The JFK Jr. I Knew (JFK Jr: The Man Behind The Myth, Ep. 2)

This week, on Episode 2 of "JFK Jr.: The Man Behind The Myth," I'll be sharing a personal story about my eight year friendship with John F. Kennedy, Jr. from 1991-1999.

For more than three decades, I chose to keep my memories of John private because I had no desire to publicize the good times we shared, or feed the public's insatiable thirst for gossip about a dead celebrity.

It wasn't until the 25th anniversary of John's death approached that I began to feel bothered by how his life is being inaccurately portrayed to a younger generation that doesn't remember him.

In today's social media clickbait world, John is sold as a handsome-but-stupid rich nepobaby. He and his wife Carolyn are now reduced to mere 90s fashion models; shallow, empty suits.

Then there's the trashy books and podcasts by "mean girl journalists" like Maureen Callahan that peddle a false portrait of John as a philandering playboy cad who collected sexual conquests the way some people collect baseball cards.

Even more annoying are the new documentaries about John being a flawless, faultless "American Prince," (he wasn't) or John and Carolyn's perfect "American Love Story" (it wasn't), or never-ending nonsensical video "bombshells" on the internuts claiming that he was the victim of a political murder conspiracy because John ran against Hillary Clinton for a Senate seat (he didn't).

Most disturbing of all is the painful falsehood perpetuated (and apparently, believed) by QAnon that John, Carolyn, and her sister Lauren Bessette are somehow still alive, under the watchful eye of the Witness Protection Program, and that one day, John will re-emerge as a future running mate of President Donald Trump.

I finally had enough of these outrageous lies and felt compelled to speak the truth; to tell the world who the real John Kennedy was -- or at least, what I knew of him over years of friendship.

The John I knew wasn't at all like what you read about in the funny papers. The John I knew was wild about music (it was our mutual love of the blues that brought us into each other's orbit).

The John I knew was a gentle, intelligent, kind, funny, and honorable man who deserves to be remembered and celebrated. He deserves better than the drivel you'll find when you Google his name today.

My frustrations came to a boiling point on the 24th anniversary of John's funeral, during a Maverick News broadcast. That was the only time I've ever told the story of our friendship in public, so here it is again if you missed it back in July of 2023.

I hope you enjoy this uplifting, fun story and come away appreciating what John was really like in private, when the cameras and eyes of the world weren't watching him -- because that's when a person's true character emerges.

Meet the real John #Kennedy in Ep. 2 of "#JFKJr.: The Man Behind The Myth" Saturday, Aug. 16 at 7 PM Eastern.

#carolynbessette #jfk #thekennedys #history