Latest news with #JohnFKennedyJr
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Guess who is playing Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis now… after Natalie Portman and Katie Holmes did it first
Jackie O - also known as Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis - is being portrayed once again for a new movie. The former First Lady of the United States has been played in the past by many A-list Hollywood actresses. They include Natalie Portman in the 2016 film Jackie, Katie Holmes in the 2011 mini-series The Kennedys, and Minka Kelly in the 2013 film The Butler. Other actresses who have played Jackie Kennedy include Jaclyn Smith, Roma Downey, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Ginnifer Goodwin. Now an Australian star is taking on the role. A first photo of her appeared this week. Can you guess who it is? The actress is 56-year-old Naomi Watts. She is playing the late New Yorker in the Ryan Murphy project American Love Story, which premieres in February 2026. Onassis was a writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. Jackie died in 1994 at the age of 64 in New York City. Blonde actress Watts sported a brown wig as she transformed into Jackie. Watts was filming a scene in a park on Monday afternoon in New York City. Also in the movie is Paul Kelly, who will play Jackie's son John F. Kennedy Jr. Grace Gummer, who is playing Jackie's daughter Caroline Kennedy, was also seen playing in the park with two little girls that are playing Caroline's daughters Rose and Tatiana. American Love Story will follow JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy's whirlwind romance. The couple passed away in a plane crash in 1999 when she was 33 and he was 38. Sarah Pidgeon, 29, is playing Carolyn. JFK Jr's ex-girlfriend Daryl Hannah is being played by Dree Hemingway, 37, whose mother is actress Mariel Hemingway. She gained attention playing the lead in director Sean Baker's feature Starlet. She has since become known for her high-profile fashion campaigns and her extensive work in independent film. This comes after Watts said she wants women to 'not fear and dread menopause'. The actress has launched a new campaign - which focuses on menopause solutions - for her wellness brand Stripes Beauty, and Naomi wants to remind women to 'hold [their] heads high' regardless of their age. The movie star told People: 'Our minds, our experience, our sense of self, all of these things cumulatively add up to a bolder, wiser version of yourself, which makes you hotter than ever. 'And there's a play on words of course, because yes, we are fanning ourselves as we go into hot flashes. But it's also a time we should feel good about ourselves, hold our heads high and not fear and dread menopause like we have been taught by society and previous generations.' Despite this, Naomi admits that her outlook hasn't always been so optimistic. The actress said: 'I went into menopause or perimenopause super early and felt a lot of shame and no real sense of ways to communicate, not with my friends, my mother or even doctors. 'Women in this stage - perimenopause and beyond - have often felt left out. When our hormones stop functioning the way they used to, it's like we become redundant, expected to disappear. There's just a whole lot of negative messaging, which feels so out of date now. And as we know, we're more than our fertility. We are not invisible.' Earlier this year, Naomi claimed that embracing ageing has actually helped her to become more successful in Hollywood. The film star told Good Housekeeping magazine: 'I think the longer the life, the deeper it gets, and the roles tend to reflect that in terms of storytelling and playing all these dynamic women.
Daily Mail
16-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
New York airport beloved by A-list stars like JFK Jr. will be demolished and turned into park
A New York airport that was beloved by John F. Kennedy Jr. will be demolished and turned into a park for the next generation. Lufker Airport in East Moriches, Long Island, has been given the green light to be knocked down by the Town of Brookhaven on Thursday. The 2,300-foot airfield will become a public park that will be used for generations. 'Transforming this site into permanent open space reflects our commitment to land preservation, environmental stewardship, and community well-being,' Town Supervisor Dan Panico said. 'This decision honors the past while securing a more sustainable and accessible future.' The airport has been used by A-listers like JFK and his wife, Carolyn Bassett-Kennedy, both whom died in a plane crash in July 1999 in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. John was also a certified pilot and flew often. Pan American Airlines founder Juan Trippe, and actor Cliff Robertson also used the Long Island airport. And former New York Governor George Pataki flew the New York State helicopter to the airport while visiting Suffolk County. It was a popular 30-acre airfield for celebrities, as it provided coverage from paparazzi, especially compared to the more busy spots on the island. It was a popular 30-acre airfield for celebrities like JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bassette-Kennedy , as it provided coverage from paparazzi, especially compared to the more busy spots on the island. The acquisition cost $5.28million and was paid for mainly by Brookhaven, while 25 percent was covered by Suffolk County. The labor and demolition are estimated to cost $75,000. The privately-owned airport originally went up for sale in 2019 for $11.5million and dropped to $8million in 2020. Before the land housed the airport, it was a farm that harvested cabbages and melons until the 1940s. 'Brookhaven extends its gratitude to aviation enthusiasts and local residents whose input helped guide this effort,' a press release read. 'While saying goodbye to Lufker Airport is bittersweet, Brookhaven embraces its transformation as a gateway to nature and a living tribute to the town's evolving story.'
