Episode 3 ofFX's "Love Story"rounds out the three-part premiere of the limited series depicting the romance ofJohn F. Kennedy Jr.and his wife,Carolyn Bessette, which was cut short when they boarded a fatal flight in 1999.
Like Episodes 1 and 2, which also debuted Feb. 12, the third installment shares tidbits about the former first family which might pique the interest of viewers. In the first few minutes, John (Paul Anthony Kelly) reads a card from the numerous bouquets well-wishers have sent toJacqueline Kennedy Onassis(Naomi Watts) following her diagnosis with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
"You're in my reflections," John reads from one card. "Michael Jackson?"
"Mom secured his book deal,"Caroline Kennedy(Grace Gummer) tells her brother.
And in actuality, the former first lady did help arrange that book deal,according to Reuters. Onassis began working as an editor at Doubleday in 1978. According to Stephen Davis, who collaborated with Jackson on his 1988 memoir "Moonwalk," Onassis was the "only person in America who could get him on the phone."Here are the real stories behind other notable moments in Episode 3. Subsequent episodes, to be released weekly (FX, Thursdays at 9 ET/PT, and streaming on Hulu), will be fact-checked as well.
Was John F. Kennedy Jr. really jumped?
John tells Carolyn (Sarah Pidgeon) in "Love Story" that he was robbed as a teenager.
"You know I got jumped in a park once," he says. "I was like 15, riding my bike to a tennis lesson, and this guy just socked me, jacked my bike and took off."
The New York Times reportedon an incident in 1974, when Kennedy Jr. was 13. While riding his bike through Central Park en route to a tennis lesson, the outlet said a man "grabbed both the bike and the tennis racket and rode off into the park."
John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette became tabloid fodder when the publisher son of President John F. Kennedy, described as the "closest thing to American royalty," and the Calvin Klein publicist, "a star in her own right," met in 1992 while at his fitting for the clothing brand. In recent years, Bessette's fashion has found a new following – particularly on TikTok – as a new generation fawns over her simple but chic wardrobe. After they were married, Bessette was known as Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. The end of the Kennedys' love story shocked the world when they died in a plane crash alongside Bessette-Kennedy's sister, Lauren Bessette. The former first son was piloting the aircraft when it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Martha's Vineyard in 1999. Now, director Ryan Murphy is releasing the first installment of his "Love Story" anthology based on the whirlwind romance between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. See their relationship in photos, beginning here at the U.S. Customs House in New York City on May 19, 1999, for the Newman's Own/George Awards." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
John Kennedy Jr. with wife Carolyn Bessette arrive at Bright Night Whitney, a retrospective celebration of a century of American art at the Whitney Museum in New York City March 9, 1999. Kennedy was the publisher of George magazine. The pair married in 1996 on Cumberland Island, Georgia." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy leave the funeral of Michael Kennedy at Our Lady of Victory Parish in Centerville, Massachusetts, after services, Jan. 3, 1998." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette stop for photographers after Kennedy presented actor Robert De Niro with the Municipal Art Society of New York's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal at a gala dinner in New York, March 4, 1997." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy leave at the end of the White House Correspondent's annual dinner in Washington, D.C., May 1, 1999." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy arrive at a gala to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Whitney Museum's Madison Avenue building in New York City." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy arrive at the White House for a state dinner in honor of British Prime Minister Tony Blair." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
The July 18, 1999, edition of the Cape Cod Times featured the news that John F. Kennedy Jr.'s plane went down off Martha's Vineyard on July 16, 1999." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., left, Max Kennedy and Victoria Kennedy gather with family on the beach at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, to await word of John F. Kennedy Jr., whose plane went missing off Martha's Vineyard, July 17, 1999." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Victoria Reggie Kennedy consoles Sen. Ted Kennedy after the Coast Guard transports John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and Lauren Bessette's bodies after they were recovered from the plane." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Members of the Kennedy family head out to sea aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Sanibel which took them to the USS Briscoe for a burial at sea on July 22, 1999. " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
A makeshift memorial for John Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and her sister Lauren Bessette, at sunset on Moshup Beach, Martha's Vineyard." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
A photograph of John Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette sits among flowers and other items at a makeshift shrine outside the couple's apartment building in New York. Kennedy, his wife and her sister, Lauren Bessette, died when the plane he was flying crashed off Martha's Vineyard on July 16, 1999." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Hundreds of flowers and letters to John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette were placed on the hedges and the ground at the John F. Kennedy Memorial in Hyannis, Massachusetts." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> See John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette's whirlwind romance
John F. Kennedy Jr.andCarolyn Bessettebecame tabloid fodderwhen the publisher son of President John F. Kennedy, described as the "closest thing to American royalty," and the Calvin Klein publicist, "a star in her own right," met in 1992 while at his fitting for the clothing brand. In recent years, Bessette's fashion has found a new following – particularly on TikTok – as a new generation fawns over her simple but chic wardrobe. After they were married, Bessette was known as Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. The end of the Kennedys' love story shocked the world when they died in a plane crash alongside Bessette-Kennedy's sister, Lauren Bessette. The former first son was piloting the aircraft when it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Martha's Vineyard in 1999. Now, director Ryan Murphy is releasing thefirst installment of his "Love Story" anthologybased on the whirlwind romance betweenJohn F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. See their relationship in photos, beginning hereat the U.S. Customs House in New York City on May 19, 1999, for the Newman's Own/George Awards.
