Grim fairy tale - JFK Jr., wife locked in bitter war over drugs and affairs, book says

NY Daily News ^ | 7/1/03 | David Goldiner

[I_Love_My_Husband]

Grim fairy tale

JFK Jr., wife locked in bitter war over drugs and affairs, book says

By DAVE GOLDINER DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy in 1998 JFK Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, were often seen strolling the street outside their Tribeca apartment. John F. Kennedy Jr.'s marriage to Carolyn Bessette Kennedy was crumbling amid suspicions of affairs, drugs and depression when the couple died in a plane crash, excerpts from a new book reveal.

The Camelot heir had moved out of the couple's loft and was living alone in a hotel room before the crash off Martha's Vineyard on July 16, 1999, Vanity Fair's Edward Klein writes in his new book, "The Kennedy Curse."

"We've become like total strangers," John told a pal two days before his death. "I've had it with her. It's got to stop. Otherwise, we're headed for divorce."

The feud culminated in a bizarre quarrel on the afternoon of the fateful flight, when Carolyn caused a crucial delay by insisting on having a time-consuming pedicure, Klein writes in the book, which is excerpted in the upcoming issue of Vanity Fair.

The willowy blond had her toenails painted again and again to get the precise shade of violet at a Manhattan salon as John, 38, fumed at a New Jersey airstrip with her sister, Lauren, 34, waiting to take off.

"The more times you call me, the longer it's going to take," Carolyn, 33, snapped on her cell phone, a hair stylist told Klein.

With daylight fading fast, John wound up flying virtually blind into the hazy dusk, which investigators blamed for the crash that killed all three.

'You're a cokehead!'

Arguing was nothing new for the troubled couple, who died two months short of their third anniversary.

Klein says they began marriage counseling, but Carolyn stormed out of a session after the therapist asked her about her alleged drug use.

John once returned to the couple's loft on N. Moore St. in Tribeca to find Carolyn snorting cocaine with a crowd of gay fashionistas, a witness told Klein.

"You're a cokehead," John screamed at his wife, according to the book, which is due out this month.

John had his heart set on starting a family, and even picked out a name for his future son: Flynn. But his wife rejected his pleas.

"I want to have kids, but whenever I raise the subject with Carolyn, she turns away and refuses to have sex with me," he told the friend.

Things got so bad that Lauren had to talk her sister and John into having lunch together two days before they died.

The warring couple sat in stony silence and only reluctantly agreed to Lauren's request that they all hold hands as a sign of reconciliation, Klein writes.

Lauren squeezed her sister's hand and urged her to overcome her fear of flying with John - and travel with him to Hyannis Port, Mass., for the wedding of his cousin Rory Kennedy. To clinch the date, Lauren offered to come along as far as Martha's Vineyard.

"Come on," Lauren told her sister. "It'll be fun."

Talk of infidelity

Even before their last weeks, the couple's marriage was fraught with enough issues to snap apart any relationship.

Carolyn, who Klein says showed signs of clinical depression, suspected her husband was fooling around with other women. She, in turn, occasionally told John that she was still sleeping with an ex-boyfriend, "Baywatch" hunk Michael Bergin.

She also fought with John's beloved sister, Caroline Kennedy, who made snide cracks about the fact that Carolyn showed up two hours late for the couple's dream wedding on Cumberland Island, an unspoiled paradise off the Georgia coast.

Caroline Kennedy declined comment yesterday.

John's penchant for flying and other risky hobbies also caused fights with Carolyn and his mother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

He insisted on learning to fly anyway and wrote a chilling graduation note to his instructors at Flight Safety Academy in Vero Beach, Fla.: "People will only care where I got my training if I crash. Best, John Kennedy."

[I_Love_My_Husband]

Also Michael Bergin in the Klein book says they carried on their affair while she was married to JFK jr.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

gossip ping!

[I_Love_My_Husband]

ping

[Bringbackthedraft]

Another Kennedy scandal? What would we do without them?

