club to victory, was looking low and if Harry Styles was the reason behind it.

A fan called the episode "dreary," per the DailyMail, while many others pointed out striking similarities between reel and real story of the lead character. Writer and executive producer Sudeikis, 47, was in a highly publicized custody battle with actress Olivia Wilde, 38, who left him for the former One Direction star, 29. She called off her seven-year engagement with Sudeikis, with whom she shares children, eight-year-old Otis and six-year-old Daisy, in 2020. 

RELATED ARTICLES

'Ted Lasso' star Nick Mohammed says 'there's no reason' why hit show cannot continue after Season 3

'Ted Lasso' Season 3 Episode 1: Ted takes AFC Richmond to 'sewers' for an important team-building session

What made fans connect Jason Sudeikis's reel character to his real life?

The first episode, as per StyleCaster, revolved around Ted’s relationship with his son, Henry. The father and son can be seen FaceTiming when Henry shows his father an Infinity Gauntlet toy. Ted asks Henry where he got the toy, to which Henry replies that "Jake" gave it to him. Ted then asks, "Who’s Jake?" The son replies Jake is "Mommy's friend." This leaves Ted leaving hurt, which one can assume Henry is speaking about his mother’s new lover.

Fans were quick to speculate that the Thanos gauntlet was a reference to Styles, who made his MCU debut in 2021 'Eternals' as Thanos' brother, Starfox. They also pointed out that the character, Jake, could be a reference to Jack, the name of Styles' character in 'Don't Worry Darling,' where he and Wilde met. One wrote, "Apparently some stupid reference/shade to harry on the first episode of this new season idk im tired." One more commented, "I just googled it because i didn't pick up on it either but apparently harry styles played someone named jack when he met jason sudeikis' wife on set, and ted's wife's new "friend" is named jake which is similar to jack? idk it seems a bit of a reach to me." Another wrote, "Is it just me or are there a lot of thinly veiled Harry Styles references in Ted Lasso? I could be just so deep in Harry TikTok that I’m going cray but…I’ve clocked a few."

An individual wrote, "I’m trying to watch the new season of Ted Lasso and all I can think about is the salad dressing and Jason S lying down to stop his wife’s car in the parking lot…going to have an affair with Harry Styles??!?!? Not over it." While a user wrote, "Not people thinking the latest Ted Lasso ep is a [dig] at Harry Styles bc there was an infinity stone gauntlet involved. Gotta be honest I forgot Harry was/is going to be in the MCU."

Writer Brett Goldstein dismisses comparisons 

Executive producer and writer Brett Goldstein dismissed comparisons of Ted and Sudeikis' life. He said, “I don’t think [Sudeikis’ breakup with Wilde] was ever a consideration. The story was always the story. None of that stuff matters to what Ted Lasso is, I don’t think," reported Parade. He told Decider when he was asked there were chances fans might connect Ted’s post-divorce to the storyline. He said, "Well, we don’t really care about that. You know, about what other people are gonna project onto it. We’ve always had the Ted story, and we’re doing the Ted story. And that’s about that.”

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.