Daryl Hannah has broken her silence on her portrayal in Ryan Murphy’s new series.
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette follows the whirlwind romance and high-profile relationship between the attorney and his publicist wife before their tragic deaths in 1999.
Actor and activist Hannah, who was in an on-and-off relationship with Kennedy for about five years until 1994, has remained famously discreet about the relationship in the decades following his death.
However, in a scathing guest essay for The New York Times, Hannah slammed Murphy’s characterization of her in Love Story, saying it “is not even a remotely accurate representation of my life, my conduct or my relationship with John.
“Storytelling requires tension. It often requires an obstacle. But a real, living person is not a narrative device,” she wrote, suggesting that tearing down one woman to uplift another was “textbook misogyny” and branding the show “tragedy-exploiting”.
“The actions and behaviors attributed to me are untrue,” Hannah asserted. “I have never used cocaine in my life or hosted cocaine-fueled parties. I have never pressured anyone into marriage. I have never desecrated any family heirloom or intruded upon anyone’s private memorial. I have never planted any story in the press. I never compared Jacqueline Onassis’ death to a dog’s.
“It’s appalling to me that I even have to defend myself against a television show. These are not creative embellishments of personality. They are assertions about conduct — and they are false.”
Hannah went on to describe the consequences of the series, including the “hostile” and “threatening” messages she’s received from viewers who have believed the portrayal.
“Real names are not fictional tools. They belong to real lives,” she wrote.
The Independent has contacted Murphy for comment.
Love Story features Paul Anthony Kelly as JFK Jr, Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette, Grace Gummer as Caroline Kennedy, and Naomi Watts as former first lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis.
Hannah — married to singer Neil Young since 2018 — is far from the only person to have spoken out about Love Story. The limited series is the latest controversial project from Murphy, who has faced accusations in the past of glamorizing serial killers and profiting off tragedy.
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JFK Jr.’s nephew, Jack Schlossberg, has also released a statement criticisting the anthology series, saying: “Lately, my news feed has been filled with pictures of my uncle, John F. Kennedy Jr., a great man. For those wondering whether his family was ever consulted, or has anything to do with the new show being made about him, the answer is no, and there’s really not much we can do.”
Schlossberg then added his concern that Murphy was “profiting off of it in a grotesque way.”
Murphy responded to Schlossberg’s comment at the time by saying, “I thought it was an odd choice to be mad about your relative that you really don’t remember.”
