The creator of FX’s Love Story has no regrets about not consulting the Kennedys before making John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette‘s romance the focus of the new scripted FX series.
“As a writer, it’s more healthy and effective to have some distance from the subject matter,” EP Connor Hines told Variety on Friday, February 13, following the show’s premiere.
Despite facing some backlash, Hines preferred being a little removed from JFK Jr. and Bessette’s family.
“It allows you to be a lot more objective in how you approach the material, vs. when you’re talking to people personally, you feel a sense of responsibility of relaying exactly what they’re telling you because they’ve given you their time,” he noted. “It’s an incredibly large family as well. So if you were to talk about consulting them, where would you even begin?”
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette premiered Thursday, February 12, and explores the “undeniable chemistry, whirlwind courtship and high-profile marriage of one of the most iconic couples of the 20th century,” according to the synopsis.
The FX series is the first installment in Ryan Murphy’s Love Story anthology and is inspired by Elizabeth Beller’s book Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. Sarah Pidgeon plays Bessette, while Paul Kelly portrays JFK Jr. The couple died in 1999 after a plane crash.
Before Love Story even premiered, Murphy, 60, was criticized by the Kennedys for his plans to dramatize Bessette and JFK Jr.’s lives. In June 2025, Kennedy Jr.’s nephew Jack Schlossberg accused Murphy of “grotesque[ly]” profiting off his late uncle’s death.
“Lately, my news feed has been filled with pictures of my uncle, John F. Kennedy Jr., a great man,” Schlossberg, 33, wrote via Instagram at the time. “For those wondering whether his family was ever consulted, or has anything to do with the new shows being made about him, the answer is no. And there’s really not much we can do.”
Schlossberg continued: “For that matter, [JFK Jr. is] considered a public figure, so there’s not much we can do. I hope those making these shows about him take seriously what he stood for in his life, all that he achieved in it. And that they donate some of the profits [that] they’re making.”
In response, Murphy called out the “inflammatory” criticism, especially considering it came before the show was released.
“I thought it was an odd choice to be mad about your relative that you really don’t remember,” Murphy said on Gavin Newsom’s “This Is Gavin Newsom” podcast in July 2025. “The days of civil discourse are over, and it’s very hard. And you kind of either get into the muck or you try and rise above it.”
That same month, Murphy elaborated on Schlossberg’s feedback. “I also like Jack’s Instagram when he just lip syncs to ’90s girl groups stuff. I want more of that,” he told Variety. “But I think it would be really hard if your relatives are always in the media.”
New episodes of Love Story air Thursdays on Hulu.
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