1966-1999
Latest News: American Love Story Takes on Carolyn Bessette Kennedy's Iconic Style
A new Ryan Murphy series is set to explore Carolyn Bessette Kennedy's whirlwind romance and marriage to John F. Kennedy Jr. American Love Story will reenact their reportedly topsy-turvy relationship, which was cut short by a fatal accident.
Bessette Kennedy and her husband were married for only three years when they were killed in a plane crash in 1999, along with her sister, Lauren Bessette. After facing intense scrutiny from the media, the couple were living in separate residences at the time of their deaths.
In the upcoming series, Bessette Kennedy will be portrayed by newcomer Sarah Pidgeon. A first look at Pidgeon's transformation as the minimalist style icon, however, received backlash in June when her wardrobe selections were criticized for not capturing Bessette Kennedy's aesthetic.
Surprised by the response, producer Murphy assured fans that the early images were camera tests that did not feature Pidgeon's full costuming. In an interview with Variety in July, he explained that show will use some of Bessette Kennedy's actual clothes and design replicas of some of her dresses. A style advisory board will help source the rest.
“We’re writing a story about a person—an unknown person—who falls in love with the most famous man in the world and suddenly she can’t leave her house,” Murphy said of the public scrutiny Bessette Kennedy faced. “They’re doing to our Carolyn, what they did to the real-life Carolyn.”
American Love Story is set to premiere on FX in February 2026, during the week of Valentine's Day.
Who Was Carolyn Bessette Kennedy?
Carolyn Bessette Kennedy was a fashion publicist who rose to fame in 1996 when she married John F. Kennedy Jr. Despite studying elementary education in college, she worked in public relations for Calvin Klein, where she met JFK Jr. at the store's New York location. Considered a style icon and a trendsetter, Bessette Kennedy was known for her elegant yet minimalist aesthetic. In 1999, she was killed in a plane crash off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, along with JFK Jr. and her sister, Lauren Bessette.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Carolyn Jeanne Bessette Kennedy
BORN: January 7, 1966
DIED: July 16, 1999
BIRTHPLACE: White Plains, New York
SPOUSE: John F. Kennedy Jr. (1996-1999)
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Capricorn
Early Life
Carolyn Jeanne Bessette was born in White Plains, New York, on January 7, 1966. Her father, William J. Bessette was an architectural engineer, and her mother, Ann Messina, was a teacher and public school administrator. Bessette lived in White Plains with her older sisters, identical twins Lisa and Lauren, until her parents divorced when she was 8 years old. Her mother soon remarried Richard Freeman, a prominent orthopedic surgeon, and the family relocated to the affluent town of Greenwich, Connecticut.
As a teenager, the fun-loving Bessette briefly attended Greenwich High School before transferring to the stricter St. Mary's High School, where she was considered quite popular and had an active social life. Her classmates even voted her “ultimate beautiful person” in her high school yearbook. During this time, Bessette had various part-time jobs, working as a babysitter and a retail associate.
After graduating high school in 1983, Bessette enrolled at Boston University, where she majored in elementary education. In Boston, she briefly attempted a modeling career and was featured on the cover of the student calendar “The Girls of B.U.” After four and a half years, Bessette earned her undergraduate degree in 1988. While she initially planned on becoming a teacher, she ended up taking a job promoting nightclubs in Boston right after college.
Calvin Klein
Exploring her interest in fashion, Bessette went on to work as a salesperson at a Calvin Klein store in Boston at age 24. She then transferred to the company's New York City location to work with high-profile clients—a job she earned by impressing a Calvin Klein executive with her charm and impeccable style. There, Bessette flourished as a celebrity saleswoman, tending to famous and wealthy people, like Annette Bening, Diane Sawyer, and Faye Dunaway. It was through this job that she also met her future husband, John F. Kennedy Jr.
Eventually, she worked her way up the ranks to director of publicity before getting promoted to director of show production, which put her in charge of Calvin Klein's fall and spring fashion shows. After seven years at the company, Bessette quit her job in March 1996–just months before she got married.
Marriage to John F. Kennedy Jr.
Six feet tall with long blonde hair, Bessette dated an assortment of men in her 20s, including Calvin Klein model Michael Bergin, pro hockey player John Cullen, and Alessandro Benetton, the heir to the Benetton fashion company. But it was John F. Kennedy Jr., the son of President John F. Kennedy, who won her over.
She first met Kennedy at Calvin Klein in NYC in 1992. Then 26, Bessette was tasked with helping him pick out suits in a VIP fitting. At the time, Kennedy was in a relationship with actor Daryl Hannah, but the two hit it off and eventually started dating in 1994. Due to her boyfriend's celebrity status, Bessette quickly became the target of tabloid gossip and was regularly followed by paparazzi.
