FX’s docuseries ‘Love Story’ exposes a vicious 1998 anonymous column that tormented Carolyn Bessette Kennedy—and it was real, penned by ‘Sex and the City’ creator Candace Bushnell.
FX’s haunting docuseries Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette plunges viewers into the couple’s fairy-tale romance turned media nightmare. Episode 7, released March 12, 2026, captures a pivotal scene where Carolyn Bessette Kennedy encounters an anonymous column that eviscerates her new identity as Mrs. Kennedy. The column, titled “Diary of a Bitch” with the subtitle “Spoiled in the City,” targets a character nicknamed “CKB”—a transparent stand-in for Bessette—alleging she married the world’s most eligible bachelor and faced a cascade of personal and public unravelings.
This was not dramatic license. The column was a real, albeit short-lived, satire published in the November 1998 issue of Manhattan File magazine, written by acclaimed author Candace Bushnell, later famed for creating Sex and the City Candace Bushnell’s official archives. Bushnell’s piece portrayed “CKB” with “less nuance than a Disney villain,” painting her as a pouting, manipulative figure who pretended to be pregnant and sought attention at all costs.
According to Elizabeth Beller’s 2024 biography Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, the column’s subtitle explicitly detailed the “inheritance”: “an unreformed husband, a paparazzi conspiracy, and a nasty habit of popping pills,” asking rhetorically, “Is something rotten in SoHo?” People magazine. This ruthless satire struck at the heart of Bessette’s insecurities during a period of intense media frenzy following her 1996 wedding to JFK Jr.
Beller documents that Bessette felt “pummeled” by the column’s cruel stereotypes, which contributed to her psychological retreat from public life. She began “stepping out of the ring,” rarely leaving her home as the scrutiny intensified—a tragic shift that preceded the couple’s untimely death in a plane crash in 1999. The column exemplified the brutal, gendered media attacks that defined Bessette’s existence, where every action was parsed and mocked through a misogynistic lens.
For Candace Bushnell, this column was an early, obscure work predating her Sex and the City empire. While the “Diary of a Bitch” series apparently did not continue beyond its first installment, it foreshadowed her signature incisive commentary on New York’s elite, albeit in a darker, morePersonal vein. The column’s existence, now verified through Bushnell’s own archives, underscores how even celebrated writers engaged in savage satire that could inflict real harm.
The Love Story series reintroduces this hidden history to a new generation, validating long-standing fan theories about the specific cruelties Bessette faced. It highlights a broader cultural truth: anonymous society columns were a weapon of choice in the 1990s, able to dismantle reputations with impunity. For fans of the Kennedys and 90s pop culture, this revelation bridges a gap between romanticized lore and the harsh realities of media obsession.
The column’s verified existence also reshapes our understanding of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy‘s narrative. She was not merely a style icon or tragic figure but a woman actively assailed by a media ecosystem that reduced her to archetypes. This context deepens the tragedy of her story, showing how systemic misogyny, channeled through outlets like Manhattan File, accelerated her isolation.
In the decades since, public discourse around media ethics has evolved, yet the legacy of such anonymous hit pieces lingers. The “Spoiled in the City” column serves as a case study in how satire can cross into character assassination, particularly for women navigating fame through marriage. Love Story doesn’t just recount events—it forces us to confront the human cost of unchecked journalistic cruelty.
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