Actress Daryl Hannah Condemns FX Series for False Portrayal, Reports Threatening Messages from Viewers

Actress and director Daryl Hannah has publicly denounced the FX series “Love Story” for what she calls lies and misogyny in its portrayal of her relationship with John F. Kennedy Jr., according to a New York Times op-ed she published.

Hannah, who dated JFK Jr. before his relationship with Carolyn Bessette, appears as a central character in Ryan Murphy’s popular series about the Kennedy-Bessette romance. Actress Dree Hemingway plays Hannah in the show, which premiered February 12 on FX and Hulu.

The series creators did not consult with Hannah during production, and one producer has referred to her character as an “adversary” in the story, according to Hannah’s op-ed titled “How Can ‘Love Story’ Get Away With This?”

“The choice to portray her as irritating, self-absorbed, whiny and inappropriate was no accident,” Hannah writes in the Times piece.

Hannah argues that the show transforms her into a “narrative device” by making her a spiteful obstacle to the JFK Jr.-Bessette relationship. She calls this approach “textbook misogyny to tear down one woman in order to build up another.”

The actress categorically denies several behaviors attributed to her character in the series. “I have never used cocaine in my life or hosted cocaine-fueled parties. I have never pressured anyone into marriage. I have never desecrated any family heirloom or intruded upon anyone’s private memorial,” Hannah writes in the op-ed.

She also denies planting stories in the press or making disparaging comments about Jacqueline Onassis, who appears in the series portrayed by Naomi Watts.

“These are not creative embellishments of personality. They are assertions about conduct — and they are false,” Hannah states in the Times piece.

Since the show’s premiere, Hannah reports receiving “many hostile and even threatening messages from viewers who seem to believe the portrayal is factual.” She argues that unlike traditional media coverage that quickly fades, “lies live online forever” and “a dramatized portrayal can become, for millions of viewers, the definitive version of a real person’s life.”

Hannah opens her essay by referencing advice from Jacqueline Onassis, who told her that while tabloids and newspapers “often sold ridiculous lies, they were nothing more than bird cage liner by the next day.” Hannah found comfort in those words at the time but says “today they no longer hold true.”

The actress acknowledges her public profile comes with scrutiny. “I know that as an actress I will be in the public eye. I’ve endured a number of outrageous lies, crappy stories and unflattering characterizations before,” she writes. However, she adds that “my silence should not be mistaken for agreement with lies.”

Hannah is not alone in criticizing the series. Jack Schlossberg, JFK Jr.’s nephew who is running for Congress, recently called the show a “grotesque display of someone else’s life,” according to the source material.

Series creator and showrunner Connor Hines previously told a trade publication that he chose not to consult the Kennedy family during production because “as a writer, it’s more healthy and effective to have some distance from the subject matter.”

Hannah concludes her op-ed by stating she has always “honored” the Kennedy family’s right to privacy and that people “claiming to have any intimate knowledge of our personal lives are self-serving sensationalists trading in gossip, innuendo and speculation.”

The actress ends her public statement with: “May love and truth prevail.”