Forbes
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
This Is What Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy Was Really Like, According To Those Who Knew Her
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy on May 19, 1999. (Photo by Diane Freed) Much ado has been made about the importance of getting Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy's aesthetic right in the forthcoming American Love Story, where Carolyn will be portrayed onscreen by Sarah Pidgeon. But beyond the right shade of blonde for her hair or the right Birkin to be worn on her arm (a No. 40, if you're wondering)—an appeal should be made to the writer's room to get the woman right, too. Carolyn was warm, kind and nurturing to those who knew her; elusive and mysterious to the public which, largely, did not know her at all (though they might have thought they did). After marrying John F. Kennedy Jr. on September 21, 1996, she never gave an interview, and there are only two recordings of her voice—an eight-second clip from Entertainment Tonight's coverage of the Fire and Ice Ball in 1998, and a three-second clip, again from Entertainment Tonight, while attending the Newman's Own/George Awards in May 1999—just two months before her death. Carolyn died at just 33 years old in a plane crash alongside her husband and her older sister, Lauren Bessette, on July 16, 1999. It was an era before social media and overexposure. Carolyn never got a chance to grow old, and never got a chance to tell her story; many will only 'know' Carolyn through American Love Story's portrayal of her. Sure, getting her hair color and her exact Birkin matters—but so does illuminating who she really was, and not the ice queen she was portrayed as in the media that hounded her on the streets of New York City. Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in New York City in the Fall of 1998. (Photo by Trevor Gillespie/Getty ... More Images) Because of her silence in the public eye, she did use fashion as a vehicle for communication. Known for a classic minimalistic aesthetic, Carolyn was a fashion person, one who worked in public relations at Calvin Klein before her marriage. But fashion was not all Carolyn was—not even close. Speaking to The Daily News on July 25, 1999—just days after her death—friend Colleen Curtis said that Carolyn 'loved to laugh. Many of her friends feel sad that she is being remembered primarily as a style icon. Carolyn should also be remembered for her warmth, for her kindness and generosity, for her wit, for her compassion and, most of all, for her great sense of fun.' That interview was given just after her death 26 years ago—Carolyn's reputation as a 'style icon' has only grown since, by leaps and bounds. 'She would have laughed at being called a fashion icon,' Michelle Kessler told Elizabeth Beller for her 2024 book Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. 'She was trying to be nothing of the sort. Carolyn was trying to have an interesting life and go about her day without interruption.' Kessler added, 'She shifted a room when she walked in.' Carolyn was the younger sister of twins Lauren and Lisa, who survived her sisters. She was born in White Plains, New York, but after her parents' divorce, she moved to Greenwich, Connecticut. She was voted 'Ultimate Beautiful Person' in high school, and studied elementary education at Boston University. She briefly attempted a modeling career and was the cover girl of 'The Girls of BU' calendar. At Calvin Klein, Carolyn went from a saleswoman all the way up the ranks to the brand's director of publicity. She met JFK Jr. in the early 1990s and dated him briefly before breaking up; they'd later reconcile, and John would wonder why he ever let her get away. Though John was widely considered to be the most handsome man in America—with fame to match—Carolyn wasn't overly impressed with any of that. She didn't try too hard with John; she told him how she really felt and didn't bow to his celebrity. It's part of what won him over. When he proposed in 1995, she said, 'I'll think about it.' John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy at the annual White House Correspondents dinner on ... More May 1, 1999 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Tyler Mallory/Liaison) 'She was a caretaker, and John really loved that about her,' friend Sasha Chermayeff told Beller. 