New Series Explores the Brief, Tragic Love Story of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette

Their relationship remains largely shrouded in mystery, known more through romanticized legend than documented reality. Now, a new FX and Hulu series aims to illuminate the brief, intense union between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette that captivated America before ending in tragedy.

“Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette,” premiering Thursday, chronicles the relationship between the son of a president and the fashion publicist whose elegance and poise made her a media fixture in the 1990s. The series traces their journey from a chance meeting at a party through their closely guarded private wedding to their untimely deaths on July 16, 1999, when Kennedy’s small plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing the couple and Bessette’s sister Lauren.

The project has already generated controversy. Jack Schlossberg, Kennedy’s nephew who is now running for Congress in New York, publicly criticized the series last year, claiming it was profiting off his family “in a grotesque way” and accusing executive producer Ryan Murphy of “making millions” off Kennedy’s legacy. Murphy responded on California Governor Gavin Newsom’s podcast, calling it an “odd choice to be mad about your relative that you really don’t remember.”

Brad Simpson, an executive producer who previously worked on Murphy’s “American Crime Story” series, acknowledged the ethical complexities involved but defended the project’s intentions.

“I’m not going to pretend like on some level we’re not making an entertainment product out of it, but we’ve tried to be ethical and we’ve tried to be incredibly sincere,” Simpson told The Associated Press.

The actors portraying the central couple expressed similar sentiments. Paul Anthony Kelly, who plays Kennedy, said they approached the roles with care: “We tried to have as much integrity and love going into this retelling that I hope people see that.”

Sarah Pidgeon, who portrays Bessette, empathized with Schlossberg’s position. “I don’t know what it’s like to have a TV show or a movie or a book written about my family, and I understand his sensitivities, and I fully support him speaking his mind,” she said. Pidgeon also admitted she initially worried the series might sensationalize the couple’s story but found those fears unfounded as production progressed.

The series draws from Elizabeth Beller’s book “Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy” and explores previously little-known aspects of their lives, including Bessette’s ambitious career at Calvin Klein and Kennedy’s struggles to keep his political-cultural magazine George financially viable.

Other notable portrayals include Grace Gummer as Caroline Kennedy and Naomi Watts as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who is depicted as disapproving of both Kennedy’s magazine venture and his on-again, off-again relationship with actress Daryl Hannah (played by Dree Hemingway).

Series creator Connor Hines insists the production is based on extensive research. “We obviously had Elizabeth’s book, but I read every single newspaper article that was written about them, every tell-all,” Hines explained. “Obviously, all of that material has to be taken with a grain of salt, and you have to be very judicious in terms of how you extract some of this information.”

The Kennedy family has previously objected to dramatic portrayals of their lives. In 2011, The History Channel dropped a miniseries starring Greg Kinnear as President John F. Kennedy and Katie Holmes as Jacqueline Kennedy after Kennedy associates complained about inaccuracies. That series, “The Kennedys,” eventually aired on Reelz Channel.

Interest in the Kennedy legacy continues unabated. Netflix has announced a series titled “Kennedy,” focusing on the political dynasty’s origins with Michael Fassbender cast as family patriarch Joe Kennedy Sr., based on Fredrik Logevall’s biographical work “JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917–1956.”