EXCLUSIVE: How JFK Jr. Died Suffering From a Broken Heart — With his Sexless Marriage in Tatters and Wife Carolyn Doing Cocaine
John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette, are said to have gone through dark days before their death.
March 30 2026, Published 8:00 p.m. ET
John F. Kennedy Jr.'s ill-fated marriage to blonde beauty Carolyn Bessette was already in a death spiral when their private plane plummeted into the sea off Martha's Vineyard, the beautiful couple's closest friends have revealed.
"It's unlikely they would have fulfilled that 'till death do us part' marriage vow if they hadn't died in the plane crash," one source told RadarOnline.com.
'Carolyn And I Are Not Close Anymore'
JFK Jr. met publicist Carolyn Bessette while inline skating in Central Park.
The insider claimed: "They were both totally fed up with each other. She cheated on him and broke his heart. As well as that, at the time of John and Carolyn's deaths, they hadn't had s-- for months, and her cocaine habit was starting to take over her life."
JFK Jr.'s fame as the Prince of Camelot, Bessette's unbridled cocaine use, as well as a scandalous fling with one of his pals, also combined to strain his union to the breaking point.
A full year before the couple died in 1999, we can reveal an old friend from college got a peek at an entry in his journal that read: "What happened to us, C? What happened to our love?"
When the friend asked him about it, JFK Jr. confessed: "Carolyn and I are not close anymore. We haven't had s-- in months. We're not even sleeping in the same bed."
Fame Pressure And Troubled Romance
Bessette struggled with the intense media scrutiny surrounding the Kennedy family
JFK Jr. met willowy Calvin Klein publicist Bessette while inline skating in New York's Central Park in 1994, and was instantly smitten.
After dating a bevy of gorgeous gals, including singer Madonna and actresses Sarah Jessica Parker and Daryl Hannah, JFK Jr. was anxious to settle down and start a family. But Bessette was troubled by the circus that constantly surrounded the Kennedy scion.
She turned down several proposals before he finally slipped a ring on her finger during a fishing outing, of all things. The engagement only increased scrutiny of the celebrity couple, stressing out Bessette and sparking vicious arguments that were often caught on camera.
During one nasty 1996 confrontation in New York's Washington Square, they shouted and shoved each other before an irate JFK Jr. ripped the engagement ring right off her finger.
But their passion ran both ways, and on Sept. 21, 1996, they tied the knot in fairy-tale fashion on Cumberland Island off the coast of Georgia. Sadly, the marriage certificate would do little to fix the problems that plagued them.
Drugs, Isolation And Explosive Fights
Edward Klein detailed Bessette’s increasing isolation in his book, 'The Kennedy Curse.'
JFK Jr., who was used to his celebrity, carried on with his life and work for his magazine, George. But Bessette, who quit her job, was loath to face the flashbulbs and became increasingly isolated.
"It was clear to friends that Carolyn was cracking under the pressure," Edward Klein writes in his book, The Kennedy Curse. "She was spending more and more time locked in her apartment, convulsed in crying jags."
She coped by snorting cocaine while holed up with her gang of gay fashionistas. Bessette was known to excuse herself from a dinner table only to return from the bathroom with white rings around her nostrils.
"The drugs and partying that were such a big part of Carolyn's high-flying New York fashion world gradually made the marriage a living hell for John," a source said.
Their problems were compounded by John's desire to start a family and Carolyn's refusal to even sleep with him when he mentioned it. "She hated being a Kennedy and didn't want to bring another Kennedy into the world," explained a friend.
The pair's explosive fights continued, turning violent at times.
In one instance, JFK Jr. wound up in the hospital with a severed nerve in his wrist after his pals believed Bessette threw a glass at him, and it shattered in his hand. Meanwhile, Bessette began to cheat.
She proudly boasted of her affair with JFK Jr.'s buddy Michael Bergin, a Baywatch TV star and Calvin Klein model. Heartsick, JFK Jr. then strayed with ex-girlfriend Julie Baker and Bessette look-alike, Sybil Hill.
Affairs, Regrets And Tragic Final Days
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'Kennedy checked into the Stanhope Hotel shortly before the tragic flight.
He was also haunted by missed opportunities with past lovers, including his college girlfriend, Christina Haag, and screen beauty Daryl Hannah, whom many pals believe was the real love of his life.
One friend recalls JFK Jr. telling him about making love to the actress, who famously played a mermaid in the hit comedy Splash. "In the heat of passion, all of a sudden Daryl would make that high-pitched squeal she did in the movie," said JFK Jr. "We both laughed so hard we nearly fell out of bed."
Then he got serious and added: "It was marry Daryl or say goodbye forever, that was the choice. I didn't want to lose her, but I wasn't ready for marriage."
It seems marriage wasn't ready for JFK Jr. and Bessette, either. After she stormed out of their New York apartment in April 1999, JFK Jr. told a pal: "Not even Madonna treated me so badly, and she told the world I was a lousy lover!"
Days before their ill-fated flight together, JFK Jr., 38, checked into Manhattan's elegant Stanhope Hotel, telling an employee with a wink that Bessette, 33, "kicked me out."
He also called a friend on the day he died, July 16, 1999, talking about having breakfast with Baker. "This is it, man," he added. "I think I'm going to divorce Carolyn."
But they were together when their tragic fairy tale ended in death.
The sordid details of the couple's doomed relationship have re-emerged in the wake of the broadcast of the Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette show - a biographical romance anthology series on FX and Hulu.
The nine-episode series dramatizes the intense, high-profile relationship between JFK Jr. (played by Paul Anthony Kelly) and Bessette (played by Sarah Pidgeon)
Jack Schlossberg, JFK Jr.'s nephew, has criticized the show for exploiting the family's life for profit. Hannah also criticized her portrayal as inaccurate.