'But she also stood up to him when he was wrong, and that was great.' John and Carolyn were both 'compassion-based people,' Chermayeff added. Those who knew her say they made people feel like they were the only person in the room. That photos didn't do her beauty justice. She had a distinct laugh and lit up a room. She was always thinking of others; very aware that people focused on her beauty, she went out of her way to be kind and make people feel comfortable. She had charisma. She was mesmerizing, captivating, magnetic, electric, dynamic. She was a big reader—Charlotte Brontë and Henry James—and had a great sense of humor. Her favorite foods were mashed potatoes and scooped-out bagels loaded with tomatoes. She had a tireless work ethic at Calvin Klein. She wasn't perfect and had flaws—but she didn't deserve her ice queen reputation. She was a handful, complex, an empath—which Beller noted in her book made her very sensitive. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind. She had understated elegance, preferred a muted color palette when she dressed and wore Bobbi Brown Sheer Lipstick in Ruby (which was also the name of her cat). She was known for having intense, interesting conversations. She had freckles on her nose that 'glowed whenever she blushed,' her ex-boyfriend and former Calvin Klein model Michael Bergin wrote about her in his book. He also added that she 'oozed class.' She apparently struggled with abandonment issues, likely as a result of her parents' divorce. She wasn't a big exerciser, and she was self-aware of the size of her feet. She loved astrology and wanted to go back to school and get a master's degree in psychology. In her 2005 memoir What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love, Carole Radziwill—who was married to John's cousin (and best friend) Anthony Radziwell and became extremely close to Carolyn—said Carolyn always took a stack of magazines with her 'because she scanned them quickly and she didn't like to run out.' She used her hands when she talked. She wasn't afraid to be tactile, Radziwill wrote. She held her hand when she talked to her, and played with Radziwill's hair absentmindedly. She hugged people tight, 'as if she might never see you again.' John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy arrive at the annual John F. Kennedy Library ... More Foundation dinner and Profiles in Courage awards in honor of the former President's 82nd birthday on May 23, 1999 at the Kennedy Library in Boston. (Photo by Justin Ide) When a fan asked Carolyn for her autograph, she replied, according to Radziwill, 'Oh, you don't want that. What would you do with it?' She turned to Radziwill, telling the fan she'd rather have Radziwill's autograph instead; long before Radziwill was on Real Housewives of New York City, she had three Emmys, and Carolyn pointed that out about her friend with pride. Speaking to Beller for her book, Radziwill said Carolyn 'had such energy and was so authentic. She was one of those people who adds energy to a room. Carolyn was a lot of fun, but she could also quickly go deep.' Carolyn accompanied the Radziwills to Anthony's cancer treatments; she didn't ask if she could come, but rather insisted. Carolyn called Radziwill 'Lamb,' and wrote to her that, of Anthony's cancer treatments, 'It is so lonely and scary to go through that, and I can't bear the thought that you ever had to do that alone. I can't ever let you go again without me. It broke my heart.' (Anthony died of cancer on August 10, 1999, less than one month after John and Carolyn's plane crash.) Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy at the annual fundraising gala at the Whitney Museum of American Art on ... More March 9, 1999 in New York City. (Photo by) It was Radziwill who, with Carolyn, came up with the idea that she'd wear the same outfit every day—'jeans and a white shirt, with her hair in a ponytail and sunglasses'—so the paparazzi photos of her would all look the same, so hopefully the photographers would stop taking them. It didn't work. She was hounded—stalked—by the paparazzi. She hated it. But she loved John. In the 2024 oral biography of John by RoseMarie Terenzio and Liz McNeil called JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography, friend Robbie Littell called Carolyn a force of nature and said, 'She intrigued him more than anyone he'd met.' 'She was very engaging, very much her own person and smart and funny,' Pat Manocchia added. 'She had a job, she'd gone to college. She was strong—not a pushover. They were always physical and affectionate and engaged. It was vibrant.' Littell, speaking to Beller, said of Carolyn that it was obvious 'that she was as bright a star as John. And it wasn't just because of her fierce, compelling beauty. It was because she seemed to look right into your soul, and then wink.' John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy at the Municipal Art Society Gala at Grand Central ... More Terminal. (Photo by Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images) Friend Gary Ginsberg told Terenzio and McNeil that Carolyn had all the discernment that John lacked. She was protective of him. In her 2012 book Fairy Tale Interrupted: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Loss, Terenzio said, 'Carolyn wasn't John's shadow; she was his equal.' John was happier when Carolyn was around, she wrote. Carolyn didn't bullshit and was a big sister to many people. She could diffuse anything with a joke. She was very interested—and talented—at finding the perfect gift for everyone. Ever generous, she took Terenzio shopping and bought her a whole new wardrobe; she made her feel beautiful. She made her feel like Cinderella, Terenzio later wrote in JFK Jr. 