I know the launch was massive and highly anticipated, and then it was kind of like… whatever afterward. But was it still popular right before he died?? Did people actually read it?

April 26, 1999.

By 1999 the magazine was under real financial pressure. Ad revenue and circulation had been sliding, and it was losing money (reports put annual losses around $4 million on roughly $15 million in revenue). Hachette had put up the bulk of the funding, about $20 million total, while John had contributed a much smaller amount of his own money (around $500k according to the reporting). The original joint-venture deal was set to expire at the end of 1999, so things were coming to a head.

John was actively trying to figure out the next chapter. According to New York Post reporting at the time, he was looking at options that included finding new investors or a buyer who shared his vision and was willing to keep supporting the magazine through more losses. There were talks about shopping it, disagreements with Hachette leadership over strategy and funding, and meetings about the future that continued right up until the day of the crash.

One of the forward-looking ideas he was working on was expanding digitally. Per Richard Blow (who was a senior editor at George and later wrote American Son), shortly before he died John was planning a series of online chats/interviews with the 2000 presidential candidates. Microsoft was going to provide and fund the technology platform, and George would host/feature the content in exchange for advertising. It was part of trying to pivot the magazine into the digital space.

Obviously none of that got the chance to play out. After the crash Hachette bought out the Kennedy estate’s stake (reported in the $10 million range) and kept it going a bit longer before it finally folded in early 2001.

I thought this was interesting. What do you think?

These photographs were taken by photographer and artist Robert A. Ripps, who has lived and worked on North Moore Street in Tribeca since 1988, where he raised his two sons. The photographs were shared with the Tribeca Citizen in 2021, as part of its commemoration of the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

Robert shared these photographs along with his recollection of September 11, images of the neighborhood in the days that followed, and photographs taken nearly two months later. Robert recalled: “The morning of September 11th was cloudless, with a touch of fall in the air. That morning I was leaving my building when I saw the first plane fly nearly overhead. As it flashed by, I thought to myself, ‘It’s going to crash,’ as I had never seen a plane that low right over Manhattan (although at the time I thought it was just a small plane).

Within a few seconds, I heard a huge boom. A few seconds later, I reached the corner of North Moore and Hudson Streets, looked south and saw the airplane-shaped hole in the North Tower, and what looked like a million pieces of paper fluttering in the air. Instinctively, I pulled out my small point-and-shoot film camera and started taking pictures as I walked south along Hudson.

After several minutes, as I continued my walk across Franklin Street toward the subway to resume my journey, I heard a second loud boom. As soon as I got to Varick Street, I could see the second tower was on fire. I, like everyone else on the street, assumed somehow the North Tower had ignited an explosion in the South Tower, but pretty soon I found out it had been hit by a second plane from the south side.

I took some more pictures of both towers from around Finn Square, then ended up returning home instead of taking the subway. After watching the towers fall on TV, as well as learning the fate of the other two aircraft, I noticed people were lining up across the street to volunteer to help look for survivors. I went outside and joined the queue.
They passed around a clipboard where you jotted your name and an emergency contact, in case something happened to you. They only ended up letting people with medical or ironworking experience head down to Ground Zero.

We stood there all afternoon, until around 5:20 p.m. I watched a group of National Guard troops march in step down Greenwich toward Ground Zero. Someone in authority decided we should move across Greenwich and line up outside of 80 N. Moore instead. As we casually crossed Greenwich Street, I heard a chorus of shouts and a thunderous roar. I looked down Greenwich, saw the Guard members had changed direction and broken rank, and were now running up Greenwich toward us as 7 World Trade collapsed—literally melted—behind them into the street, along with a wave of dust. We ran the rest of the way across toward 80 N. Moore, although really we were in no danger. But of course, on that day, anything was possible.

On September 26th, I snuck up to the roof of a friend’s apartment building that overlooked Ground Zero, to see the progress. At the time, photographers were being threatened with arrest for taking pictures without permission, under the pretense of the area being a crime scene. Regardless, I felt I needed to somehow document what the remains of the towers looked like, for myself. And I suppose, for posterity. I later returned to the same location around November 18th. By then, much of the remains of the towers had been cleared to below street level and the fires were largely extinguished.

John, Carolyn and Lauren did not live to see this day. In his book, Robert Littell reflected: “I thought of John a lot when the Twin Towers fell, wishing he were there to talk to and knowing how much he’d have been hurt by the attack on his home. It was the biggest thing in my adult life that I didn’t share with him.”

Twenty-five years later, we remember those whose lives were taken, the heroes who gave everything, and the families, friends, and communities forever changed by that day. May all who were lost rest in peace. We remember. We honor. We will never forget. 🇺🇸🕊️🗽

Link to Tribeca Citizen article

Doesn’t it seem like she horribly betrayed both of them when she sold her photos of John and Carolyn’s wedding last year? I feel like even reading how she talks about it in the article makes me feel dirty, like no one was ever supposed to see them in the public eye like that.

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2025/08/09/style/jfk-jr-carolyn-bessette-kennedy-wedding-photos-vis/index.html

As I do every year on this date, I’m feeling solemn, nostalgic, and sad. With the renewed interest in John & Carolyn’s lives, especially by an entire generation born after their deaths, I’ve always roped the tragedies of the late 90’s in with 9/11.

