Fact Check — Did Jackie O. Hate Daryl Hannah? What Episode 2 of Love Story Gets Right and Wrong
Episode 2 of the new limited series dropped on Thursday, Feb. 12, leaping forward in the romance between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette and dramatizing a fraught dynamic between Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and actress Daryl Hannah. The show raises a clear question: was the former first lady truly hostile to Hannah, or is the tension amplified for television?
How the series frames the feud
The episode leans into a short but potent scene in which Daryl rushes out of Jackie’s apartment after staff say the matriarch will dine in her room, convinced that she’s been snubbed. On the street, Daryl asks John why his mother dislikes famous blonde actresses, pointing to his father’s notorious liaison with a Hollywood star. The depiction emphasizes personal and cultural friction: a powerful, protective mother wary of an actress entering her son’s life.
That tension is threaded through the first two installments of the series, which compress a messy, on-again, off-again relationship. The creative team signals that some stops and starts in the couple’s courtship were trimmed to keep the drama moving; the producer notes they chose to jump ahead rather than linger on repeated breaks.
What the historical record shows
Contemporary recollections and biographies paint a subtler picture than outright hatred. A longtime friend of Jackie’s described her attitude as wary rather than vindictive: "It wasn't like she hated Daryl at all, " the friend wrote in an oral biography of the family. The core of Jackie’s concern, as those close to her remembered it, was not personal animus so much as anxiety about how an actress fit into the very public, scrutinized world her son inhabited. She repeatedly questioned whether that choice was right for him, but those questions stopped short of open hostility.
The episode also dramatizes Jackie’s fragility late in life. The show recreates a November 1993 fox-hunting accident that left her injured; biographical accounts describe the fall and the aftermath. In real life, Jackie later received a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and died on May 19, 1994, at age 64. The series condenses timing and emotional beats to give viewers a coherent narrative arc, which can amplify perceived reactions in the moment.
Drama vs. nuance: why the show leans into conflict
Television adaptations routinely compress and focus events to maintain momentum and emotional clarity. The series’ creators acknowledged they streamlined the on-again, off-again nature of John’s relationships so the audience wouldn’t have to sit through repeated resets. That editorial choice helps explain why a wary comment or an awkward departure in the historical record can read as full-blown dislike on screen.
Bottom line: the documented record supports a portrait of Jackie O. as protective and uneasy about the idea of her son marrying an actress, not as someone who hated Daryl Hannah. The series amplifies those instincts for dramatic effect, turning cautious questions into sharper confrontations. Viewers watching for fidelity to fact should expect heightened emotion and compressed timelines; those seeking the nuances of family concern will find them in first-hand recollections and biographies rather than in every on-screen exchange.