'If I ever criticized myself or felt fat, she would say, 'Please don't talk about yourself like that, it hurts my feelings,'' she added. When John and Carolyn married in 1996 on Cumberland Island, Georgia, she put her friend Narciso Rodriguez on the map when he designed her now iconic wedding dress. Constantly thinking of others, she made sure straw fans were at every pew so guests at their wedding could fan themselves in the Georgia heat. She was late to her own wedding and wasn't afraid to be herself; as Terenzio wrote in Fairy Tale Interrupted, after John asked everyone to not wear black to a George party (the magazine he founded in 1995), Carolyn wore black anyway. 'F— it, I don't care,' she laughed. 'I don't work for George.' John Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy attend the First Jackie O Award Salute to Brendan Gill ... More at the 26th Street Armory in New York City in 1994. (Photo by) 'She was the opposite of a corporate mean girl, stabbing her way up the workforce,' Kessler told Beller for her book. 'She had a huge and generous heart.' Sean Penn met Carolyn at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in 1998. 'I remember telling people after that night what a light Carolyn was,' he told Terenzio and McNeil for JFK Jr. 'So alive and really authentic. I absolutely understood why he was crazy about this girl. And that's not what I had been told about her.' Friend John Perry Barlow called Carolyn 'magical and special': 'She was so quirky and imaginative and surprising, kind of eccentric,' he said for John's 2024 oral biography. 'She was her own self. That was part of what made the press so ravenous to have at her. She wasn't gonna play anybody's game.' Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. (Photo by Lawrence Schwartzwald/Sygma via Getty Images) Carolyn was close to his daughters Anna and Amelia. Anna, when she met Carolyn as a girl, wondered, 'Did I just meet a fairy person?' Amelia remembered visiting Carolyn's loft in Tribeca, ordering Chinese food and giving the extra to the homeless, who Carolyn called guardian angels. So, yes, the aesthetic of the character of Carolyn matters. But so does the substance of the woman. In Sunita Kumar Nair's 2023 book CBK: Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy: A Life in Fashion, designer Gabriela Hearst is quoted as saying, of CBK's fashion, 'It's not a style that calls attention. It's a style that tries to deflect attention, and by deflecting that attention, she's making people pay more attention. She didn't have a strategy; she wore what she felt, and her intuition would drive her.' Her intuition drove her outside of the fashion sphere, too. Somehow, Carolyn knew intuitively exactly what to do, what to say, how to support. One year before she'd lose John and Carolyn in 1999, in 1998 Terenzio lost her best friend, Frank Giordano, to an accidental drug overdose. For Christmas that year, Carolyn's gift—a gold band from Tiffany—was poignant. It was a teardrop with little diamonds dangled off of it, Terenzio recalled in JFK Jr. 'The diamonds are the tears you will cry forever in his absence,' Carolyn wrote alongside the gift, where she also quoted Shakespeare. 'Look for love,' Carolyn continued. 'Open your heart and you will see miracles everywhere.' Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy at the Grand Central Station Gala on October 5, 1998 in New York City. ... More (Photo by Joe Vericker/Liaison) So, to the American Love Story writer's room—this is a glimpse of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, as told by those who knew her. Get the look right, sure—but it might actually be more difficult to capture the magic that was this woman, taken far too soon. To this, most assuredly, attention must be paid. Carolyn won't ever get the chance to properly tell her own story. That enormous responsibility, at least at this moment in culture, belongs to you. Those that care about Carolyn—those who knew her, and those who didn't have the privilege, but who are still invested in her memory—hope you get it right. Beyond the Prada and the Manolos—this matters far more. Carolyn has only had 11 seconds of her voice being heard on air heretofore. It's important that any depiction of her paint an accurate portrait of a woman who was so much more than her style, timeless though it may be. We are counting on you.
