A former boyfriend of Carole Radziwill auditioned to play her late husband Anthony in Ryan Murphy’s FX series “Love Story” and requested voice recordings of him, a revelation that has painfully resurfaced grief from the 1999 deaths of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.
The FX series “Love Story,” which reimagines the relationship between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, has ignited a fresh wave of controversy involving those closest to the real-life figures. Entertainment Weekly first reported that an ex-boyfriend of Carole Radziwill—widow of JFK Jr.’s cousin Anthony Radziwill—auditioned for the role of Anthony and notably requested recordings of his voice from Radziwill herself.
The call came in winter 2024 while Radziwill was driving through Manhattan in her 1998 Jeep Cherokee. The two had dated years earlier, making the unexpected request all the more jarring. In a subsequent interview with The New York Times, Radziwill, 62, explained that the conversation left her so shaken she had to pull over to collect herself, calling it an experience that “took her to a place she has never completely left.”
Anthony Radziwill died from metazoic sarcoma, a rare connective-tissue cancer, in August 1999 at age 40. His passing came just three weeks after JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette perished in a plane crash off Martha’s Vineyard—a twin tragedy that forever linked the families in the public consciousness. Radziwill, an Emmy-winning television journalist, first met Bessette in 1992 during a Hamptons family gathering; the two formed a deep bond, with Bessette providing crucial support during Anthony’s illness.
Despite the series’ conclusion on March 26, Radziwill remains one of its most vocal critics, using her Substack The Voice of Reason to voice her objections. She has refused to watch “Love Story,” upset by the portrayals of both Carolyn Bessette and herself—Radziwill is not depicted on screen. “Defending Carolyn and talking about my husband was a hill I was going to die on,” she told The New York Times. “But honestly, I didn’t think that 25 years later, it would become a mountain.”
For fans of the real story, this latest detail amplifies longstanding sensitivities. The series has consistently sparked debate over its creative liberties, but the revelation that someone from Radziwill’s intimate past sought to embody her deceased husband—and study his voice—transcends typical Hollywood adaptation. It underscores how the narrative of JFK Jr. and Bessette continues to intersect with living history in unexpected, often painful ways.
Looking ahead, Radziwill is returning to The Real Housewives of New York City after an eight-year absence, a move she acknowledges is risky. She reconciled with Bravo’s Andy Cohen, who promised she could film “as much or as little as I want,” she shared with The New York Times. Cohen, in an email, expressed happiness about her return: “My pitch was essentially to join us in a way that should be light, fun, additive to the show. And, hopefully, somehow, to her life.”
As the “Love Story” chapter closes, theRadziwill family’s story remains a poignant reminder that behind every iconic romance lie complex, ongoing lives—lives still navigating the echoes of loss and the surreal experience of seeing it dramatized for television.
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