Nearly a year later, Kennedy proposed to her on a boat ride on Martha's Vineyard on July 4, 1995, but Bessette reportedly didn't accept his proposal until three weeks later. The following February, the two got into a heated argument in Washington Square Park, in which Bessette's new fiancé reportedly tried to take off her engagement ring. The highly publicized fight allegedly stemmed from her concern that Kennedy was being taken advantage of after he was asked to be the best man at an acquaintance's wedding. Photos and videos of their disagreement were soon picked up by the press, and the increased attention lead her to quit her job a month later.
Despite the conflict, the couple got married in September 1996, exchanging vows in a secret ceremony on Georgia's Cumberland Island. Determined to keep the wedding hidden from the public eye, only 40 of their closest friends and family were invited, and most attendees were unaware of the ceremony's exact location. Their nuptials hit a snag, however, when Bessette arrived to the 100-year-old chapel late after needing a last-minute alteration on her wedding dress. Since it was getting dark outside, the chapel was entirely illuminated with candles, and their officiant held a flashlight to read his script.
While Carolyn and John had hoped the media attention on them would die down after their wedding, it only intensified. Often the subject of public scrutiny, Carolyn struggled with the constant harassment from the paparazzi and speculation about their marriage, as well as the comparisons to her late mother-in-law, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, whom she never met, over her fierce protection of her and John's privacy. The couple tried to maintain a sense of normalcy, but were often aggressively confronted by paparazzi, even outside their own apartment in TriBeCa, which left her feeling unsafe.
This soon became a point of contention in their marriage. While she and John both wanted children, Carolyn didn't feel comfortable bringing kids into the world when they were always being watched and followed. By 1999, the two were reportedly living in separate residences, which concerned Carolyn's sister, Lauren Bessette. That July, Lauren took the couple to lunch to help them mend their relationship, encouraging them to attend Rory Kennedy's upcoming wedding together. Lauren even offered to go with them to help ease the tension. Just days later, however, Carolyn and John were killed in a tragic accident before they could even get the chance to reconcile.
Fashion
Considered a fashion icon, Bessette Kennedy was known for her minimalist and sophisticated style. Her wardrobe often consisted of sleek, understated ensembles of a neutral color palette. While Bessette Kennedy occasionally incorporated brighter colors, like red, she did so in a way that was still subtle.
“I’m not comfortable with anything ornate. I like clean and understated looks,” she told Glamour in 1992. “I love boots, jeans, blazers. I like very classic colors—black, navy, gray, and white. If I want to add some impact, I’ll do it with texture.” These textures included silk, wool, denim, and suede, among others.
As part of her minimalist aesthetic, Bessette Kennedy wasn't too keen on accessories, but she often wore a thick, tortoiseshell headband that became a staple of her look.
She also drew heads with her elegant coats and jackets, many of which came straight from Prada's Milan location. “Those are rich girls' coats—girls who get into cars, get out of them, go into restaurants, and go back into cars,” Bessette Kennedy reportedly described her outerwear.
Even long after her death, Bessette Kennedy's effortlessly chic style is revered in the fashion industry, with stylists still drawing inspiration from her simple elegance. As such, in many fashion circles, she is known simply as CBK.
Place Crash and Death
Bessette Kennedy was just 33 years old when she died in a plane crash off the coast of Martha's Vineyard on July 16, 1999, along with her husband and sister, Lauren. The three were traveling to a wedding in Hyannisport, Massachusetts when the single-engine plane, piloted by JFK Jr., crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.
When their plane did not arrive, massive search parties were sent out to locate the aircraft, initially only finding luggage and debris. After nearly a week, their bodies were discovered on July 21. Both the Bessette and Kennedy families planned a burial at sea for all three. A private funeral was later held for Carolyn and John at the Church of St. Thomas More in Manhattan. The service was attended by President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.
Nearly two years later, Carolyn and Lauren's parents received a monetary settlement as a result of their wrongful death lawsuit against the Kennedy estate.
Movies, TV Shows, and Books
Just a few years after her death, Bessette Kennedy was portrayed by actor Portia de Rossi in the 2003 television move America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story. The film was based on the 2000 book The Day John Died by Christopher Anderson. Details about her marriage also emerged in the 2019 A&E documentary special John F. Kennedy Jr.: The Death of an American Prince, which marked the 20-year anniversary of their deaths.
Bessette Kennedy's iconic fashion sense was later chronicled in Sunita Kumar Nair's coffee table book CBK: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy: A Life in Fashion, which was published in 2023. The following year, her entire life was examined in the biography Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, written by Elizabeth Keller. In February 2026, the FX series American Love Story will focus on the ups and downs of her marriage to JFK Jr.
Quotes
- I'm not comfortable in anything ornate. I like clean, understated looks.
- I love boots, jeans, blazers. I like very classic colors—black, navy, gray, and white. If I want to add some impact, I’ll do it with texture.
- Describing her outerwear: Those are rich girls' coats—girls who get into cars, get out of them, go into restaurants, and go back into cars.
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