Daily Mail
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
JFK Jr.'s nephew blasts Ryan Murphy for not consulting with family for 'grotesque' series American Love Story
The nephew of the late John F. Kennedy Jr. is striking out at one of the creators of the upcoming biopic series American Love Story. Jack Schlossberg, the son of JFK Jr.'s sister Caroline Kennedy, said in a video posted to Instagram on Wednesday that the Kennedy family had not been consulted about the 'grotesque' series, which was created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. has contacted Murphy's representative for comment, but hasn't yet received a response. Murphy, 59, previously got into a spat with Schlossberg over the series just last week, and the controversy comes after he was previously slammed for 'profiting off the grief' of the families of victims of the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in 2022. In a video shared while he was on a road trip across the United States, Schlossberg clarified his family's involvement in the new series, which depicts the courtship and subsequent marriage of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. 'Lately, my news feed has been filled with pictures of my uncle, John F. Kennedy Jr., a great man,' Schlossberg said in the clip. 'For those wondering whether his family was ever consulted, or has anything to do with, the new shows being made about him, the answer is no. And there's really not much we can do.' He explained that there wasn't a legal avenue for his family to exert influence over the production. 'The right to privacy, which includes the ability to control your own name, image and likeness, doesn't survive death in the state of New York,' Schlossberg clarified. 'For that matter, he's considered a public figure, so there's not much we can do.' 'I hope those making these shows about him take seriously what he stood for in his life, all that he achieved in it. And that they donate some of the profits [that] they're making,' he continued. 'For the record, I think admiration for my Uncle John is great. What I don't think is great is profiting off of it in a grotesque way,' he added on a harsher note. This isn't the first time Schlossberg has called for Murphy to donate his profits from the series. Last week, Murphy shared photos of the actors in costume to play JFK Jr. and Bessette, which several fans criticized for failing to capture their sense of style and taste. But Schlossberg jumped into the comments to call out Murphy. 'HEY RYAN — admiration for John is great but maybe consider DONATING PROFITS TO THE KENNEDY LIBRARY thanks,' he wrote. 'I hope those making these shows about him take seriously what he stood for in his life, all that he achieved in it. And that they donate some of the profits [that] they're making,' he continued Murphy responded, simply writing, '@jackuno I absolutely will.' The spat was reminiscent of criticism Murphy received in recent years for his Netflix series Dahmer, which traced the life and crimes of the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Dahmer murdered 17 young men over the course of 13 years, in addition to sexually assaulting others. He was bludgeoned to death in prison by a fellow inmate in 1994 at age 34 while serving 16 life sentences. Rita Isbell, the sister of Errol Lindsey — who was only 19 when he was brutally murdered by Dahmer — claimed in 2022 that she had not been contacted about the series. She accused Netflix, which streamed the series, of being 'greedy for not contributing money to her late brother's children. But Murphy later insisted that he tried to contact many of the victims' families in the three-and-a-half years that the show was being made, though he didn't specify if Isbell was one of the people he reached out to. 'We [did] research for a very long time,' he said while discussing the show at an event. 'We, over the course of the three-and-a-half years when we were writing it, working on it, we reached out to around 20 of the victims' families and friends trying to get input, trying to talk to people, and not a single person responded to us in that process. 'So we relied very, very heavily on our incredible group of researchers who… I don't even know how they found a lot of this stuff,' he continued. 'But it was just like a night and day effort to us trying to uncover the truth of these people.' In a later chat with the New York Times in November 2022, Murphy again defended himself and also fought back against viewers who criticized the series for being marketed as an LGBTQ series. 'What are the rules now?' Murphy asked. 'Should we never do a movie about a tyrant? 'There was a moment on Netflix where they removed the LGBTQ tag from Dahmer and I didn't like it,' Murphy said. 'I asked why they did that and they said because people were upset because it was an upsetting story. 'I was, like, "Well, yeah." But it was a story of a gay man and more importantly, his gay victims.' Last week, Murphy shared images of actors Paul Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon dressed as JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette for American Love Story. The two stars posed inside a spacious studio as they did a camera test as production officially kicked off this week. 'FIRST LOOK! Here are some stills from our LOVE STORY camera test,' the TV writer wrote in the caption of the post. 