 Supporting the latter theory is the fact that Nhu promptly leaked his meeting with Maneli to the American columnist Joseph Alsop, who publicized it in a column entitled "Very Ugly Stuff".The mere possibility that the Ngo brothers might accept the peace plan helped persuade the Kennedy administration to support the coup against them.On 1 November 1963, a coup overthrow Diem, who was killed the next day together with his brother.