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(The Hill) — Actress Daryl Hannah has issued a strong rebuke against her portrayal in the FX series “Love Story,” which centers on John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. In an op-ed published by the New York Times on Friday, Hannah criticized the show for its misrepresentation, labeling it as “false” and indicative of “textbook misogyny.”
“It’s shocking that I must defend myself against a TV portrayal,” Hannah expressed in her editorial. “These aren’t mere creative liberties taken with my character; they are false claims about my actions.”
The series, directed by Ryan Murphy, explores the relationship between Kennedy and Bessette, who were wed in 1996 and tragically perished in a plane crash three years later.
A character in the show, portrayed by Dree Hemingway, is styled after Hannah, who had a relationship with Kennedy from 1988 to 1994.
“The actions and behaviors attributed to me are untrue,” Hannah states. “I have never used cocaine or hosted drug-fueled gatherings. I have also never pressured anyone to marry, nor have I desecrated family heirlooms or encroached on private memorials. I did not plant stories in the media or compare Jacqueline Onassis’ passing to a pet’s death.”
She criticized that her portrayal in the show as “irritating, self-absorbed, whiny and inappropriate,” saying it was both inaccurate and “no accident.” Nina Jacobson, one of the producers of the series, has argued that Hannah’s character is a necessary “adversary” to the main storyline of the romance between Bessette and Kennedy.
Hannah responded that she understands that “storytelling requires tension” but argued that “a real, living person is not a narrative device.”
“When entertainment borrows a real person’s name, it can permanently impact her reputation,” she said.
“Popular culture has long elevated certain women by portraying others as rivals, obstacles or villains,” Hannah said. “Isn’t it textbook misogyny to tear down one woman in order to build up another?”
Though the show is inspired by Elizabeth Beller’s book, “Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy,” Hannah argued many people can’t distinguish fiction from fact, making them see her portrayal as a true representation of her real character.
Hannah said since the show premiered on Feb. 12, she has received a string of “hostile” and “even threatening” messages from viewers.
She said she was advised by Onassis before she died that while publications often sold “ridiculous lies” about public figures, few people continued caring about them the next day. Hannah said she found “great comfort and consolation in those words” but argued that they “no longer hold true” in the digital age where social media preserves and digs up stories from the past forever.
“A dramatized portrayal can become, for millions of viewers, the definitive version of a real person’s life,” she said