Love Story Executive Producer Hits Back at Daryl Hannah Over JFK Jr. Series

FX has a shiny new dramatization about John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, and it ’s already kicked up dust. After Daryl Hannah blasted the show’s version of her in a New York Times essay, one of the executive producers stepped in to respond — and to say, basically, they did their homework.

What the producer says they did — and why

Brad Simpson, an executive producer on 'Love Story: John F Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette,' told Variety in an interview published Friday, March 27, that the series was always meant to focus on John and Carolyn and that the team put a lot of time into research. He says they combed through biographies and reported accounts, knowing that when you turn real people into characters, emotions run high. His line: they tried to treat everyone with empathy, and they genuinely care about the people involved in this very real tragedy.

Simpson also stresses the show is a dramatization — but with a legal team pushing hard on fact-checking behind the scenes. In his view, scrutiny has actually gotten more rigorous since the days of 'The People v. O.J. Simpson.' What has changed, he says, is the conversation around these shows: fewer deep-dive articles comparing scenes to source material, more snap judgments on social platforms. Translation: less longform analysis, more quick takes.

Daryl Hannah calls foul on her portrayal

Earlier in March, Daryl Hannah published an essay in the New York Times taking aim at how she’s depicted in Ryan Murphy’s series. Hannah — portrayed on the show by Dree Hemingway and a former girlfriend of JFK Jr. for five years in the 1980s — says the storyline attached to her isn’t remotely accurate. She specifically rejects several behaviors the show ties to her and says the fallout has been immediate.

• She says she has never used cocaine or hosted drug-fueled parties.
• She says she never pressured anyone into marriage.
• She says she never desecrated a family heirloom or inserted herself into a private memorial.
• She says she never compared Jacqueline Onassis’s death to a dog’s.

'When so many people watch a dramatization that uses a real name, real-life consequences follow.'

Hannah writes that since the series aired, she’s received hostile and even threatening messages from people who seem to think what they saw is factual. Her point: once entertainment uses a real person’s name, it can stick to their reputation whether the details are right or not.

The bigger picture — and where to watch

This is the tension point with these true-story shows: the creators say they’re chasing an emotional truth while compressing, heightening, and, yes, inventing for TV. The people portrayed have to live with whatever that invention implies. Simpson’s defense is that their process is careful and their intent is respectful; Hannah’s response is that intent doesn’t undo real-world damage when the details are wrong.

'Love Story: John F Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette' is streaming on Hulu.