'We started shooting this week in New York City and can't wait until you see the romantic and tragic love story between America's prince, JFK Jr., and fashion icon Carolyn Bessette - out Valentine's Day week of 2026.' He added, 'I am thrilled to introduce you to Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn and Paul Kelly as John F. Kennedy Jr. Over a thousand actors auditioned for each of these roles, and we absolutely found the perfect choices. Congratulations Sarah and Paul!' Sarah - who is known for the Amazon Prime Video series The Wilds - could be seen wearing a black turtleneck as well as black trousers and a tan coat. She slipped into a pair of closed-toed, black pumps and allowed her platinum blonde locks to flow down straight past her shoulders. Bessette had been a fashion publicist for Calvin Klein and was also known for her classic and minimalistic style. Paul wore a double-breasted, gray suit which was paired with a white dress shirt and red-patterned tie. In one image, he sported a pair of shades and also stopped for a photo outdoors while donning a different suit. He added, 'I am thrilled to introduce you to Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn and Paul Kelly as John F. Kennedy Jr. Over a thousand actors auditioned for each of these roles, and we absolutely found the perfect choices. Congratulations Sarah and Paul!' Kelly further channeled the late JFK Jr. in a pair of jeans, green shirt and black vest - similar to a past look worn by the attorney. The two stars also cozied up together for the camera - which was shown in a video in a separate post on Friday. Other celebrities that have been cast in the upcoming project include Naomi Watts as Jacqueline Kennedy, Grace Gummer as Caroline Kennedy, Alessandro Nivola as Calvin Klein, Leila George as Kelly Klein, Sydney Lemmon as Lauren Bessette and Noah Fearnley as Michael Bergin. Social media users shared their thoughts on the first look into the new series - with one penning, 'Amazing casting. I knew immediately it was him.' Another typed, 'Wow, I knew who they were before even reading the caption,' and a fan added, 'Beautiful casting. Well done. Cannot wait to see how it comes together.' 'Man, Jr's casting is DEAD ON,' an Instagram user shared, while celebrities also offered their own feelings. Fashion designer Marc Jacobs commented, 'Can't wait,' while Office alum Mindy Kaling wrote, 'Wow.' While Murphy replied to Schlossberg, the producer also responded to another fan who had questioned about the 13th season of American Horror Story. 'Ryan are we getting AHS13 this year? Or not in 2025?' they asked, and Ryan answered, 'Sarah Paulson and I are cooking up something cool!' The premise of the upcoming series will show, 'what started out as a beautiful union for the young couple, widely regarded as American royalty, [begin] to fray under the stress of the relentless microscope and navel gaze of tabloid media,' per Deadline. 'The pressures of their careers and rumored family discord ended with their tragic deaths when his private plane crashed into the ocean on a hazy summer night off the coast of Massachusetts.' Carolyn and John Jr. - who was the son of late 35th President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy - first crossed paths in 1992, when he was in a relationship with actress Daryl Hannah. Two years later, Bessette and Kennedy began dating and their romance was heavily publicized. The pair were often pictured out in NYC together or attending events. In 1995, Carolyn and John became engaged and secretly tied the knot in a romantic ceremony the following year in September 1996. The nuptials were held at a small chapel by candlelight at the Georgia Island of Cumberland - with close friends and family in attendance. A young Jack Schlossberg had notably been the ring bearer during the wedding. Bessette had worn a silk gown as she said 'I do' from designer Narciso Rodriguez. After the nuptials, media attentions towards the couple continued to grow. On July 16, 1999 - Carolyn, John Jr. and her sister Lauren - passed away after their plane crashed off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. It was later ruled that the cause of the tragic incident was due to Kennedy losing control and all three of the bodies were recovered from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean five days after the crash. Prior to her relationship with Kennedy, Carolyn had dated Calvin Klein model Michael Bergin. Executive producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson told Variety last year that Bessette and Kennedy's story 'really resonates right now. It's amazing. 'A lot of younger women are looking to [Carolyn] as sort of a representational icon of a certain period of time that's really fascinating, and hopefully, we'll be able to bring that to the screen.'
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
John F. Kennedy Jr.'s nephew slams 'grotesque' Ryan Murphy biopic
Jack Schlossberg has slammed Ryan Murphy's upcoming show about his late family members, John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. Filming is underway on the FX series American Love Story, with Paul Kelly playing JFK Jr. and Sarah Pidgeon portraying his wife, Carolyn. Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Jack - the son of JFK Jr.'s sister Caroline Kennedy - called out Ryan and the other producers for not consulting with the Kennedy family. "Lately, my news feed has been filled with pictures of my uncle, John F. Kennedy Jr., a great man," he began. "For those wondering whether his family was ever consulted, or has anything to do with, the new shows being made about him, the answer is no. And there's really not much we can do. "The right to privacy, which includes the ability to control your own name, image, and likeness, doesn't survive death in the state of New York," the 32-year-old continued. "For that matter, he's considered a public figure, so there's not much we can do." Elsewhere, Jack asked Ryan to consider making a donation to some of the charities his late uncle supported. "I hope those making these shows about him take seriously what he stood for in his life, all that he achieved in it. And that they donate some of the profits (that) they're making," the writer added. "For the record, I think admiration for my Uncle John is great. What I don't think is great is profiting off of it in a grotesque way." Representatives for Ryan and FX have not yet responded to the comments. American Love Story is set to premiere in February 2026. The first instalment is expected to focus on JFK Jr. and Carolyn's whirlwind courtship and marriage in 1996. JFK Jr., the son of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, fashion publicist Carolyn, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, died in a plane crash in 1999.
