EXCLUSIVE: Radar Lays Bare Most Sordid Secrets of JFK Jr.'s Tortured Marriage to Carolyn Bessette — Including Drugs, Abortion… And How He Was Ready to Walk Out Before Plane Crash Horror
John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette got married in 1996.
Feb. 24 2026, Published 5:30 p.m. ET
John F. Kennedy Jr.'s short but extremely troubled marriage to Carolyn Bessette was seemingly riddled with cheating scandals and drug issues.
The pair tied the knot on September 21, 1996, but things quickly became so tumultuous between the two of them that JFK Jr. was "considering divorce" before they both died in a plane crash in 1999, RadarOnline.com can exclusively reveal.
JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette's Rollercoaster Marriage
John F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly had an affair with Sybil Hill.
Kennedy Jr.'s former mistress, Sybil Hill, said he "didn't want to badmouth Carolyn" to her, but she knew "through friends" that Bessette was "making his life a misery."
Hill also told Radar that Bessette was "cheating on him with an old boyfriend," referring to her ex-partner Michael Bergin, and going through "violent mood swings" at the time.
In his own tell-all book, The Other Man: John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette, & Me, Bergin alleged she became pregnant during their affair and that she had an abortion. He claimed she also allegedly aborted another man's baby in 1994.
But their marriage wasn't only rocked by rumors of infidelity. Hill said Bessette was "dangerously into cocaine."
Her alleged issues with drugs were further detailed in The Kennedy Curse: Why Tragedy Has Haunted America’s First Family for 150 Years by Edward Klein.
JFK Jr. and Sybil Hill's Affair
Sybil Hill claimed John F. Kennedy Jr. told her he was considering 'divorce' before his death.
The son of late president John F. Kennedy and the artist first met in 1991 and they allegedly had an on-again, off-again romantic relationship until his death.
Hill claimed that JFK Jr. was so upset with the state of his marriage that he turned to her for comfort in February 1998. They met in Aspen where they shared a "magical" and "passionate night" together.
That was when he opened up to her about the ongoing "problems" in his relationship and admitted he was thinking about filing for divorce from Bessette.
Sybil Hill said she suspected Carolyn Bessette called her pretending to be a reporter.
While they maintained contact after their tryst, Hill said during one phone call, JFK Jr. revealed things were "better at home" and that they were "working on the marriage."
However, things took a turn when "rumors began to circulate" about their affair and Hill received a strange call from someone who insisted they were a reporter.
"She asked me, ‘Are you dating John Kennedy?’ I said ‘no’ and she hung up," Hill continued. "Her tone was so angry that I think it was Carolyn. But the stories obviously caused problems for John. When I called again, he wouldn’t take my call."
The Tragic Plane Crash
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JFK Jr. and his wife both died in a plane crash in 1999.
Less than three years into their marriage, JFK Jr. and his wife were both killed in a tragic plane crash while flying off the coast of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts on July 16, 1999.
Carolyn's sister Lauren Bessette also died in the horrific accident.
JFK Jr. – who was piloting the small, single-engine aircraft – reportedly became disoriented while flying leading to the fatal crash. Radar data revealed the plane plunged over 1,000 feet in less than 15 seconds and swiftly hit the ocean, according to The Washington Post.
The Kennedy plane was later "junked as scrap metal," according to an aviation expert.
"I don't think the John Kennedy plane should have ended up as scrap," the aircraft's previous owner, Munir Hussain, later lamented to Radar. "That's not right."
