Caroline Kennedy laughed at her own portrayal in Ryan Murphy's "Love Story," her son Jack Schlossberg revealed this week, even as he mounted a broader critique of the miniseries for reducing his family's public service legacy to romantic drama.
Schlossberg told Katie Couric on her podcast that he showed his mother clips of actress Grace Gummer's performance as the younger Kennedy. The two found themselves amused by one particular scene, he said, despite neither having watched all nine episodes of the FX show, which concluded March 26.
"The person's freaking out and we're just laughing so hard, as if that's how my mom acts," Schlossberg recounted, describing the moment he and Kennedy viewed the footage together.
Yet Schlossberg's amusement stopped short of endorsement. Speaking to Couric during an interview largely focused on his U.S. House campaign in New York, he expressed frustration with how the series treated his family's history.
"We have a lot of serious problems facing our country and my family. We're not just celebrities. We're not just icons. These are public servants," he said. Schlossberg emphasized that his uncle, John F. Kennedy Jr., was a "very serious person" who worked in the District Attorney's office and championed civil rights causes. "Love Story" fictionalized Kennedy Jr.'s romantic life and marriage to Carolyn Bessette while overlooking his professional accomplishments and policy work, Schlossberg argued.
He also defended his parents, Kennedy and Ed Schlossberg, against their portrayal in the show. "The two nicest, most dignified, private people in the whole world who do nothing but help others," he called them in response to Couric's observation that the couple wasn't depicted positively.
Schlossberg stopped short of telling viewers to avoid the series. Instead, he urged them to remember that entertainment and reality diverge sharply. "It might be entertaining, but it's fiction," he said, adding that he respected those who enjoyed the show.
His remarks reflect a broader frustration within circles connected to Kennedy Jr. Actress Daryl Hannah, who dated Kennedy Jr. before his relationship with Bessette, published an essay in the New York Times accusing "Love Story" of misrepresenting her as "irritating, self-absorbed, whiny and inappropriate." She characterized the show's version of her life and relationship with Kennedy Jr. as inaccurate.
Schlossberg remained firm on one point: his family's defining characteristic should be their commitment to public service and advocacy for marginalized communities, not their romantic entanglements or tabloid drama.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "The Kennedy family's willingness to laugh at themselves on screen while still pushing back on the deeper problem tells you everything you need to know about how they want to be remembered."
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