Jackie Kennedy Onassis destroyed decades of personal correspondence before her death—and it actually happened.
‘Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette’ Episode 3 premiered February 13, 2026 on FX, depicting Naomi Watts as Jackie throwing letters into her fireplace. “I don’t need my personal correspondence fossilized in the Smithsonian,” she tells her son John in the series. “I don’t want them preserved, either publicly or privately”.
USA TODAY confirmed the real Onassis did burn letters from her collection. Biographer Randy Taraborrelli, author of “Jackie: Public, Private, Secret,” learned this from architect John “Jack” Warnecke, who designed President Kennedy’s burial site at Arlington National Cemetery and had a romantic relationship with Onassis in the mid-1960s.
Fast Facts:
- Episode Air Date: February 13, 2026
- Jackie’s Death: May 19, 1994 (age 64)
- Cause: Advanced non-Hodgkin lymphoma
- Letter Burning: Confirmed by architect Jack Warnecke
- Jackie’s Role: Former First Lady, later Doubleday editor
- Series Stars: Paul Anthony Kelly (JFK Jr.), Naomi Watts (Jackie)
“Every night that week, she invited a trusted friend or family member to her home to participate in burning the letters,” Warnecke told Taraborrelli. “Jackie would untie the string, read a letter from the stack, and then place it in the fire”.
The episode also depicts Jackie receiving flowers from Michael Jackson after her lymphoma diagnosis. John reads a card: “You’re in my reflections”. When he questions who sent them, Caroline Kennedy (played by Grace Gummer) explains: “Mom secured his book deal”.
This is also true. As Reuters reported, Onassis was instrumental in arranging Jackson’s book deal when she worked as an editor at Doubleday starting in 1978. Stephen Davis, who worked with Jackson on his 1988 autobiography ‘Moonwalk,’ noted that Onassis was “the only person in publishing who could get him on the phone”.
Why It Matters
Jackie Kennedy Onassis spent her final years working as a book editor and carefully controlling her legacy. Her decision to destroy personal letters—including correspondence from Marlon Brando depicted in the series—represents her lifelong commitment to privacy despite being one of the most photographed women in history. Ryan Murphy’s series uses these documented moments to explore how Jackie navigated fame while protecting her inner life, even in her final days.
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