Carolyn Bessette

Carolyn Bessette

 

Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette and Paul Anthony Kelly as John F Kennedy Jr in Love Story on Disney

‘Unapologetically schmaltzy’: how Love Story became Disney+’s most-streamed drama ever

Series about the lives and deaths of Carolyn Bessette and JFK Jr is ‘prestige television without the usual weight’

Morwenna Ferrier 

Fashion and lifestyle editor

Fri 27 Mar 2026 

The plane vanishes. Families are told. Ashes are scattered. So ends Love Story, Ryan Murphy’s schlocky, glossy nine-part melodrama about the doomed marriage between Carolyn Bessette and John F Kennedy Jr. Yet one thing is clear: the myth of Camelot – or at least this version – still captivates.

Carolyn Bessette

 

Carolyn Bessette

Why we fell in love with Love Story: JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette

 

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Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly in Ryan Murphy’s hit FX show.

Why we fell in love with Love Story: JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette

Ryan Murphy’s series about the Kennedy heir and style icon has risen above nostalgia-bait to become a ratings blockbuster

Owen Myers

Tuesday 17 March  2026

On a recent sunny Sunday in New York, Love Story seemed to be everywhere. Fans lined up around the block for tables at Panna II, the twinkly string-lit Indian restaurant where Ryan Murphy’s megahit charmingly – and if we’re being picky, inaccurately – sets John F Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette’s first date. Across town was a JFK Jr lookalike contest, which was rudely organized in Washington Square Park and not in my bedroom. Young women downtown wore hip-hugging pants and clean-girl makeup, and outside a repertory cinema everyone was smoking as though Parliaments were still $2 a pack.

John Kennedy Jr. in 1995 in one of his most memorable looks: head-to-toe white and backwards baseball cap.LAWRENCE SCHWARTZWALD (LAWRENCE SCHWARTZWALD)

‘If you don’t have his money and charisma, forget it’: is it possible to imitate John-John Kennedy without looking ridiculous?

Since the premiere of the series ‘Love Story’, it’s become popular to emulate JFK Jr.’s much-adored son — but good luck replicating his ‘90s blend of elegance and self-confidence

MARTA REPRESA

MAR 12, 2026 

The Kennedys are once again a topic of conversation, and this time, it’s not due to RFK Jr. reminiscing about doing lines of cocaine off a toilet seat or killing a bear and abandoning its body in Central Park. Love Story, the talked-about Ryan Murphy that series reconstructs the relationship between John Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, who died together in an airplane crash along with her sister in 1999, has dazzled Generation Z. A few days ago, news broke that one of Carolyn’s jackets had sold at auction for $192,000. The show’s fans are upbraiding Calvin Klein for no longer producing the same kind of clothes as in the era the series portrays. And in the month that has passed since its debut, there’s been no end to articles in men’s magazines explaining how one might emulate John-John’s style, not to mention the videos of influencers dressed up as him, and even look-a-like contests.

 

Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette and Paul Anthony Kelly as John F Kennedy Jr in FX's Love Story: John F Kennedy Jr & Carolyn Bessette.

Photo by Eric Leibowitz

US television

‘He was approachable, down-to-earth, irritating’: inside the real-life love story of JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette

As Ryan Murphy’s new mini-series focuses on their explosive relationship, aides and experts explain the real-life couple behind the myth

David Smith in a Washington
Saturday 21 February 2026

He only met John F Kennedy Jr for five minutes but, three decades later, the memory lingers on. “Oh my God, he had it all,” says Larry Sabato, a political scientist, recalling their encounter at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington. “He had his mother’s poise and his father’s charisma; it was a perfect combination of the two. If there was anybody destined to be president, it was him.”

Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette Kennedy filming on the streets of New York.

‘Fashion murder’: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy fans aghast at first images from Netflix series

This article is more than 8 months old

Style watchers quick to disapprove of late publicist’s portrayal in Ryan Murphy’s American Love Story

Lauren Cochrane

Fri 20 Jun 2025 

In fashion, only the real favourites have acronyms. See SJP for Sarah Jessica Parker, ALT for the fashion editor André Leon Talley and – particularly relevant right now – CBK for Carolyn Bessette Kennedy.

 

Ryan Murphy’s ‘American Love Story’ Casts Sarah Pidgeon as JFK Jr.’s Wife Carolyn Bessette

Joe Otterson
21 March 2025

“American Love Story” at FX has found its first cast member.

 Variety has learned from sources that Sarah Pidgeon has been cast in one of the lead roles for the upcoming anthology series, which was originally announced in 2021. As previously reported, the first season of the series will focus on John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. Pidgeon will star as Bessette.