People With Connections to John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Using Pair’s Notoriety for Clout

Call it the Carolyn Bessette Kennedy effect. Nearly three decades after the style icon died alongside her husband, John F. Kennedy Jr., and her sister Lauren, she’s once again setting trends thanks to the popularity of Hulu’s Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette. Content creators are posting reels in which they flip their hair and pretend to smoke à la Carolyn, looking impossibly cool in camel skirts and black turtlenecks. Celebs like Bella Hadid are sporting her skinny sunglasses. There’s even been a run on her trademark tortoise-shell headbands at the West Village shop where she used to buy them.

It’s not just fans jumping on the former Calvin Klein muse’s “quiet luxury” renaissance. Those who knew her are using their connection for clout — and more. John’s former assistant, RoseMarie Terenzio, for instance, is auctioning off some of Carolyn’s designer clothes. Carole Radziwill, who was married to John’s late cousin Anthony, is revelling in newfound relevance. She recently posted a Substack piece about her relationship with John and Carolyn — while it seems hardly a coincidence that Bravo just announced she’s returning to The Real Housewives of New York City following an eight-year hiatus.

As fans are gobbling up any new info, John and Carolyn’s families are furious. John’s nephew Jack Schlossberg called out Ryan Murphy, the producer of Love Story, which follows the couple’s turbulent romance leading up to their untimely deaths as the plane JFK Jr. was piloting crashed off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard in July 1999. “He’s making a ton of money on a grotesque display of someone else’s life,” the budding politician said on CBS News Sunday Morning March 1. A source tells Star Carolyn’s family feels the same way. “They’re very private and extremely protective.”

Name Dropping

People with connections to Carolyn and John seem to be coming out of the woodwork. Calvin Klein’s ex-wife Kelly, who is portrayed in the series, has been sharing old photos and footage featuring Carolyn on social media. Even those without a connection are gaining traction. Kara Mendelsohn, a former Calvin Klein employee who did not work with Carolyn, has been racking up views on TikTok with illuminating ’90s-era behind-the-scenes work stories about the design house. Kara’s influencer daughter Ella is also getting in on the action, trying on her mom’s vintage Calvin Klein clothes in reels. (A Feb. 17 clip has 674,000 views!)

Not that this is new. According to the New York Times, RoseMarie previously made tens of thousands of dollars selling clothes Carolyn gave her. Fashion historian Lucy Bishop — who hosted the auction — told the outlet she’s not surprised by the resurgence, explaining, “People have always been fascinated with [Carolyn] — even during the 1990s, every woman in New York wanted to dress like her.” It’s “bittersweet,” says the source. “Carolyn would be happy her taste has stood the test of time, but she also complained about bottom-feeders who tried to profit off of her.” (After all, this was a woman hounded by photographers who made big bucks from pics of her.)

In a Substack article titled “The Sunday Stories,” Carole — whose husband Anthony, JFK Jr.’s best friend, died of cancer in August 1999 — appeared to sympathize, lamenting that Love Story is “filled with details no one could possibly know.” But she then went on to dish about what John did to achieve his famous coif.

Bad Press

It’s all a bit much considering Carolyn’s aversion to fame is central to Love Story. “Carolyn hated scrutiny and the intrusion into her private life,” says the source. “Being picked apart would’ve been her worst nightmare.” Not that Murphy seems to be troubled by what he’s unleashed. The producer addressed Jack’s criticism of the show last summer, saying on Gavin Newsom’s podcast he thought it was “odd” for Jack, who was six when his uncle died, to be angry “about your relative that you really don’t remember.” On CBS, Jack urged him to donate the “millions” he’s earning from the series to one of John’s causes, sniping, “If you want to know someone who’s never met anyone in my family, knows nothing about us, talk to Ryan Murphy.”