Lisa DePaulo said she &34;dreaded&34; how &34;Love Story&34; would recreate JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette's final moments. ExGeorge magazine staffer 'sobbed' watching Love Story finale: 'That horrible lingering question' Lisa DePaulo said she &34;dreaded&34; how &34;Love Story&34; would recreate JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette's final moments. By Daysia Tolentino :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/DaysiaTolentinoauthorphotob1c9bf2343cf4cf7b77759eeb9f69e8d.jpg) Daysia Tolentino Daysia Tolentino is a writer at . She has written for since 2025. Her work has appeared in NBC News, Vulture, GQ, and InStyle.

Lisa DePaulo said she "dreaded" how "Love Story" would recreate JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette's final moments.

Ex-*George *magazine staffer 'sobbed' watching *Love Story *finale: 'That horrible lingering question'

Lisa DePaulo said she "dreaded" how "Love Story" would recreate JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette's final moments.

By Daysia Tolentino

Daysia Tolentino

Daysia Tolentino is a writer at *. *She has written for * *since 2025. Her work has appeared in NBC News, Vulture, GQ, and InStyle.

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March 27, 2026 4:29 p.m. ET

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John F. Kennedy Jr. stands near the cover of the 'George' magazine during a press conference on Sept. 7, 1995. Credit:

Steve Allen/Liaison/Getty

A former *George *magazine writer and friend to John F. Kennedy Jr. has reacted to the fictionalized version of his death in FX's *Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette *finale.

Lisa DePaulo, a features writer for JFK Jr.'s political magazine *George,* has been giving an insider's look into the real lives of her former boss and his wife throughout the duration of *Love Story*'s run. She wrote that the finale was "the episode I've lived in perpetual fear of" in *The Hollywood Reporter.*

In particular, she "dreaded" how the Ryan Murphy-produced series would depict JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy's catastrophic demise. The couple, along with Carolyn's sister Lauren Bessette, died in a plane crash on July 16, 1999. John had been piloting the small single-engine plane from New Jersey to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts.

"I sobbed my guts out," DePaulo wrote. "You know what's funny? In all these years, 27 to be exact, I've never once asked any of my friends from *George* if they, too, have to constantly bat away the most devastating thought, that horrible lingering question — and then there's Ed Schlossberg (played by Ben Shenkman) spelling it out in* Love Story*: 'Would they have known they were going down?' Stop, just stop."

Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and John F Kennedy Jr. on April 6, 1998 in New York.

Ron Galella Collection via Getty

DePaulo said she didn't want to picture her old colleague's death. Instead, she wanted to remember JFK Jr. how he was in their last interaction together. Ahead of DePaulo's profile of Rob Lowe for *George*, which shuttered two years after the crash, the writer and her publisher had been chatting about Lowe's infamous 1988 sex tape scandal. John had been recovering from a fractured ankle.

"We get to the men's room door and John still has his arm in mine as he opens it," DePaulo wrote. "'Um, John, I don't think that's in my contract.' And he cracks up. 'Have a great trip, Leese. And have some fun out there.'"

DePaulo said she will "give Murphy props for making Carolyn and Lauren's mother such a central figure in this episode." She admitted that the producer's show gave JFK Jr. and Bessette's deaths a "modicum of dignity," but said she was "glad it's f---ing over."

'Love Story' producers answer Daryl Hannah's criticism of her portrayal

What 'Love Story' missed about Carolyn Bessette with the absence of Carole Radziwill

JFK Jr. next to copies of his magazine 'George'.

Lawrence Schwartzwald/Sygma via Getty

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In *Love Story'*s fictionalized version of events, John begins his descent to land before nervously glancing at his instruments, as the haze outside makes it hard to see the island. Carolyn checks in on him and tells him to "just breathe." The scene cuts to black before the crash.

The show has taken quite a few creative liberties in its portrayal of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. It has received criticism from actress Daryl Hannah, who dated JFK Jr. before Carolyn and disputed how she was portrayed in *Love Story*. Jack Schlossberg, JFK Jr.'s nephew, has also slammed the series, calling it a "grotesque display of someone else's life."

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Source: TV

Published: March 27, 2026 at 04:57PM on Source: PRIME TIME

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