The FX limited series ‘Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette‘ revisits one of the most talked-about romances of the 1990s. While the show mainly focuses on JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, it also explores his earlier relationship with actress Daryl Hannah.
However, Hannah now says the series gets several things wrong about that chapter of her life. In fact, the actress has openly challenged how the show portrays both her personality and her romance with Kennedy.
Daryl Hannah Says The Show Misrepresents Her Relationship With JFK Jr.
The FX series briefly revisits JFK Jr.’s on-and-off romance with Daryl Hannah. But the actress believes the show turns that relationship into something it wasn’t. She addressed the issue in an essay for The New York Times, where she accused the show of misrepresenting her life and character.
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Hannah argued that the portrayal creates scenes that falsely define her behavior. “A real, living person is not a narrative device,” she wrote, explaining that turning real individuals into dramatic tools can have consequences beyond television.
According to Hannah, those consequences have already started. She revealed that since the series aired, viewers who believe the storylines are factual have sent her hostile and even threatening messages online.
Hannah Disputes Scenes About Drugs And Tabloid Leaks
One moment in episode two that Hannah strongly disputes involves a scene depicting her hosting a party filled with cocaine. In the episode, JFK Jr. returns home from an event and finds Hannah entertaining a small group of friends.
During the scene, he notices a silver platter on the coffee table covered in cocaine and immediately takes it away to clean it.
When Hannah follows him, she jokingly calls the platter “Kennedy memorabilia”. But Kennedy quickly corrects her, saying those items are family heirlooms. Their conversation escalates into an argument about her friends and his discomfort around them, with Kennedy sarcastically suggesting they might as well invite someone over to “blow some lines” off his father’s inaugural address.
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However, Hannah says none of that is true. She firmly denied the portrayal in her essay, stating that she has never used cocaine and never hosted cocaine-fueled parties. In fact, she also rejected the suggestion that she would ever disrespect a Kennedy family heirloom or intrude on a private memorial.
Another storyline the actress disputes appears later in the same episode. The show suggests that Hannah or her friends leaked stories to tabloids claiming that she and JFK Jr. were about to get engaged. In the episode, the tension mounts after a family dinner, when Kennedy’s mother pretends to be ill to avoid meeting Hannah.
Hurt by the situation, Hannah’s character leaves, and Kennedy later finds her packing at home. During the argument that follows, he accuses her of trying to reach him through the tabloids by leaking personal details. The fictional Hannah responds that she cannot keep waiting forever and suggests that if he really wanted to marry her, he would have already proposed.
Besides, Hannah also disputes a scene in episode three that takes place after the death of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. In the show, Hannah appears at Jackie’s wake despite no longer being in a relationship with JFK Jr.
The scene initially shows her offering sympathy and asking Kennedy how he is coping with the loss of his mother. But the moment quickly becomes awkward when Hannah’s character compares Jackie’s death to the loss of her dog, Hank.
However, Hannah says that moment never happened. She stated clearly in her essay that she never compared Jacqueline Onassis’ death to the loss of a dog. “It’s appalling to me that I even have to defend myself against a television show,” she wrote. Hannah believes Love Story blurs the line between drama and reality in ways that unfairly show her past.
Whether viewers see the series as creative storytelling or a distorted retelling of real events, Hannah does not recognize herself in the version of Daryl Hannah the show puts on screen.
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