Joshua Goldman
Joshua Goldman
min read · June 22, 2025 · Entertainment

Unveiling Myths: The True Legacy of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette

Lest we forget: JFK Jr. needlessly caused the deaths of his 33-year-old wife, Carolyn Bessette, and her 34-year-old sister Lauren, when against all best advice he recklessly piloted his small plane into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.

EXCLUSIVE: The Kennedy Family's Latest Carcass Exhumed - And It Stinks!

Prepare for a juicy dose of Camelot-era drama as we dissect the latest attempt by CNN and Ryan Murphy to cash in on the Kennedy family name. This time, it's all about JFK Jr., the golden boy who went from dashing war hero to reckless pilot and eventual tragic figure.

But before we dive into the mess that is this upcoming documentary, let's take a trip down memory lane. Remember when JFK Jr. needlessly caused the deaths of his 33-year-old wife, Carolyn Bessette, and her 34-year-old sister Lauren by recklessly piloting his small plane into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean? Yeah, that was a real tragedy.

Murphy's Carolyn, played by little-known actress Sarah Pidgeon (above), is coming up short, sartorially and otherwise.

Fast forward to present day, and CNN is calling this trainwreck "America's Prince: JFK Jr." - an exploration of the "remarkable life and enduring legacy" of its subject. We're not buying it! As consulting producer, one of JFK Jr.'s closest friends, Gary Ginsberg, is no doubt spinning tales about what America lost when he died (or should we say, when he stupidly, recklessly, and perhaps intentionally killed himself?).

But wait, there's more! Ryan Murphy, the mastermind behind "American Love Story," has just begun shooting his drama series that purports to depict the real-life romance between JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. And let me tell you, the Internet is FED UP!

The big issue here is that Sarah Pidgeon, the actress playing Carolyn, looks nothing like the fashion icon she was in life. Her hair is all wrong (too thin, too one-dimensional), her clothes are cheap and unstructured (fast fashion at its finest), and overall, she just doesn't capture the essence of CBK.

For Pidgeon does not appear to be outfitted in Carolyn's capsule wardrobe consisting of Prada and Yamamoto. Instead, this actress is clearly wearing fast fashion — fabrics that read as thin, unstructured, and so cheap as to be highly flammable. (Pictured: Pidgeon filming 'American Love Story')

And don't even get us started on Ryan Murphy's defense of his vision. "There were comments like, 'I hate that coat, Carolyn would never have worn that,'" he whined to Variety. Um, okay? That's not an explanation; it's a cop-out! And what about the style advisory board he claims to have assembled? Can't name them yet? Come on!

But here's the thing: Ryan Murphy is part of the machine (or should we say, the Kennedy machine?) and then has the audacity to complain about how it works. Newsflash: you can't have your cake and eat it too!

And speaking of the Kennedy family, let's give a shout-out to Jack Schlossberg, JFK Jr.'s nephew, who weighed in on Murphy's project. He griped that the Kennedy family hasn't been consulted (ahem, public property alert!), and then had the nerve to suggest that Murphy donate some cash to the JFK Library in Boston. Nice try, Jack!

Pidgeon's hair is all wrong. It's thin and all one color — unlike CBK's mane, which was thick and full of highlights and low-lights — what her colorist Brad Johns, back in the '90s, infamously and all-too-often called 'buttery chunks.' (Pictured: Carolyn Bessette in New York Cityt)

Schlossberg himself is an irritant of Instagram, with no discernible job or achievements to speak of. But hey, at least he's got his family name (and a since-deleted chunk of his reel). What's that phrase? Ah yes - "profiting off of it in a grotesque way."

In conclusion, this whole debacle is just another example of the Kennedy family's perpetual fascination with their own legend. Can't they just leave us alone and let the dust settle on Camelot already?

And to all our readers at thescholarlynote.com - stay tuned for more juicy tidbits about the Kennedys and their never-ending drama!

Yet into this morass wades one Ryan Murphy (above), the uber-producer behind the forthcoming series 'American Love Story,' which purports to dramatize the real courtship, romance and marriage of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.

CBK lacked the intellectual depth, the self-awareness, of her late mother-in-law, Jackie Onassis. It's why there are so few biographies of her, and why the ones that exist are lacking. There wasn't much there.

Which brings us to Jack Schlossberg, that great irritant of Instagram, who weighed in on Murphy's project. (Pictured: Schlossberg with mother Caroline Kennedy in 2017)

Schlossberg griped that the Kennedy family has not been consulted about Murphy's project — the Kennedys are, by their own generational design, public property, and the dead, per the law, cannot be defamed — and that there's really nothing they can do.