There’s a difference between humanizing a public figure and turning them into a Lifetime character on an Emmy budget, the latter of which being whatRyan Murphyunapologetically leans in to. The award-winning showrunner hasmade a career of rewriting American history, one glossy, sensationalized miniseries at a time. His latest subject? A complex real-life romance deeply rooted in a cursed political dynasty with a terribly tragic ending.
InAmerican Love Story,Murphy hopes to mine the well of the Kennedy family’s infamy, bringing his take on the public romance to the small screen by honing his lens in on the shocking deaths ofJFK Jr., andCarolyn Bessette. The couple, along with Bessette’s sister-in-law, perished in a plane crash just off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard in the summer of 1999. However, if Murphy’s going to continue in his typical storytelling ways, then he’s leaning into his worst artistic tendencies.
Ryan Murphy’s Upcoming Crime Series Has Already Sparked a Real-Life Feud
Murphy’s series — set to premiere onFXin early 2026 — sounds like it will follow in the footsteps of the creator’s previous true crime obsessions, shows likeDahmer,Monsters,American Sports Story, andAmerican Crime Story. Allbuilt on his worst narrative instinctsto distort truth for the sake of entertainment, earning ire, both from critics and the families of the victims whose stories he attempts to tell. Though filming only just began onAmerican Love Storyin June of this year, Murphy’s already stirred up some real-life tabloid drama with the famous relatives of his show’s main character.
JFK Jr.’s nephew,Jack Schlossberg, recentlytook to social mediato condemn the prolific TV producer for profiting off his family’s loss,saying:
“For the record, I think admiration for my Uncle John is great. What I don’t think is great is profiting off of it in a grotesque way.”
Since those early Instagram comments,a feud of sorts has begun brewing between the very-online Schlossberg and Murphy, and, beyond the headlines, their public bickering is bringing more attention toa growing problem of our post-Prestige TV era. Is there really a way to feed our true crime fixation without turning people’s trauma into shock-value TV?
Ryan Murphy’s ‘American Love Story’ Isn’t the First Adaptation of the Kennedys
Ryan Murphy might have an insatiable appetite for turning Wikipedia entries into stylized melodrama, but he’s not the first to turn the Kennedys’ mythos into on-screen entertainment. FromOscar winners withKevin CostnerandNatalie Portmanto docuseries and the odd TV adaptation, the legacy of one of America’s most famous families is a ripe playground for storytellers. But while most adaptations focus on the politics and presidential scandals,Murphy’sAmerican Love Storyis tackling a tabloid tale of fame, beauty, and doomed romance.
The show will chart the nearly decade-long relationship between JFK Jr. and Bessette, who met when Kennedy was datingSplashstar,Daryl Hannah. Kennedy, Jr., the son of PresidentJohn F. KennedyandJacqueline Kennedy Onassis, was an attorney and magazine publisher who often campaigned for family members and wrote about political issues. Bessette was a fashion publicist for Calvin Klein, who became a bit of a style icon after her marriage to Kennedy thrust her into the public eye. Just a few years after being wed in secret, the couple died in a plane crash, in an aircraft piloted by Kennedy.
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Murphy’s series will likely depict the real-life tragedy, but he also plans to chronicle the couple’s fairytale love story, one that was well-documented thanks to Kennedy’s own fame and his family’s reputation. Earlier this summer, Murphy announced he had castSarah Pidgeon(Prime Video’sThe Wilds) as Bessette and newcomerPaul Kellyas JFK Jr, sharing first-look photos ahead of filming that drew negative reactions from fans who were mostly concerned about the lack of attention to detail when it came to Pidgeon’s wardrobe. The noise got so loud, Murphy revealed he hadenlisted a 10-person “style advisory board”to help source Bessette’s wardrobe for the series. While sharp-eyed fashion disciples worry over the on-screen fits of a style icon, others like Schlossberg are concerned that the couple’s private romance and public death are going to be overdramatized for the sake of ratings. And, if we’re looking at Murphy’s track record, they’re right to worry.