Did Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis burn saved letters before her death?
"Love Story" shows Jackie tossing letters into her fireplace. In one, "The Godfather" star Marlon Brando complimented her dance moves, which he hoped to see again soon.
"I don't need my personal correspondence memorialized in the Smithsonian," Jackie tells John. "I don't want them to be preserved publicly or privately."
The real Onassis also torched letters from her collection,J. Randy Taraborrelli, author of "Jackie: Public, Private, Secret," learned from architect John "Jack" Warnecke.
Warnecke, who designed President Kennedy's resting place in Arlington National Cemetery, also became romantically involved with Onassis in the mid-1960s.
Warnecke told Taraborrelli, "Every night that week, she was inviting a trusted friend or family member to her home to take part in" the burning of the letters. Per Taraborrelli, "Jackie untied the yarn and took a letter from the stack. She read it before placing it into the fire."
Onassis died on May 19, 1994, after her cancer metastasized. She was 64.
Did Daryl Hannah surprise John F. Kennedy Jr. at his mom's wake?
In "Love Story," John is stunned to see Daryl Hannah (Dree Hemingway) show up for his mom's wake at Jackie's New York City apartment. She attempts to connect with him about grief, bringing up the loss of her dog. John seems to resent her presence and insinuation that they could rekindle their relationship.
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In "JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography," Carole Radziwill, who was married to JFK Jr.'s cousin Anthony Radziwill, says she helped Hannah pick out "a proper funeral dress. I could see it was over. John could barely look at her. I think she knew, too."
Sasha Chermayeff, a friend of JFK Jr.'s, says in the book that he told her he was "dreading dealing" with Hannah and that the actress incessantly spoke about her ill dog. "I'm thinking, oh, my God. I'm sorry that you have an old dog who's sick," Chermayeff said. "But your partner − whatever it is right now − he's downstairs in the kitchen. His mother died."
"I believe they broke up for good shortly after the funeral," Radziwill said, "because three months later Anthony and I got married and John had quietly rekindled his romance with Carolyn."
Did Caroline Kennedy plant marijuana in her mom's garden?
Episode 3 shows John and Caroline both overwhelmed after greeting mourners at Jackie's wake. In need of a reprieve, they take a beat in their mother's bedroom.
"Remember when she found your weed plant?" John asks his older sister. "In the garden at Hyannis?"
"She didn't find it," Caroline says. "A police officer found it."
"Didn't you tell her it was a zucchini?" John asks.
"Parsley," Caroline corrects him. "Her voice dropped into that really scary octave."
Kate Storey recounts the time Onassis discovered marijuana growing in her garden in her book"White House by the Sea."Onassis' assistant, Kathy McKeon, curious as to why "the teenaged Kennedy cousins" were in the garden, went to investigate. She brought over Jack Dempsey, former lieutenant of the Massachusetts State Police, who was "often hanging out in the Secret Service trailer." He confirmed McKeon's suspicions.
"He and the Secret Service men ripped the plants up that afternoon," Storey writes. Though a year of the incident is not specified in an excerpt, Storey adds, "Caroline and John were too young to have had anything to do with it."
A who's who of celebrities stepped out Feb. 3, 2026, for the premiere of FX's "Love Story." The show is director Ryan Murphy's first installment of an anthology based on the whirlwind romance between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. Scroll to see stars on the red carpet, beginning with Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon. Pidgeon and Kelly star as Kennedy and Bessette.
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Naomi Watts attends the premiere at Carnegie Hall on Feb. 3, 2026 in New York City. " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Francesca Farago and Jesse Sullivan" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Sarah Pidgeon, Grace Gummer, Paul Anthony Kelly and Naomi Watts " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Ashley Iaconetti" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Elizabeth Sulcer " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Alessandro Nivola " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Noah Fearnley" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Jordan Roth" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Benito Skinner" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Dree Hemingway " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Kim Rosenstock" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Constance Zimmer " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Omari K. Chancellor " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Stars step out for Ryan Murphy's 'Love Story' premere: See photos
A who's who of celebrities stepped out Feb. 3, 2026, for thepremiere of FX's "Love Story."The show is director Ryan Murphy'sfirst installment of an anthologybased on the whirlwind romance betweenJohn F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.Scroll to see stars on the red carpet, beginning with Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon. Pidgeon and Kelly star as Kennedy and Bessette.
Did Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis write a letter to JFK Jr. before her death?
Following Jackie's death in "Love Story," John reads a letter from his mom.
"Dear John," it begins. "I understand the pressures you will always have to face as a Kennedy, even though we brought you into this world as an innocent. You, more than anyone, have a place in history. No matter what path you blaze in life, all I ask is that you continue to make Caroline, the Kennedy family, and most importantly yourself proud. Stay close to those who know you and love you as you are. All my love, Mommy."
William D. Cohan wrote of a letter penned to JFK Jr. in his book,"Four Friends: Promising Lives Cut Short,"which closely matches the one mentioned in "Love Story."
"A few days before Jackie Kennedy Onassis died, in May 1994, she wrote a letter to her son John, to be opened only after her death," Cohan writes. " 'I understand the pressure you'll forever have to endure as a Kennedy, even though we brought you into this world as an innocent. You, especially, have a place in history. No matter what course in life you choose, all I can ask is that you and Caroline continue to make me, the Kennedy family, and yourself proud.' "
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Love Story fact check Episode 3 – Did Jackie burn private letters?
