Carolyn Bessette was reportedly not a fan of Gwyneth Paltrow, whom she met while working at Calvin Klein in the ’90s.
“Gwyneth was Carolyn Bessette, one of the brand’s small team of spokespeople,” author Amy O’Dell writes of the Calvin Klein fashion house in “Gwyneth: The Biography.”
“According to one person familiar with her thinking, Gwyneth irritated her. When Gwyneth’s photo appeared in the newspaper, Bessette, who considered her ‘a little Miss Perfect,’ made harsh remarks about her,” the author claimed.
A spokesperson for Paltrow did not respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
Paltrow was a star client of Klein’s, as confirmed by former staffer Carla Mendelsohn, who shared a story about meeting the “Marty Supreme” star in the late ’90s.
In an Instagram post, Mendelsohn recalled that the 53-year-old actress was transported to the fashion show by “helicopter” and immediately shown to her seat, unlike other celebrities who had to wait for the elevator to fill before being taken to the show.
“I wasn’t allowed to look at Paltrow or talk to her, except to say, ‘Follow me,'” Menedelsohn recalled, stressing that Paltrow had no disrespect or entitlement.
“She was a quiet, 26-year-old A-list celebrity who was trying to take her seat gracefully,” Mendelsohn added.
Bessette’s time at Calvin Klein and her now-iconic personal style have received renewed interest due to the popularity of Hulu and FX’s hit series Love Story, which explored Bessette’s relationship and marriage to John F. Kennedy Jr.
Bessette worked at Calvin Klein for almost eight years, from 1988 to the spring of 1996.
She started working as a sales associate in a Boston store and was brought to New York, where she was quickly promoted to public relations director and programming editor.
However, Bessette left home just before the wedding.
Sasha Chermayev, a longtime friend of Kennedy, exclusively told Page Six that she quit her job because “everything had to revolve around John & George Magazine,” referring to the political lifestyle magazine that Kennedy Jr. co-founded in 1995.
The couple died in a plane crash in July 1999, along with their younger sister Lauren.
