The Kennedy grandson is being outspoken with his criticism of the FX series Love Story, labeling it as ‘fiction’ and urging Ryan Murphy to donate profits to preserve JFK’s legacy
Jack Schlossberg calls out Ryan Murphy
Jack Schlossberg is continuing his public criticism of Ryan Murphy over the portrayal of his late uncle John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette in FX’s Love Story.
Appearing on CBS Sunday Morning, Schlossberg did not hold back when asked about the series. “If you want to know someone who’s never met anyone in my family, knows nothing about us, talk to Ryan Murphy,” Schlossberg said. “The guy knows nothing about what he’s talking about, and he’s making a ton of money on a grotesque display of someone else’s life.”
The show chronicles the romance between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette before the couple died in a 1999 plane crash. Schlossberg stressed that the series is ‘fiction’ with a ‘capital F.’ Reiterating criticism he first shared over the summer, months before the show premiered, Schlossberg urged Murphy to donate profits from the project to causes associated with President John F. Kennedy.
“I would hope that Mr. Murphy would donate some of the millions of dollars of profits that he’s making to maybe some of the causes that John championed throughout his life,” Schlossberg said. “Maybe he would donate some of that money to the JFK library to help keep President Kennedy’s memory alive, but he’s not. He’s making money. This is not a documentary.”
When asked why he was singling out this series, given the Kennedy family has been the subject of many books, films and television projects, Schlossberg pointed to recent political developments involving Donald Trump and his cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr..
Jack Schlossberg, grandson of former President John. F Kennedy, is running for Congress
“I think in the last year, two years, three years, partly because of RFK Jr., but also partly because Donald Trump has used JFK as sort of a human punching bag, both by renaming the Kennedy Center after himself, by doing a false reinvestigation into the assassination and dismantling all the programs that he fought for, there’s a lot of misinformation now and iconography being used about the Kennedy family, my family, at a time when we really can’t afford to confuse people,” Schlossberg said.
“We really need to take every breath that we have to try to make things better. So, if Ryan Murphy really cares so much about the Kennedy family, my uncle John, maybe he would try to do something about getting Trump out of power.”
Schlossberg first criticized the show on Instagram over the summer, writing that Murphy is “profiting off” JFK Jr.’s legacy in a “grotesque way.”
“For those wondering whether his family was ever consulted, or has anything to do with, the new shows being made about him,” Schlossberg wrote, “the answer is no.”
Murphy responded on This Is Gavin Newsom, hosted by Gavin Newsom, saying, “I thought it was an odd choice to be mad about your relative that you really don’t remember.”
Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly play JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette
Schlossberg replied on Instagram, listing personal memories including “being the ring bearer at his wedding and the day he died,” he wrote. “I remember Wyclef singing at his funeral.”
He also wrote that Murphy is “making millions off John, making a public spectacle of it but won’t contribute any of your riches to the causes he championed, or the legacy of public service he represented. Also odd that the actor playing the sexiest man alive is bloated!”
Sarah Pidgeon, who plays Bessette, said, “I don’t know what it’s like to have a TV show or a book or movie written about my family, and I understand the sensitivities. He has every right to share how he feels about it.
“We were approaching this with integrity and respect, and I think we were successful in that, but we were also understanding that these weren’t just real people — but they also have family and friends still with us today, and that their legacy reverberates and lives on through them as well. That was always part of my consciousness. I hope that if they do watch it, they feel that we led with respect and honor for John and Carolyn — that’s my hope.”
