JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s romance is adapted for the small screen in “Love Story,” a new FX series from Ryan Murphy.

How did JFK Jr. die? Revisiting the *Love Story *subject’s tragic plane crash

JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette's romance is adapted for the small screen in "Love Story," a new FX series from Ryan Murphy.

By Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn is a writer and editor at **. His work has previously appeared on *The A.V. Club, The Guardian, The Ringer*, and many other publications.

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February 12, 2026 12:00 p.m. ET

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John F. Kennedy Jr. in New York City on May 19, 1999. Credit:

Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

- John F. Kennedy Jr., the son of President John F. Kennedy, died in a plane crash in 1999.

- With him on the plane, which he was piloting, were his wife, Carolyn, and sister-in-law, Lauren.

- JFK Jr. and Carolyn's romance is the subject of a new FX series, *Love Story*.

John F. Kennedy Jr., born roughly two weeks after his father was elected President of the United States, died in a 1999 plane crash at the age of 38. With him were his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette.

JFK Jr. spent much of his life in the spotlight. That's true for any Kennedy, a lineage as close to royalty as you'll to find in America, but his good looks and effortless charisma made him a fixture of the Manhattan social scene, as did his buzzy *George* magazine, which he co-founded in 1995. The media breathlessly chronicled his relationships with high-profile figures like model Cindy Crawford, pop star Madonna, and actresses Sarah Jessica Parker and Daryl Hannah.

They also obsessed over Carolyn, the Calvin Klein publicist whom he married in 1996. The couple's whirlwind romance is the subject of *Love Story*, a new FX miniseries from Ryan Murphy, the powerhouse producer behind *American Horror Story,* *American Crime Story*, and other popular TV franchises. Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon play JFK Jr. and Carolyn, respectively.

The series, of course, will build to a tragedy that shocked the world and ended the lives of JFK Jr., Carolyn, and Lauren far too soon. Below, learn more about JFK Jr.'s death and its aftermath.

How did John F. Kennedy Jr. die?

John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy at the annual John F. Kennedy Library Foundation dinner on May 23, 1999, in Boston.

Justin Ide/Boston Herald via Getty

JFK Jr. died on July 16, 1999, while piloting a Piper Saratoga aircraft from New Jersey to Martha's Vineyard, Mass., where they were planning to drop off Lauren before continuing on to Cape Cod to attend the wedding of his cousin, Rory Kennedy. The plane crashed in the Atlantic Ocean, nearly 8 miles from Martha's Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts.

Radar data released in the days after the incident showed the plane rapidly plummeting into the ocean at a speed of about 53 miles per hour, according to the *Washington Post*. The crash occurred at 9:40 p.m., roughly an hour after take-off. The fact that JFK Jr. never made a distress call further indicates that the events leading to the crash happened quickly.** **

In July 2000, the National Transportation Safety Board cited JFK Jr.'s lack of experience flying at night, combined with a "haze" in the air, as the causes of the crash. The *New York Times* reported that a flight instructor offered to fly with them that evening, but that JFK Jr. said he "wanted to do it alone."

See Naomi Watts' striking transformation into Jackie Kennedy in new 'American Love Story' photos

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After several days of search efforts, the aircraft was discovered underwater on July 20. The following day, the bodies of JFK Jr., Carolyn, and Lauren were recovered on the ocean floor. It was determined that they died on impact.

"We are filled with unspeakable grief and sadness by the loss of John and Carolyn and Lauren Bessette," said Sen. Ted Kennedy in a statement at the time. "John was a shining light in all our lives and in the lives of the nation and the world that first came to know him as a little boy."

The Bessette family, including William J. Bassette, his ex-wife Ann Freeman, and her husband Richard Freeman, said in a joint statement, “Each of these three young people — Lauren Bessette, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr. — was the embodiment of love, accomplishment and passion for life."

They added, "John and Carolyn were true soul mates."

What is John F. Kennedy Jr.’s legacy?

John Kennedy Jr., and Jackie Kennedy Onassis at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum on Oct. 20, 1979, in Boston.

Tom Landers/The Boston Globe via Getty

To this day, JFK Jr. remains a source of fascination and what-ifs in American culture.

Speaking with PEOPLE in 2020, historian Steven M. Gillon, author of the 2019 JFK Jr. biography *The Reluctant Prince*, said he believed that JFK Jr. could have been elected to the presidency.

"John would have been president of the United States and I think the tone of our politics would have been completely different," he said. "John would be a force for healing and bringing people together."

Gillon, who befriended JFK Jr. at Brown University, said that while the son of President John F. Kennedy spent his youth trying to separate himself from his father's legacy, he eventually came around to the idea of a career in public service.

"[By] 1999, he figured out who he is. And what he discovered is yes, he wants to go into politics," Gillon said. "He wants to be his father's son. But he dies just at the moment when he discovers who he is. The one thing John will always share with his father is this sense of what might have been."

John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1988; Paul Anthony Kelly as JFK Jr. on 'Love Story'.

Brownie Harris/Corbis via Getty; Kurt Iswarienko/FX

*The Reluctant Prince* is just one of many books about JFK Jr.'s life and legacy. Others include Christopher Andersen's *The Day John Died* (2000), RoseMarie Terenzio's *Fairy Tale Interrupted: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Loss *(2012),* *Matt Berman's* JFK Jr., George, & Me: A Memoir* (2014), and Liz McNeil and Terenzio's *JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography *(2024).

In 2002,* * responded to another book about JFK. Jr, Richard Blow's *American Son, *with a piece that characterized the public's obsession with "the doings of Jackie Kennedy Onassis and her children [as] a way to hold on to the glow of John F. Kennedy’s presidency, before assassination, cynicism, and revelation spoiled everything."

That fascination carries on, though. The year after that piece was published, TBS aired a made-for-TV movie, *America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story*, starring Kristoffer Polaha and Portia de Rossi as JFK Jr. and Carolyn. Just last year, CNN aired a three-part documentary series titled *American Prince: JFK Jr.*

*Love Story* will be the latest attempt to peel back the layers of JFK Jr., and it's receiving some flack from his nephew, Jack Schlossberg. "For those wondering whether his family was ever consulted, or has anything to do with the new show being made about him, the answer is no, and there's really not much we can do," he said via his Instagram Stories last summer.

He added, "I hope those making this show 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 [from] what they're making to the John F. Kennedy Library... For the record, I think admiration for my uncle John is great. What I don't think is great is profiting off of it in a grotesque way."

During a July 2025 interview on the *This Is Gavin Newsom* podcast, *Love Story *executive producer Ryan Murphy said the series is "not a takedown," adding that it's "based on a book that's very sympathetic to both people with Paul [Anthony Kelly] and Sarah [Pidgeon] playing their hearts out [as JFK Jr. and Carolyn]."**

Where can I watch Love Story?

The first three episodes of *Love Story* premiere Thursday, Feb. 12 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on FX and Hulu. New episodes drop weekly on Thursdays.

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