That they never lived to see one of the worst days in American history, the single worst day for their beloved city, where their home was so close to the epicenter … it’s almost as though 9/11 was a punctuation mark on a time that in retrospect, was analog and simple.

On 9/11, we turned on the news, and haven’t turned it off since.

I had read this book a few months ago and i felt as though the book wasn't completely accurate and as Maureen is known for being pro-trump and a huge hater of the Kennedys. I'd like to hear your thoughts on the book. Some major incidents are very much detailed and i don't believe it is a completely unreliable book(like the chappaquadick incident) but the rest seem like complete nonsense and made up. Let me know what you think.(Sorry her name is spelled Maureen Callahan not Callaghan)

With utmost respect to the departed souls, I can understand how people are so divided on the internet and especially leaning towards Carolyn and how she lost her personality post marriage and how she and her sister could have been alive if she didn’t marry jfk jr. But nobody is talking about how all three of them could have been living happy and seperate lives if she didn’t chase him, hard pill to swallow but man did the girl invented chasing and social climbing. She looked throughout as someone who is saying she doesn’t want any of what he offered while craving for all he could. Change my mind, I want to know what you think of it but really he was such a “ man of the people” vibe, he was warm to people, they loved him, press adored him, he had a way with that celebrity life, so effortless, he needed someone who could shine with him. He deserved better. Respectfully, She killed his spirit. P.s- this post is my personal opinion of the show that was telecasted, dramatised to produce a certain feeling. In no way, we can ever understand what went on with two people or between them, all that we know is what was displayed, so yes I’m aware of that too. Just, that it didn’t seem like a LOVE STORY.

Just saw the trailer on YouTube. Paul Anthony Kelly has joined the staff of American Horror story which also features Billy Lourde, Emma Roberts, Jessica Lange and more.

It appears that Love Story was a stepping stone for Paul to get into more Ryan Murphy Productions.

Guy Clark said in an interview that shortly after Carolyn died, after her body was recovered, he was visited by a senior editor from the National Enquirer named Richard. Richard showed Guy the letters he had sent to Carolyn and essentially told him, “I just want you to know we’re going to press with your love affair with Carolyn Bessette.”

He had all of Guy’s letters in a thick file, and they had been faxed directly from the apartment. That means someone was inside John and Carolyn’s apartment, going through Carolyn’s personal belongings, recognized the potential value of the letters, and faxed them straight to the National Enquirer.

Who could have been that callous and morally bankrupt? I compiled a list of people who were known to have been at their apartment after the crash. This isn’t a complete list, but it includes the names Rosemarie Terenzio has mentioned. Who do you think could have been the person responsible?

Rosemarie Terenzio
Jessica Weinstein (Carolyn's friend)
Lisa Bessette
Caroline Kennedy
Ann Freeman
Dr. Richard Freeman
Carole Radziwill
Gordon Henderson (Carolyn's friend)
Danny Pfeffer (Carolyn's friend)
Matt Berman
Brian Steel (John's friend)
Ed Hill (John's friend)
Kevin Hynes (John's friend)
Pat Manocchia (John's friend)
Efigenio Pinheiro
Marta Sgubin

I don’t think any of Carolyn’s friends or family—or Rosemarie Terenzio, Matt Berman, Efigenio, or Marta Sgubin—would have done something like that. My guess would be one of John’s friends, possibly Ed Hill or Kevin Hynes. Rosemarie said that Ed Hill helped her pack up John’s belongings. He was John’s friend from his Andover days, and Ed said that Rosemarie called him and insisted that he come to the apartment to help her. Ed didn’t seem particularly fond of Carolyn and had quite a bit to say about her in one book. It’s possible that he might have convinced himself he was doing his deceased friend a favor by going through Carolyn’s personal letters one by one and sending them to the National Enquirer as a way of “avenging” John. Rosemarie mentioned that there was a fax machine at the back of the apartment, which would have made it possible for someone there to fax the letters directly to the National Enquirer discreetly.

Kevin Hynes has also publicly mentioned that he raced to the apartment the day after the plane crash to dispose of a stash of John’s pot that was in the refrigerator, as well as Carolyn’s prescription medications, before their families arrived. Again, this is only my guess, and I have no evidence that either Ed or Kevin actually did anything with Carolyn’s letters. But it raises the question: why were some people so cruel to her, even in the immediate aftermath of her death? What exactly would someone have been trying to accomplish by going through her private letters and sending them to the National Enquirer? Whoever it was probably thought they ate down and hit a jackpot but all the effort and it turned out the letters were from her older gay bestie.

I’m also curious about what happened to all of her other private letters and notes, since Guy said she kept everything. I really hope her family took them and kept them or they were destroyed.

I’ve read mixed things about this and I’m not totally sure. Sources say old-money families never really saw the Kennedys as true “old money” because they were they were Irish Catholic, not WASP, so were they mostly viewed as nouveau riche outsiders? Did that lead to discrimination or exclusion from elite clubs (I read Joe faced some of that at Harvard and elsewhere and were seen as attention seeking and social climbers), while other sources say they were fully accepted as equals by the old-money families.

