Ryan Murphy shows that depict real-life historical figures have become infamous for their loose relationship with the truth. According to Daryl Hannah, FX's Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy is allegedly no different.
On March 6, four weeks into Love Story's run on FX and Hulu, the Splash star penned an op-ed for The New York Times addressing her portrayal on the hit drama. Early episodes dramatize the end of her long-term relationship with JFK Jr. (played by Paul Anthony Kelly), as the scion simultaneously met and fell for then-Calvin Klein employee Carolyn Bassette (Sarah Pidgeon).
"The character 'Daryl Hannah' portrayed in the series is not even a remotely accurate representation of my life, my conduct or my relationship with John," the actress wrote in what marks her first time speaking on her romance with Kennedy Jr.
Described by Vulture as a "portrayal border[ing] on caricature," Love Story depicts Hannah (played by Dree Hemingway) as a ditzy on- and off-again girlfriend who hosts drug-fueled parties in Kennedy Jr.'s apartment. Their relationship ends largely because his mother, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, disapproves, and their breakup is made all the worse when Hannah crashes the late First Lady's memorial service, embarrassing the family.
In her op-ed, Hannah rebuts each of these scenes. "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," she added. The actress/filmmaker also described the show's choice to depict her as "irritating, self-absorbed, whiny and inappropriate," and to pit her against Bassette-Kennedy. She asks, "Isn’t it textbook misogyny to tear down one woman in order to build up another?"
In addition to debunking her character's salacious scenes, Hannah's op-ed also revealed how the series has affected her. "When so many people watch a dramatization that uses a real name, real-life consequences follow," she wrote. "In the weeks since the series aired, I have received many hostile and even threatening messages from viewers who seem to believe the portrayal is factual. When entertainment borrows a real person’s name, it can permanently impact her reputation."
Neither Murphy, FX, nor the Love Story team has responded to Hannah's claims as of the time of writing.
Hannah isn't the only public figure to decry Love Story as controversial. During his appearance on CBS News Sunday Mornings on March 1, JFK Jr.'s nephew (and congressional hopeful) Jack Schlossberg accused executive producer Murphy of profiting from the notoriously private family.
"If you want to know someone who’s never met anyone in my family, knows nothing about us, talk to Ryan Murphy," Schlossberg said. "The guy knows nothing about what he’s talking about, and he’s making a ton of money on a grotesque display of someone else’s life."
