dailyloe.com – Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s close friend, fashion designer Gordon Henderson, criticized the actors in ‘Love Story’ for their portrayal of her and John F. Kennedy Jr. Henderson stated, “When you look at Carolyn in real life, she’s incredibly beautiful.” He felt the series did not accurately represent their looks, saying, “It’s weird.”
Henderson, 69, expressed his discontent after watching part of the first episode, stating that Hollywood often misrepresents his late friends. He remarked, “I just thought it was not done well. I only watched one half of the first episode and said, ‘It’s not going to be good.’”
In the FX and Hulu series, actors Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly portrayed Bessette and JFK Jr., but Henderson felt this was not a satisfactory representation. He mentioned, “I really don’t like to watch stories about John and Carolyn because they always got it wrong.”
Henderson, who worked at Calvin Klein in the 1980s, was portrayed in the series by actor Omari K. Chancellor, but he did not finish the first episode. In the show, Bessette and Henderson were depicted as working at Calvin Klein simultaneously, which was not the case. “I didn’t know her then,” he clarified.
Henderson met Bessette through her on-and-off boyfriend Will Regan, who owned the Manhattan nightclub Rex. They quickly became close friends, and Bessette often visited his West Village apartment. He reminisced, “One of my memories of Carolyn is on my bed, with a big sweater of mine on.”
Bessette would invite friends to his room, which he initially found confusing. He recalled asking her, “Why do you have your friends come over to my bedroom?” to which she replied, “Cause it’s my favorite place.”
The bond between Henderson and JFK Jr. led to a significant request. JFK Jr. asked Henderson to design his wedding suit. Henderson explained, “He could have gone to any designer … The reason he asked me is because they wanted to keep the wedding secret.”
The suit design honored JFK Jr.’s family by incorporating his father’s favorite color. Henderson stated, “That’s why everything was navy blue. That was very important to him.” He also created navy blue charmeuse boxer shorts as a keepsake for the wedding.
