Daryl Hannah isn’t into “Love Story.”
In a New York Times op-ed titled “How Can ‘Love Story’ Get Away With This?”, the actor and director slams Ryan Murphy’s hit FX series about the romance between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette as “lies” and “misogyny.” Hannah, who dated JFK Jr. before Bessette, is the central character in the drama, played by Dree Hemingway. The show’s creators did not consult Hannah, and, as she points out in an op-ed, one producer called her character an “enemy” in the story.
“I have generally chosen not to respond to media reports about me. I have long believed that when I engage with distortions, they often amplify them. However, I have chosen not to respond to media reports about me. I have long believed that distortions are often amplified when I engage with them. However, I have chosen not to take advantage of the recent tragedies surrounding John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. “There is a character in the TV series that uses my name and represents her as me. The choice to portray her as frustrated, self-absorbed, whining and inappropriate was not a coincidence,” Hannah wrote.
She begins her essay with advice she once received from none other than Jacqueline Onassis. In this series, she is played by Naomi Watts. “She told me that tabloids and magazines and newspapers often sold ridiculous lies, but the next day they were nothing but birdcage liners,” Hannah writes. “At that time, I found great comfort and solace in those words. But now they no longer apply.”
Now, Hanna argues that “lies live forever online” and that “dramatized depictions can become the definitive version of real people’s lives for millions of viewers.”
Dree Hemingway plays Daryl Hannah on FX’s “Love Story”
FX
By making Hanna a perverse obstacle to the coupling of JFK Jr. and Bessette, “Love Story” turned “real, living characters” into a “narrative device,” Hanna writes. “Popular culture has long elevated certain women by portraying them as rivals, obstacles, and villains. Isn’t it textbook misogyny to degrade one woman in order to build up another?”
“The character of ‘Daryl Hannah’ as portrayed in the series is not an even remotely accurate representation of my life, my actions, or my relationship with John. The actions and actions attributed to me are not true. I have never used cocaine in my life or attended any cocaine-fueled parties. I have never forced anyone to marry me. I have never desecrated any family heirloom or invaded anyone’s personal monument. I have never compared the death of Jacqueline Onassis to the death of a dog. Having to defend myself against a TV show is amazing in itself. These are not creative embellishments of personality; they are falsehoods. ”
Since “Love Story” premiered on FX and Hulu on February 12, Hanna said, “I have received many hostile and even threatening messages from viewers who believe this depiction to be true.”
“As an actress, I know I’m going to be in the public eye. I’ve endured a lot of outrageous lies, trash talk, and poor characterization,” Hannah wrote. “Rather than fight them, I chose to focus on work and respect my loved ones by keeping my personal life private. However, my silence should not be misconstrued as consent to a lie. It appears that my discretion has targeted me.”
She added that she has always “respected” the Kennedy family’s right to privacy, and that “people who claim to have any intimate knowledge of our private lives are self-serving sensationalists who trade in gossip, innuendo, and speculation.” Hannah concludes the editorial with, “May love and truth prevail.”
Hannah isn’t the only public figure connected to the Kennedy family to speak out about the show. JFK Jr.’s nephew Jack Schlossberg, who is running for Congress, recently slammed the series as a “grotesque depiction of other people’s lives.”
“Love Story” creator and showrunner Connor Hines previously told Variety that he didn’t consult the Kennedy family during the series’ production because “as a writer, it’s healthier and more effective to have some distance from the subject matter.”
Separately, Hemingway told Variety that he wrote Hannah a “note” detailing “how much I loved her and what an honor it was to play her.” Hemingway added, “This whole project was so lovingly crafted, it’s a love story that couldn’t possibly be true.”
Hannah didn’t write back.
