Why JFK Jr. shied away from covering the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal in his edgy magazine, new doc reveals

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

John F. Kennedy Jr.'s magazine 'George' made waves with its mix of pop culture and politics and didn't flinch on covering the stories of the day - from Cindy Crawford to Robert De Niro to Newt Gingrich.
But he shied away from writing about the most provocative story of all - the Monica Lewinsky scandal - because he was haunted by his own father's infidelities, a new documentary claims.
The son of the late 35th U.S. president gave Bill Clinton 's infamous affair with his White House intern muted coverage because it was too close to home.
Friends said that Kennedy had grown up hearing stories about his own father's cheating and 'didn't want to re-examine it'.
The story was 'tailor made' for George, the political magazine he was running in the late 1990s, but instead readers were left 'disappointed' by its coverage, according to 'American Prince: JFK Jr,' which premieres on CNN on August 9.
The film also describes Kennedy's wife Carolyn Bessette as the Meghan Markle of her day because she wanted to be part of America's equivalent of the royal family for its 'glamor and elegance'.
But once she married Kennedy, Bessette recoiled at the demands of the press and felt that they were a 'monster' she couldn't control.
American Prince, which has three parts, delves into the life of Kennedy, who tragically died in July 1999 when he crashed the light aircraft he was flying into the Atlantic Ocean off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Also on board the trip to the Kennedy family compound for a summer break were Bessette and her sister Lauren.
George magazine, which was launched in 1995, was one of the first magazines to blend pop culture and politics and its first cover featured Cyndi Crawford dressed as George Washington
It was a stunning end to the life of Kennedy, who won the nation's heart with his gut-wrenching salute to his father's coffin in 1963 at the age of just three.
Some of the most revealing comments in the documentary come from Kennedy's close friend Gary Ginsberg, who became a senior editor at George, which was launched in 1995.
George was one of the first magazines to blend pop culture and politics and its first cover featured Cyndi Crawford dressed as George Washington.
But when it came to the Lewinsky scandal, which became public in 1998, Kennedy couldn't bring himself to cover it.
Tina Brown, the famed magazine editor who has run Vanity Fair and the New Yorker among other publications, says in the film that Lewinsky was 'the biggest story' in the country at the time.
But Kennedy 'didn't want to go there because he was 'too much of a gentleman'.
Ginsberg tells the film: 'Having to grow up with all the suggestions about his father and fidelity, I don't think John didn't want to re-examine it.
'That infused how he approached covering Clinton, a story that otherwise would have been tailor made for George'.
Graydon Carter, a former editor of Vanity Fair, tells the documentary: 'It (the Lewinsky story) was simple, it had legs….but if you're named Kennedy you're not going to go after the sitting Democratic President.
'If that had been a Republican president with a 22 year old intern they would have covered it like crazy.'
Kurt Anderson, a veteran media figure who edited New York magazine in the mid to late 1990s, notes that Kennedy's dad had 'all kinds of affairs.'
He suggests that the changed media landscape could have been one of the reasons why Kennedy balked at covering Lewinsky.
As Andersen puts it: 'None were covered with such ghastly, graphic specificity as what happened with Monica Lewinsky.
'That should have been the story for George magazine in 1998 but God almighty, what a mistake.
'Was it: 'Oh no that's too undignified?'
'Well you started this magazine about the undignified nature of stars and starlets and celebrities that had nothing to do with the substance of politics. Why do you draw the line now?'
American Prince: JFK Jr, which premieres on CNN on August 9.
At the time of Kennedy's death he was facing intense pressure over George, which had never turned a profit despite selling 400,000 copies every month.
Kennedy was also feeling the strain over his relationship with Bessette as their three year marriage had been dogged by tension, including the infamous screaming match in a New York City park.
American Prince describes how Bessette couldn't handle the intense media scrutiny that came from marrying Kennedy, who was considered the most eligible bachelor in the world.
Bessette had worked in PR for Calvin Klein, but she had to quit her job because she became more famous than some of the celebrities she worked with.
Hamilton South, a friend of the couple, tells the documentary that they knew their life would change - but the reality was far worse than they thought.
He said: 'John had had a lifetime of training (about the media).
'She (Bessette) controlled the optics around the Calvin Klein brand but she realized she had no control over this. That was most difficult.'
Sometimes Kennedy lost it when Bessette was photographed, once throwing a bucket of water over a photographer's head.
JFK Jr. was the only son of President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jackie
Another time Bessette reversed wildly down the street of their Manhattan apartment to escape the dozens of paparazzi on her doorstep.
Ginsberg says: 'John understood the role of the paparazzi which is why it was so hard when Carolyn had such a visceral reaction to it'.
Carole Radziwill, who married John's cousin and best friend, Anthony Radziwill, says that Bessette saw parallels between her life and that of Princess Diana.
When Diana died in 1997 after her car crashed while driving through a tunnel in France while being pursued by press photographers, it had a 'profound effect' on Bessette.
Radziwill said: 'Princess Diana was our age. The way in which she died which was being literally hounded to death by paparazzi.
'That lesson was definitely not lost on Carolyn. It was a shock this is proof, this is what could happen if things get out of hand'.
According to Brown, Bessette was 'very neurotic' when it came to the press and was like another problematic royal family member from more recent times: Meghan Markle.
Brown says: 'As we've seen with Meghan and Harry there was quite a lot about Carolyn Bessette that was Meghan-ish.
Bessette is described as being 'very neurotic' when it came to the press, while her husband had a 'lifetime' of training with the media
'She wanted it for reasons of glamor and elegance but it came with so much pressure with placating the monster of the media she fell apart.'
According to Ginsberg, the relentless glare of the press was one of the reasons that Kennedy took up flying.
Ginsberg says: 'I said to him John come on, I know you pretty damn well
'It's not your sweet spot.
'He said really interestingly: It's the only place where I can go where I'm left entirely alone. I love the silence, I love the solitude.
'It was pure escape for him. How do you argue with that?'
Adding to John's woes in his final months was the impending death of Anthony Radziwill from cancer.
Carole Radziwill details how Kennedy 'refused to believe Anthony was going to die', even in his final summer alive.
She recounted an emotional story from the summer of 1999, the last that both men would be alive, at the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.
She said: 'I only saw John cry one time and it was that summer, like really cry.
'We were at the beach and Anthony took his shirt off and his chest was all marked up with scars from all his operations. He was pretty thin at that point.
'The visual for John, he fell to the sand and just put his head in his hands. He was really crying. Thank god Anthony was ahead of him and the sound of the waves were covering up the cries but I could see what was happening'.
Tragically Anthony outlived Kennedy by a month and when he found out his dear friend had died he 'couldn't even cry he was so weak', Radziwill said.