Photo Credit: Getty Images
Actress Daryl Hannah is speaking publicly about her past relationship with John F. Kennedy Jr. for the first time, and she's using the moment to strongly criticize how she's depicted in the TV series Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette.
In a newly published essay for The New York Times, Hannah says the series misrepresents both her character and her real-life romance with Kennedy. The actress argues that the show presents fictional behavior as if it were fact, leaving viewers with a distorted impression of who she was during that period.
The nine-episode drama, created by Ryan Murphy, traces Kennedy's romantic life leading up to his marriage to Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. Actress Dree Hemingway portrays Hannah, whose on-and-off relationship with Kennedy lasted several years before their split in the mid-1990s.
Hannah says the version of herself seen in the show is far removed from reality.
According to the actress, the character is written as self-centered and emotionally volatile — a portrayal she believes was intentionally crafted to create dramatic tension in the story. She insists the show's narrative choices unfairly frame her as an obstacle to Kennedy's later relationship.
In her essay, Hannah rejects several specific scenes that have drawn attention from viewers. She disputes depictions suggesting she hosted wild drug-fueled gatherings or behaved disrespectfully toward the Kennedy family and their personal history.
"I have never used cocaine or held the kind of parties shown in the series," she wrote, emphasizing that many of the incidents portrayed simply never happened.
Hannah also says she was reluctant to address the show at all, explaining that she has historically avoided responding to rumors or sensationalized stories about her private life. For decades, she chose not to comment publicly on her romance with Kennedy.
However, the actress says the series pushed her to speak out after audiences began treating the dramatized storyline as historical truth.
She revealed that since the show premiered earlier this year, she has received angry and threatening messages from viewers who appear to believe the fictionalized portrayal is accurate.
Hannah maintained that staying silent in the past was a personal choice, not an acceptance of misinformation.
