Ryan Murphy’s New Hulu Romance Is Quietly Surging With 12M Trailer Views Before Its Premiere

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Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette and Paul Anthony Kelly as John F. Kennedy Jr. in Love Story

Published Feb 4, 2026, 6:14 PM EST

Giovana Gelhoren is a High-Trending Topics Writer at Collider, covering the most-talked-about stars, movies, and TV shows. Before joining Collider, she was a Digital News Writer at People Magazine and served as Associate Editor at SheKnows, where she honed her expertise in celebrity coverage and entertainment journalism.

A proud Latina from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Giovana graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Journalism and International Studies. She has interviewed countless celebrities, including Anne Hathaway, Halle Berry, Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Brenda Song, and is known for her encyclopedic knowledge of film, TV, and pop culture.

Despite all the controversy around it, Ryan Murphy's upcoming series Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette is off to a promising start. After releasing the first trailer for the series on February 2, 2026, it has become one of YouTube's most trending videos, garnering a whopping 12.5 million views at the time of writing. The series, which premieres later this month on February 12, will follow the nearly decade-long relationship between JFK Jr. (played by newcomer Paul Anthony Kelly) and Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon). And, given the trailer's numbers, it will soon become FX and Hulu's next big hit.

What Is 'Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette' About?

Inspired by Elizabeth Beller’s 2024 book Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, the series will follow JFK Jr. and Bessette's romance from the very beginning. When they first met, Kennedy, Jr., the son of President John F. Kennedy, was an attorney, a magazine publisher and was dating Splash star Daryl Hannah. While not pursuing politics like the rest of his family, he often wrote about political issues in his magazine, George, and even campaigned for family members. Bessette, on the other hand, was a chic fashion publicist for Calvin Klein, who became a style icon after her marriage to Kennedy thrust her into the public eye.

The two met in 1992, began dating more seriously in 1994, and later tied the knot in secret on September 21, 1996. Sadly, the couple, who were considered the American royal couple at the time, died in a plane crash just off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard in the summer of 1999. JFK Jr. was piloting the aircraft while Bessette’s sister, Lauren Bessette, was also onboard. Below is the official synopsis for the series.

He was the closest thing to American royalty. The country watched him grow from a boy to a beloved bachelor and media sensation. She was a star in her own right. Fiercely independent and with a singular style, she rose from being a sales assistant to an executive at Calvin Klein, and became a trusted confidante of its eponymous founder. As their love story unfolded on a national stage, the intense fame and media attention that came along with it threatened to rip them apart. The series charts the complex and heartbreaking journey of a couple whose private love became a national obsession.

Angela Bassett as Athena Grant in uniform looking at the camera over the side of her left shoulder in 9-1-1

Paul Anthony Kelly as John F. Kennedy Jr. and Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette in Love Story

While the series might be exciting for some as it takes a closer look into an iconic couple in American history, the series has been flooded with backlash. JFK Jr.'s nephew, Jack Schlossberg, for instance, made it clear that his family was not consulted in the making of the show, and that he was against the series, claiming that it profited off his family’s loss. "For the record, I think admiration for my Uncle John is great," he wrote on social media. "What I don't think is great is profiting off of it in a grotesque way."

Murphy then shot back against his comments during an episode of Governor Gavin Newsom’s podcast, saying, “I thought it was an odd choice to be mad about your relative that you really don't remember.” Schlossberg then fought back at Murphy’s insinuation that he didn’t remember his uncle, sharing some of his earliest memories of him with his followers on Instagram. “My earliest memories are of John calling me Jackolatern and 'the nudist,' picking me up from school, his Pontiac convertible. I remember being the ring bearer at his wedding and the day he died,” he wrote, before addressing Murphy directly, saying, “You're making millions off John, making a public spectacle of it, but won't contribute any of your riches to the causes he championed, or the legacy of public service he represented.”

With that said, it's not just Schlossberg who has been outspoken against the show. In the comment section for the series trailer, many commenters lamented the series, claiming it'll sensationalize a couple's difficult romance and tragic ending. "Ryan Murphy pretending like he wants to take historical figures seriously and treating it like cheap soapy garbage," wrote one commenter. Another commenter pointed out that not only is this series turning a family's tragedy into entertainment, but it comes at an especially difficult time. On December 30, 2025, JFK Jr.'s niece Tatiana Schlossberg passed away after battling acute myeloid leukemia. "Caroline Kennedy just lost her daughter, maybe a month ago," the commenter pointed out. "Now she has to relive her brother's death because of entertainment."

All things considered, it seems nothing can stop Murphy from churning out mega Hollywood productions time and time again. Despite all the backlash, Love Story is lined up to premiere later this month, with millions of the viewers who saw the trailer surely tuning in for the series as well. Whether or not the show will be well-received, however, will be up to viewers on February 12.