Ryan Murphy’s Crime Shows Don’t Always Respect the Audience or Those Involved in Real-Life
Ryan Murphy didn’t invent the true crime TV boom,but he’s certainly figured out how to turn it into his signature aesthetic.His re-tellings often glamorize the most sordid details of the murders, assassinations, and scandals that have captivated history. WithMonster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Murphy racked up streaming numbers and critical acclaim,prioritizing screen time forEvan Peters’interpretation of the notorious serial killerwhile only lightly touching on the systemic failures that allowed him to prey on young men. The sheer amount of violence in that series led to families of the victims publicly condemning Murphy for re-traumatizing them without consent. That backlash, however, wasn’t a bug — it was a feature of the Murphy machine. He squeezes high drama from real-life horror, polishing it with Prestige TV-era production and insulating his stories from criticism by fictionalizing their elements just enough to call them art.
It’s a pattern that pops up in shows likeThe Assassination of Gianni Versace, which covers the shocking murder of the fashion mogul byAndrew Cunanan. Despite drawing from real-life reporting, the series seemed more interested inromanticizingDarren Criss’ sadistic stalkerthan doing justice to the man it was titled after. WithMonsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,Murphy doubled down on the shock value, inserting incest storylines and mishandling sensitive topics of sexual abuse.
It’s not just murder cases that are mishandled.American Sports Storypromised to tackle the rise and fall of NFL playerAaron Hernandez, a complex saga involving violence, mental health, and media exploitation. Instead, it got bogged down by Murphy’s desire to rehash rumors — specifically ones centering on Hernandez’s sexuality — rather than giving audiences a more nuanced view of the league’s role in the athlete’s downward spiral, and the effect brain trauma might have had on his personality. The question isn’t whether Murphy’s formula works, as he often scores big with critics and audiences with shows that are addictive to watch.But should we be watching?The throughline across all of these seriesisn’t just a fascination with crime, but the creator’s refusal to ask whether these stories should be told this way at all.
JFK Jr.’s Relative Is Furious About Ryan Murphy’s New Crime Series
Unfortunately for Murphy, some of JFK Jr.’s family members are asking that question. Schlossberg, in particular,has been vocal about his disapproval of how Murphy is handling his family’s tragedy. After Schlossberg confirmed that the show hadn’t consulted any of his relatives while undertaking Kennedy and Bessette’s story, Murphy shot back in a way that was shocking and insensitive. While taping an episode ofGovernor Gavin Newsom’s podcast,Murphy commented on Schlossberg’s outrage, saying, “I thought it was an odd choice to be mad about your relative that you really don’t remember.” He also addressed negative reaction to the show’s casting choices, claiming that criticism of Pidgeon’s portrayal of Bessette mirrored the media harassment the fashion publicist faced during her relationship with JFK Jr. “They’re doing to our Carolyn what they did to real-life Carolyn,” MurphytoldVariety, adding, “It’s not fair.”
Naturally, Schlossberg took offense at Murphy’s insinuation that he didn’t remember his uncle, sharing some of his earliest memories of Kennedy, Jr. with his followers on Instagram. “My earliest memories are of John calling me Jackolatern and ‘the nudist,’ picking me up from school, his Pontiac convertible. I remember being the ring bearer at his wedding and the day he died,”he wrote, before addressing Murphy directly, saying, “You’re making millions off John, making a public spectacle of it, but won’t contribute any of your riches to the causes he championed, or the legacy of public service he represented.”
While this isn’t the first time someone’s objected to how Murphy is treating their loved one’s story, the showrunner’s reaction to the criticism, combined with Schlossberg’s influence, has magnified the backlash. Time and again, Murphy’s productions spark public outrage, but rarely course-correct. The controversy ends up becoming part of the marketing. And while viewers and critics may debate whether the storytelling is good or “important,”the real people being dramatized are often left with zero sayand no choice but to watch their lives repackaged for a binge-hungry audience.
The fact that the fastest route to getting a show greenlit in today’s streaming economy is to mine from public deaths and scandals is a worrying trend. Just because a story is compelling doesn’t mean it’s yours to tell, or that it should be re-told at all. For creators like Murphy, true crime is a surefire, easy win. There’s built-in recognition and a familiarity and intrigue that helps these stories rise above the content glut. But as more and more of these shows get made, we, as an audience, arebecoming too comfortable consuming real people’s worst moments as entertainment. And Murphy’s long-running habit of dramatizing tragedies without the consent — or sometimes even the acknowledgment — of those involved only further blurs the line between storytelling and exploitation. At some point, someone needs to pause and ask: Who benefits from these stories being told, and who’s being harmed along the way?