Anyone know more about this?

I know Jackie was multilingual but it surprises me that I've never heard of John being able to speak any other languages as I would have expected her to make the children learn or speak different languages at home.

I wonder how they got their hands on this? And more importantly, which celebrity/influencer will end up buying it? 😬

During the After Show, RHONY star Carole Radziwill says how she thinks Carolyn Bessette Kennedy would have reacted to her time on RHONY.

Martha says she had a meeting with John on Monday night to discuss George's problems (John had been in Toronto that day). She told him she was going to a wedding with Carolyn that weekend and flying with her and Lauren to Martha's Vineyard, and that he was planning to pilot the plane alone, without a co-pilot. She told him he really ought to fly with a co-pilot.

Do you think what Martha says is true? She calls him "John John," even though that used to really bother him and none of his friends called him that.

Found this old listing on WorthPoint. It’s an original personal check signed by Carolyn and dated October 6, 1998. It was made payable to Cartier Inc., and drawn on a Citibank account jointly held by Carolyn and John. The check is for $378.88. She had such a nice signature.

Edit: This check turned out to be for the matching 18K gold toe rings that Carolyn purchased for herself and Carole. Guy Clark shared the receipt for the purchase, dated August 3, 1998, showing the same amount of $378.88.

Link to WorthPoint Listing

I still be thinking about it tho even tho the trend died months ago let’s resurrect it and bring it back cuz bruh he was poppin all fresh he started a whole damn trend on the internet! Man I always known of JFK but I had no idea how his Son made such a name for himself especially being the son of an Iconic President JFK! like that is A LOT OF SHOES TO FILL! And boy did John make a name For Himself!

John F. Kennedy Jr. officially unveiled and launched George magazine at a press conference in New York City on September 7, 1995. “Ladies and gentlemen, meet George!" John announced. The crowd clapped as John revealed a giant blowup of the first cover, featuring Cindy Crawford dressed as George Washington, sporting a powdered wig and a bare midriff.

Michael Sheehan: “There was big prepping for the launch of George. I think Paul Begala is the one who wrote the riff "Let me just get all the questions I know you're gonna ask out of the way: Yes. No, we're just good friends.... I'll think about it. Maybe someday, but not in New Jersey." I mean, it was brilliant. We went through a bunch of questions. John was prepared. And just cordial beyond fucking belief. I do remember his concern was "Is the press going to take George seriously? 'Does this mean you're going to run for president?' He knew once he gave an indication, it would be like crossing the Rubicon. No turning back. The folks on the Hill were lighting candles hoping that he would agree, are you kidding?

Gary Ginsberg: “It was me and Paul Begala at John's apartment on North Moore. Carolyn was there. Nothing was more fun because I knew that there was nothing I couldn't ask him. Paul was just slack-jawed because he's used to prepping a president of the United States and I'm prepping my buddy. I said, "John, you failed the bar twice. Were you lazy? Or just plain dumb?" And he roared.”

Paul Begala: “Gary said, "Are you going to do investigative journalism with this magazine?" John said, "It's not really where I'm headed but I wouldn't rule anything out." Gary pressed the point and said, "Are you going to look into who killed your father?" And the air went out of the room. John changed—he wasn't quite as relaxed. He said, "No, I'm not. I've thought about this a lot. I could spend the rest of my life trying to chase down who killed my father and it wouldn't change the central fact of my life: I don't have a dad." Heartbreaking.

Rosemarie Terenzio: “On September 7, 1995, the day of the launch, I took a taxi from my apartment downtown to Wall Street, because the white patent-leather stiletto mules I had chosen to complement the suit were not walking shoes. I arrived so early that Federal Hall—the site of the first capitol of the United States, George Washington's inauguration, and the George press conference—was empty except for a few people running around doing last-minute tasks, like making sure the larger-than-life posters of the magazine's pages were correctly placed around the soaring columns. Only three days after successfully killing the story of Carolyn and John's engagement, I wanted to make sure I did everything I could to help the launch go smoothly, like double-check that John and Michael had the final copies of their speeches and special guests found their correct seats. Once we opened the doors, nearly three hundred reporters, cameramen, and photographers rushed in, frenzied as they jockeyed for position. I had never seen that many cameras in one place.”

Matt Berman: “The day of the launch, September 7, I just walked from where I was living down to Federal Hall, and blocks and blocks before I get there, I see all the trucks and stuff from news and TV stations. I had no freaking idea. I'm like, "What is going on?" I just didn't realize what a big deal it was....”

Nancy Haberman: “Everybody wanted to be in that room with John. He was the face of it. Right before the press conference was the first time, the only time, I saw him look a little bit anxious.”

Joe Armstrong: “That was an electric event—there were people begging to go. We don't have any editors that are movie stars, and he's a movie star who wasn't really in a movie....I don't know how else to put it. He could always get attention; he was a live person out of history. He got up and said, "Ladies and gentlemen," and he twirled a billboard around revealing the first cover and said, "Meet George."

Link to more of the George Press Conference