Exclusive
‘Love Story’ Producer Ryan Murphy May ‘Look at Other Kennedy Eras’ Despite Family Backlash (Exclusive)
Ryan Murphy may return to Kennedy family stories after Love Story success, despite backlash from Jack Schlossberg and the Kennedy family over the JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette series.
After incurring the full wrath of the Kennedy family, a source says Love Story executive producer Ryan Murphy is actively considering the possibility of hitting back harder with another installment centered on America’s most storied political dynasty.
Love Story, which was inspired by John F. Kennedy Jr.’s tumultuous relationship with Carolyn Bessette, “didn’t just pull great ratings, it generated headlines and debate, and that’s exactly how Ryan likes it,” Star’s source reveals. “But he needs to be prepared for more blowback from Kennedys and their supporters when he decides to go down this path again.”
John F. Kennedy’s grandson Jack Schlossberg has been especially critical of the series, recently revealing on Katie Couric’s podcast Next Question that while he and his family didn’t watch Love Story, he showed mom Caroline Kennedy “a clip of her [character], and we were laughing so hard.”
The criticism is unlikely to move Murphy, though.
“From Ryan and his team’s perspective, a family as publicly known and powerful as the Kennedys are absolutely fair game for the kinds of hot-button TV shows he has been making for decades,” explains the source. “He’s hardly the first Hollywood creative to artistically interpret a tragic aspect of the family’s epic saga.”
And it’s a well Murphy will go back to if something inspires him, Star’s source reveals.
“Given how prolific Ryan is, and how stubborn he is about seeing his ideas all the way through, it’s hard to see Love Story as the final Kennedy story he’ll tell,” admits the source.
Though he’s made “permanent enemies” of the Kennedy family’s “powerful” Hollywood friends, the source notes, the Emmy award-winning producer “has a lot of supporters” in the TV business, too.
“He can still pull in A-list actors and producers to get behind his vision,” says the source. “He loved collaborating with Naomi Watts to bring Jackie O to life in the show, and Ryan certainly has the chops and the desire to look at other Kennedy eras.”
