The tragic death of Daryl Hannah’s dog while in the care of John F. Kennedy Jr. remains one of the most talked-about stories from their five-year romance. But what actually happened to the beloved pet, and did it truly cause their split? With the new Disney+ series Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette bringing this 1990s drama back into the spotlight, many viewers are wondering which parts are fact and which are fiction. The real story involves a tragic accident in Central Park, a cross-country flight with ashes, and terrible timing with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s final days. Now, Daryl Hannah herself has spoken out strongly against how the show portrayed her during this painful chapter.
How Daryl Hannah and JFK Jr. First Met
Before the dog accident made headlines decades later, Daryl Hannah and John F. Kennedy Jr. actually knew each other from their teenage years. They first crossed paths while vacationing with their families on the Caribbean island of St. Martin . But it wasn’t until years later that romance sparked between them.
The pair reconnected in 1988 at the wedding of Kennedy’s aunt, Lee Radziwill, to director Herb Ross . At that time, both were seeing other people – Kennedy was dating Christina Haag, while Hannah was in a long-term relationship with singer Jackson Browne . The timing wasn’t right until 1989, when Hannah’s stepfather, businessman Jerrold Wexler, officially introduced them .
Their relationship lasted approximately five years, from 1989 to 1994 . During this time, Hannah was already a huge movie star thanks to roles in Splash with Tom Hanks and Steel Magnolias . The couple became constant tabloid fodder, with photographers following their every move.
The Central Park Accident: What Happened to Daryl Hannah’s Dog
The incident that would later define the end of their relationship happened in May 1994. John F. Kennedy Jr. was walking Daryl Hannah’s dog in New York City’s Central Park when the animal got loose and was hit by a car . It was a sudden, tragic accident.
According to the oral biography JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography, a friend recalled: “It was a freak accident and John was obviously very upset about it” . Kennedy took responsibility for what happened, and the couple made arrangements to deal with the remains.
Hannah wanted to hold a funeral for her dog in Los Angeles. This meant someone needed to transport the ashes across the country. That task fell to Kennedy . But even this simple act caused tension. According to friends quoted in the biography, Hannah was unhappy with the container Kennedy used for the ashes – she reportedly “wanted something gold” .
The Terrible Timing with Jackie Kennedy’s Illness
The dog accident did not happen in isolation. At the very same time, Kennedy’s mother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, was fighting for her life. She had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma five months earlier, and her condition was rapidly worsening .
While Kennedy was in Los Angeles for the dog funeral, his mother’s health in New York took a dramatic turn for the worse. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died on May 19, 1994, just days after the dog accident .
This timing created deep resentment. A friend of Kennedy’s stated in the oral biography: “He was deeply resentful that Daryl dragged him out there to attend a funeral for her dog when his mother was dying of cancer” .
Carole Radziwill, who was married to Kennedy’s cousin Anthony Radziwill, had dinner with him that Sunday night. She recalled: “John felt [Daryl] was punishing him by insisting he fly to LA that weekend. It was just a terrible time and a bad omen” .
The Breakup: Was It Really About the Dog?
The couple split soon after these events, but the dog accident was only part of a larger pattern of problems. Author Steven M. Gillon, who wrote America’s Reluctant Prince: The Life of John F. Kennedy Jr., revealed that tensions continued even after Jackie’s death.
Hannah had another dog that became sick. While Kennedy was grieving with family in Massachusetts, Hannah kept calling to discuss her pet. Gillon described the scene: “John is there in the kitchen with his longtime friend Sasha Chermayeff, and he says, ‘Can you believe this. I just lost my mom, and all she wants to talk about is her sick dog’” .
Friends described their relationship as volatile. One friend called Hannah a “sweetheart” but also “needy” – a quality Kennedy “wasn’t great” at dealing with . Another pal noted there was no real “spark” between them, adding: “You never saw them look each other in the eye, you know, lovingly. Ultimately, they didn’t see eye to eye on much” .
The couple officially ended their relationship about three months after Jackie Kennedy’s death .
What the New ‘Love Story’ Series Gets Wrong
The Disney+ series Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette has brought all these old stories back to life. But Daryl Hannah is furious about how she’s portrayed, and she’s not staying quiet.
In a powerful essay for The New York Times published March 6, 2026, Hannah called her depiction “false” and an example of “textbook misogyny” . She wrote: “It’s appalling to me that I even have to defend myself against a television show. These are not creative embellishments of personality. They are assertions about conduct – and they are false” .
Hannah specifically denied several scenes shown in the series:
- Cocaine use: “I have never used cocaine in my life or hosted cocaine-fueled parties”
- Press leaks: “I have never planted any story in the press”
- Comparing deaths: “I never compared Jacqueline Onassis’ death to a dog’s”
- Marriage pressure: “I have never pressured anyone into marriage”
- Family heirlooms: “I have never desecrated any family heirloom or intruded upon anyone’s private memorial”
The show’s producer, Nina Jacobson, had defended the portrayal by saying Hannah’s character served as an “adversary” to the main love story. Hannah responded strongly: “Popular culture has long elevated certain women by portraying others as rivals, obstacles or villains. Isn’t it textbook misogyny to tear down one woman in order to build up another?”.
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Daryl Hannah’s Life Today: Where Is She Now?
After her split from John F. Kennedy Jr. , Daryl Hannah continued building an impressive acting career. She appeared in both volumes of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill films as the deadly Elle Driver . She also starred in the Netflix series Sense8 and had roles in the revived Hawaii Five-0 .
On the personal front, Hannah found lasting love with legendary musician Neil Young. They began dating in 2014 and married in 2018 in a private ceremony . Now 65 years old, Hannah lives a relatively private life away from the Hollywood spotlight.
The actress playing her in Love Story, Dree Hemingway, reportedly sent Hannah a “love note” before the show aired. Hemingway told The Hollywood Reporter she wrote “a love note of how much I appreciate her as a woman, as an actress, and what an honor of my life this has been” . Hemingway also noted her own mother, actress Mariel Hemingway, actually knows Hannah .
The Lasting Impact of a TV Show
One of the most serious consequences of the series, according to Hannah, is the real-world harm it’s caused. She revealed in her essay that she has received “many hostile and even threatening messages from viewers who seem to believe the portrayal is factual” .
“When entertainment borrows a real person’s name, it can permanently impact her reputation,” Hannah wrote . She noted that while Jackie Kennedy once advised her that “ridiculous lies” in publications would be forgotten by the next day, that advice “no longer hold[s] true in the digital age” .
“A dramatized portrayal can become, for millions of viewers, the definitive version of a real person’s life,” Hannah concluded .
The accident with her dog in Central Park did happen. John F. Kennedy Jr. was indeed walking the pet when it ran into traffic. The timing with his mother’s death was tragically unfortunate. But the full story of their relationship – and who these two people really were behind closed doors – remains known only to them.
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette is currently streaming on Disney+ with new episodes releasing weekly .
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