FX Drops First Trailer for Ryan Murphy’s Controversial New Kennedy Series

Ryan Murphy’s new show The Beauty is still in the middle of its first season, but the prolific super-producer already has another series on the way. Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette will chronicle the romance between the two title characters, with John F. Kennedy played by Paul Anthony Kelly and Carolyn Bessette by Sarah Pidgeon. The series will have nine episodes in all, with the first three dropping on FX and Hulu on Thursday, February 12.

John F. Kennedy Jr. was the scion of the Kennedy political dynasty, working as an attorney in Manhattan and later as the publisher of his own magazine, George. Through it all, he was a popular public figure often hounded by paparazzi. Carolyn Bessette, a star in her own right, was a stylish sales assistant who rose to become an executive at Calvin Klein. The two married in 1996 and died in a tragic plane accident in 1999.

The show, based on Elizabeth Beller’s book Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, has all the drama, romance, and celebrity wattage you’d expect from a Ryan Murphy production. The new trailer bares down on the glitz and glamour. Watch it below:

Why Is ‘Love Story’ Controversial?

Starting in 2016 with American Crime Story, Ryan Murphy has put his name on a lot of shows that depict actual history, and they’ve often been criticized for sensationalizing or fabricating the truth. The first season of his anthology show Monster, about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, was accused of exploiting Dahmer’s victims for the sake of entertainment, including by some of the victims’ family members. The next season of Monster was about Erik and Lyle Menendez, who were convicted of fatally shooting their parents. That show was also criticized, this time for stretching the truth. Erik Menendez himself said it was “rooted in horrible and blatant lies.”

Love Story is now weathering a similar controversy. Jack Schlossberg, John F. Kennedy Jr.’s nephew, recently clarified that the family was not consulted about the show, according to Deadline. And it sounds like he fears that the show is an excuse to profit off a family tragedy. “For the record, I think admiration for my uncle John is great,” Schlossberg wrote. “What I don’t think is great is profiting off of it in a grotesque way.”

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Considering Murphy’s reputation for favoring entertainment over truth, it seems doubtful that Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette will be 100% accurate, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be fun to watch. If the show is successful, it will be the start of a new Love Story anthology series, and the family members of public figures quite possibly calling out each new season as it comes out.

It should be noted that although Ryan Murphy is a producer on Love Story, it was actually created by Connor Hines. In addition to Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon, the show also stars Grace Gummer (Caroline Kennedy), Alessandro Nivola (Calvin Klein), Leila George (Kelly Klein), Constance Zimmer (Ann Marie Messina), Sydney Lemmon (Lauren Bessette), and Naomi Watts (Jackie Kennedy Onassis).

Release Date: February 12, 2026
Network: FX, Hulu
Directors: Max Winkler, Anthony Hemingway, Crystle Roberson Dorsey, Gillian Robespierre, Jesse Peretz
Writers: Connor Hines, D.V. DeVincentis, Juli Weiner, Kim Rosenstock