John F. Kennedy Jr. and Daryl Hannah first met in the early 1980s and began dating years later.
Key Points
The couple's on-and-off romance lasted five years, ending in 1994.
Hannah has criticized how their relationship is portrayed on FX's Love Story.
John F. Kennedy Jr.'s love life was already tabloid fodder before he made headlines with his wife, Carolyn Bessette. There had been rumored flings with global pop star Madonna and model Julie Baker, but it was his on-and-off relationship with actressDaryl Hannahthat really had people talking.
Decades later, FX's hit seriesLove Storyrevisits some of that drama, giving viewers a brief glimpse into their yearslong romance. Hannah has beenopenly critical of how she's portrayed, writing in an essay forThe New York Timesthat the show's version of her is "not even a remotely accurate representation" of her life, behavior, or her relationship with JFK Jr.
Here's everything to know about JFK Jr. and Daryl Hannah's real-life relationship, and what Hannah has said about her portrayal on the show.
JFK Jr. and Daryl Hannah first crossed paths in the early 1980s
Elizabeth Beller's 2024 bookOnce Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy— the inspiration behindLove Story— notes that JFK Jr. and Hannah first met in the early 1980s while on vacation with their families in St. Martin.
Hannah's stepdad, billionaire Jerrold Wexler, had strong ties to the Kennedys political world, having "donated heavily" to the Democratic National Committee and to the presidential bid of JFK Jr.'s uncle, Senator Edward "Ted" M. Kennedy.
JFK Jr. and Hannah didn't start dating right away. Their romantic spark didn't really ignite until 1988, at the wedding of his aunt Lee Radziwill to filmmaker Herbert Ross, whom Hannah had worked with onSteel Magnolias.
At the time, Hannah was in an on-again, off again relationship with singerJackson Browneand JFK Jr. had been dating Brown classmate Christina Haag.
Beller's book hinted that Hannah's stepdad may have even given them a little nudge. "Wexler called Ted, at Daryl's behest, and asked him to encourage John to spend time at the wedding with Daryl," she wrote. "In other words, she had been prescreened."
Their on-and-off romance overlapped with other relationships
After reconnecting at the wedding, JFK Jr. and Hannah started seeing each other on and off. Friends even reportedly noticed there was occasional overlap with other relationships.
In the 2024 bookJFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biographyby Liz McNeil and RoseMarie Terenzio, JFK Jr.'s friend Jack Merrill said he wasn't sure exactly what happened between JFK Jr. and Haag, but their split might've had "something to do with Daryl" since her name kept coming up.
Terenzio, JFK Jr.'s former executive assistant, also remembered some overlap with Hannah's relationship with Browne. At the time, Hannah was reportedly still living in Los Angeles and seeing the singer while hanging out with JFK Jr.
"A friend of John's told me that once or twice, John and Daryl had an argument and she would just pick up and head back to L.A. without telling him," Terenzio writes. "She was seeing Jackson when she went out there and John wasn't happy about it."
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In 1992, Hannah went through ahighly publicized breakup with Browne, whom she'd been with for a decade. It was around that time that she agreed to move to New York to live with JFK Jr., according to Carole Radziwill inJFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography.
"They stayed together for several more years and seemed happy," Radziwill notes.
JFK Jr. and Hannah reportedly got into public fights
InJFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography, Amelia Barlow, the daughter of Kennedy family friend John Perry Barlow, reflected on JFK Jr. and Hannah's dynamic. "I can only tell you what their relationship felt like to me—it felt fantastical, adventurous," she said. "It felt somewhat young and a little bit maybe naive or immature compared to his relationship with Carolyn. There was a little bit more, like, fire—and fight."
And there was certainly fire. Beller wrote in her book that JFK Jr. "had been seen screaming at Daryl Hannah" in the streets of NYC, similar to the infamous public argument he would later have with Bessette in Washington Square Park.
One memorable incident involved Air New England pilot Barry Scott, who said inJFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biographythat JFK Jr. tried to take off for Martha's Vineyard without Hannah, who was reportedly running late. After heading toward the runway, they had to turn back to pick her up, and she was not happy.
"It surprised me a little that he would leave without her," Scott said. "They had a big argument in the back of the plane while we were flying back. Just that she was pissed that he left her, and she was sort of berating him for having to make her get the plane to come back."
Jackie Kennedy was reportedly skeptical of JFK Jr.'s relationship with Hannah
Another alleged source of tension between Hannah and JFK Jr. was his mother,Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Beller wrote inOnce Upon a Timethat "Jackie's feelings about Hannah had never been overwhelmingly positive, and, as time went on, they got worse."
Family friend Jim Hart claimed inJFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biographythat Jackie "was not a fan" of their relationship. "It wasn't like she hated Daryl at all, she just didn't want her son marrying an actress—it kind of was simple. There was no great animosity, but she was always talking about, 'What do you think of Daryl? Do you think that's right for John?'"
In the same book, Charlie King, another friend, claimed that JFK Jr. once told him he and Hannah were fighting "because she's not getting along with my mother."
King added that it created some distance between them. "It felt like they were, like, estranged at the time. They seemed to be happy when they were together."
JFK Jr. and Hannah broke up in 1994
In 1994, Hannah and JFK Jr. called it quits after five years together. He went on to marry Bessette in 1996, but the coupletragically died in a 1999 plane crash, along with Bessette's sister, Lauren.
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John F. Kennedy Jr. and Daryl Hannah first met in the early 1980s and began dating years later. Key Points T...
