Why Did JFK Jr. & Daryl Hannah Break Up? Inside Their High-Profile Romance
Before he met Carolyn Bessette, John F. Kennedy Jr. was in another high-profile relationship with actress Daryl Hannah. The couple had an on-again, off-again relationship until their romance ended for good in the early ’90s.
Dree Hemingway plays Daryl in the new limited series Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, alongside Paul Anthony Kelly as JFK Jr. The show will explore the final chapter of Daryl and John’s relationship. From how they met to why they ultimately split, it’s time for a deep dive into John F. Kennedy Jr. and Daryl Hannah’s romance.
How did John F. Kennedy Jr. and Daryl Hannah meet?
John and Daryl met in the early 1980s. They crossed paths when their families were vacationing on the island of St. Martin. Daryl’s stepfather was billionaire Jerrold Wexler, who donated to the senate campaign of John’s uncle, Edward M. Kennedy.
They didn’t start dating until years later, after they reconnected at the 1988 wedding of his aunt, Lee Radziwill, to director Herb Ross. Daryl had recently starred in Steel Magnolias, which Herb directed.
Why did John F. Kennedy Jr. and Daryl Hannah break up?
JFK Jr. and Daryl dated on and off for about five years before splitting up for good in 1994. When Daryl’s tumultuous relationship with Jackson Browne ended in 1992, John flew to Los Angeles to support her and bring her back to New York. After that, Daryl and John’s relationship became more serious. However, it was rumored that his mother, Jackie Kennedy, didn’t approve of Daryl as a suitable match for her son.
The media was highly invested in John and Daryl’s relationship, and there were rumors that the couple might get married. “It’s getting really annoying. I get asked about [getting married] all the time,” Daryl told Entertainment Weekly in 1993, per People. “This morning, I call up my plumber, and even he asks me. Oh, brother, I’m just trying to get my pipes fixed. Why can’t people talk about something else?”
John and Daryl’s relationship fell apart as his mother’s health deteriorated, according to Elizabeth Beller’s research for Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. When Jackie collapsed on May 15, 1994, John was in Los Angeles to deliver the ashes of Daryl’s dog. Jackie died four days later.
According to Steven M. Gillon, a historian and friend of John’s, Daryl was upset over the box that contained her dog’s ashes. “That just infuriated him,” Gillon said, per InStyle. “And even after [Jackie] died, Daryl had another dog that was sick, and John was up in Martha’s Vineyard or Hyannis Port, and Daryl’s on the phone talking about her dog all the time, and John is there in the kitchen with [his friend] Sasha Chermayeff, and he says, ‘Can you believe this. I just lost my mom, and all she wants to talk about is her sick dog.'”
After his breakup with Daryl, John quickly turned his full attention to Carolyn. They started dating officially in 1994 and got engaged in 1995. They married on September 21, 1996.
Where is Daryl Hannah now?
Today, Daryl is married to musician Neil Young. They began dating in 2014 and married in 2018. She has never publicly spoken about John’s tragic death in 1999.
Daryl has continued to act through the years. In 2013, the actress revealed that she had been diagnosed with autism, specifically Asperger’s syndrome, as a child, but kept it a secret.
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, February 12, FX
