A Tragic American Love Story Is Revisited Like Never Before in New ABC Special Trailer [Exclusive]

2 weeks ago 13

Published Feb 12, 2026, 8:30 AM EST

Ryan O'Rourke is a Senior News Writer at Collider with a specific interest in all things adult animation, video game adaptations, and the work of Mike Flanagan. He is also an experienced baseball writer with over six years of articles between multiple outlets, most notably FanSided's CubbiesCrib. Whether it's taking in a baseball game, a new season of Futurama or Castlevania: Nocturne, or playing the latest From Software title, he is always finding ways to show his fandom. When it comes to gaming and anything that takes inspiration from it, he is deeply opinionated on what's going on. Outside of entertainment, he's a graduate of Eureka College with a Bachelor's in Communication where he honed his craft as a writer. Between The IV Leader at Illinois Valley Community College and The Pegasus at Eureka, he spent the majority of his college career publishing articles on everything from politics to campus happenings and, of course, entertainment for the student body. Those principles he learned covering the 2020 election, Palestine, and so much more are brought here to Collider, where he has gleefully written on everything from the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes to Nathan Lane baby-birding sewer boys.

Ryan Murphy has explored famous feuds, serial killers, and defining U.S. criminal cases through his various historical anthology series. Today, however, marks the beginning of a romantic new entry in his television empire — Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette. Created by Connor Hines with Murphy executive producing, the show will explore the whirlwind relationship, chemistry, marriage, and untimely deaths of "America's Prince" and the fashion publicist who captured his heart. It's a tragic tale of a couple who dominated the nation's attention and grappled with near round-the-clock media scrutiny that exacerbated the rifts forming between them. Coinciding with the series, ABC News has prepared a new hour-long special to give viewers the full, true story beyond the lens of a television drama.

Collider can exclusively unveil the official trailer for John and Carolyn: Love, Beauty, and Loss, which revisits the relationship of Kennedy Jr. and Bessette with firsthand perspectives, archival interviews, and a treasure trove of footage of the couple. Like Love Story, the special is a journey through their relationship, from their initial courtship to their secret wedding and the personal ambitions they both pursued and gave up in accordance with their spot in the limelight. Most of all, though, it focuses on the toll of the non-stop media attention that neither was entirely equipped for. The program also directly ties into Love Story and speaks with the show's titular couple — newcomers Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon — as well as Hines, executive producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson, costume designer Rudy Mance, and production designer Alex DiGerlando for insights directly from the set on how they recreated the tragic tale.

In the footage, the Kennedys' relationship is described as a "fantasy" and the epitome of "American glamor." As the one-time sexiest man alive, who had been in the spotlight since his father's assassination in 1963, and a fast-rising name in fashion under Calvin Klein, they were a match that naturally sparked intrigue among the American people. Archival photos of the two together showed what seemed to be a happy union, too. Included in the trailer is even rare footage of their secret wedding, a small, sweet ceremony among friends and family that showed the two at their happiest. Yet, the interviewees note how, in retrospect, their relationship was troubled from the beginning. Bessette wasn't prepared for the level of attention, and Kennedy Jr. wasn't offering the emotional support she needed, leaving her "isolated." As everything was falling apart for them, though, their story remains forever unfinished and defined, instead, by the plane crash that took their lives and essentially froze them in time through the photos and videos that remain.

Who Else Is Involved in the Making of 'John and Carolyn'?

In addition to the Love Story cast and crew, John and Carolyn will include new conversations with the Kennedys' friends and contemporaries, as well as journalists. Among those included are fashion designer Gordon Henderson, author Steve Gillon, former People Magazine Editor-in-Chief Larry Hackett, People editor at large Liz McNeil, and The New Yorker staff writer Rachel Syme. ABC News is producing the special with David Sloan as the senior executive producer and Muriel Pearson as executive producer. For the network, this won't be the only high-profile piece on the Kennedy family they've done in recent memory, as they just debuted Truth and Lies: Who Killed JFK? back in November. This new tie-in with Murphy's Love Story is just another way in which the news organization is expanding its original productions, having recently delivered acclaimed documentaries like 2024's Patrice: The Movie and BRATS.

John and Carolyn: Love, Beauty, and Loss will air on ABC on Tuesday, February 17 at 10 p.m. ET. It will then arrive on Disney+ and Hulu the following day. Check out the exclusive trailer in the player above.