[Tijeras_Slim]

I do so love hearing about my "betters".

[Mears]

Trouble in Camelot? Gee,I find that hard to believe.

When will the books about this awful family stop?

[Paleo Conservative]

"You're a cokehead," John screamed at his wife, according to the book, which is due out this month.

What an idiot. He could have figured that out before he married her.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

When *we* stop voting them in. Not that any FReepers would do that...but you know, the American people need to stop voting for these chiselers.

[PennsylvaniaMom]

If my memory serves me right...didn't Carolyn and Lauren's parents file some sort of 'wrongful death' lawsuit against the estate of JFK,Jr (alleging his incompetance as a pilot)? If so, and if it hasn't been litigated, could this 'tell all' be part of a bigger picture...you know discredit Carolyn Bissette Kennedy (a druggie, clinically depressed, risked their safety in flight to get that 'right' shade of lilac)...just wondering. Not that any well connected (in the literary world) Kennedy would do something like that...

Wasn't there 'dirt' circulated about Mary Jo Kopechne too?

[I_Love_My_Husband]

Actually I believe Caroline's mother started the suit and as far as I know it's been settled already. Kennedys settled out of court.

As far as Caroline Bessette-Kennedy, there was a lot of stuff printed about her when she was alive, and right after her death the coke stuff did come out, as well as other weird stuff about her cheating.

However that doesn't mean he didn't cheat. IIRC I believe Darryl Hannah had come back into his life before he died and CBK was not happy about that either.

Ah. The rich are so much different than you and I :)

[Paleo Conservative]

could this 'tell all' be part of a bigger picture...you know discredit Carolyn Bissette Kennedy (a druggie, clinically depressed, risked their safety in flight to get that 'right' shade of lilac.

There was more than enough bad judgement to go around. I personally refuse to fly as a passenger in any plane where there is not at least one pilot who has an instrument rating.

[sarasota]

Carolyn's family received a $14 or $15 million settlement.

[PennsylvaniaMom]

The rich are different...so true. The Kenendy's even more so...I remember the coke stories right after the accident too...and also the pregnancy rumors. I just seemed (to me) that this article represents the upcoming book as CBK being totally out of control and a monster and JFK,Jr being a loving, patient, victim...the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

[EggsAckley]

With so MANY eligible and honorable women available to him, one has to wonder why he would choose this unbalanced b!tch.

[PennsylvaniaMom]

So (IMO) maybe the book is a little 'payback' towards the Bissettes for daring to sue 'Camelot, Jr.' Kinda, they took 'our' money...we'll take their daughter's reputation (somebody other than a Kennedy always has to take the blame...) I guess the crash will ultimately be blamed on some hapless nail technician in a Manhattan salon.

[hispanarepublicana]

John once returned to the couple's loft on N. Moore St. in Tribeca to find Carolyn snorting cocaine with a crowd of gay fashionistas, a witness told Klein.

There's a reason for the phrase "cocaine skinny". No one can wear the clothes these "gay fashionistas" churn out except "cocaine skinny" women like Carolyn.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

Not that I don't think the Kennedys would do that, but imho, as a follower of gossip, Bessette was a nasty, mean woman BEFORE the plane went down.

I don't think it's her fault the plane went down either. But there were confirmed marital difficulties waaaaay before that happened.

Bessette was manipulative and if you ever saw pix of her (think lollipop head) she was very very thin and never looked happy with him. Never. Not even her wedding pix.

I don't know why he married her except he loved her. We all know cases of a nice guy married to a horrible bitch. Or a woman with a lazy weird or mean husband.

Bergin is relatively famous so I don't think he would lie.

[ardara]

What is worse? Kennedy crap or Clinton crap?

[I_Love_My_Husband]

Well. Except for Ann. But Ann really is naturally skinny (hs photos show this).

Bessette was never that thin in HS.

BTW, I wouldn't mind having Ann's figure! Then I could wear those gorgeous clothes!!!

[sarasota]

You read my mind! I thought the same thing about the blame game.