The following article contains spoilers for episode five of Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. Carolyn Bessette.
The latest episode of Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. Carolyn Bessette is a dramatic one. After a not-fully-accepted proposal, and John then denying to the press that he asked Carolyn to marry him, the pair clash while out on a dog walk on the streets of New York. As paparazzi lenses flash, they yell at each other, after which John forcibly removes Carolyn’s engagement ring (which she had wanted to wear while considering their future) from her finger and walks away. Carolyn then jumps on him from behind, and he shoves her off. Later, the pair is shown sitting silently on a park bench, and then continuing their conversation on the street near their apartment. Carolyn puts her ring back on, they hug and eventually reconcile, with the proposal finally accepted.
So, did this actually happen? Well, sort of. On February 25, 1996, John and Carolyn were indeed caught on camera having a very public disagreement. They look strained as they leave their apartment, but are seen holding hands. Then, having arrived in New York’s Battery Park, they argue, and John seems to take something from Carolyn’s hand. She then runs towards him and jumps on his shoulders. Later, seemingly calmer, they talk quietly on a bench. Afterwards, they leave the park, John sits down on a curb, and Carolyn stands above him, talking. She reaches out a hand, and he appears to hand a ring back to her. She tries to take the lead of their dog, he yanks it back out of reach, and their argument continues. Later, still on the curb, she appears to comfort him. She leads their dog away, and he follows. Then, she lights up a cigarette—borrowed from a stranger on the street—they hug and seem to make peace.
Naturally, the conversation in the show is imagined, but blow by blow, the action on screen closely mirrors what photographers captured taking place in real life. But what prompted this fight? Contemporary reports offer conflicting theories—some that claim it was a result of Carolyn accusing John of flirting with another woman at a party, and others that it was because Carolyn told John that he let people walk all over him. (In Steven M Gillon’s America’s Reluctant Prince: The Life of John F. Kennedy Jr., the historian and friend of John’s cites a recent wedding the couple had attended as the catalyst, where they were seated next to the society editor of The New York Times. Carolyn assumed the bride had used John to get the publication to cover their wedding, and was furious that he wouldn’t make a statement by leaving the event.) Love Story offers us a very different explanation for the dispute.
It’s generally accepted that John rips Carolyn’s engagement ring off her finger in the park, and returns it when sitting on the curb. The photographer who filmed this incident recalls that, at this point, when Carolyn tried to take the dog’s leash and John refused, he yelled: “You got my ring, you’re not getting my dog, too!” She responded, “It’s our dog!” These lines are repeated word for word in Love Story.
Pains have also been taken to ensure the accuracy of their costumes in these scenes – from John’s louche sportswear to Carolyn’s low-key off-duty look. Per the show’s costume designer Rudy Mance, one of the hardest pieces of clothing in Carolyn’s wardrobe for his team to locate was the baggy men’s Patagonia coat, likely John’s, which she wore during this argument. Eventually, they found it on Japanese eBay and managed to secure it for filming.
However, the series does take some liberties with the timeline. In reality, John proposed to Carolyn in July 1995 and, though she did take a few weeks to think about her answer, it’s believed that she accepted later that summer. It’s true that John launched George magazine in September that year, but Love Story depicts their big fight as happening the following day. In actual fact, it happened some five months later.
But it’s true that the couple quickly made amends. When later asked about the incident on The Howard Stern Show, John played down its importance, saying: “It was some silly argument. We’ve been going out for a long time.” The pair married seven months later, in a private ceremony on Georgia’s Cumberland Island.
