{"id":651811,"date":"2026-03-13T03:58:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T03:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/651811\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T03:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T03:58:10","slug":"why-carolyn-bessette-was-forced-to-sacrifice-calvin-klein-career-for-jfk-jr-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/651811\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Carolyn Bessette was forced to sacrifice Calvin Klein career for JFK Jr. marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the height of her high-powered Calvin Klein career<\/a>, Carolyn Bessette was forced to leave her job so her husband, John F. Kennedy Jr., could take center stage.<\/p>\n

Sasha Chermayeff, JFK Jr.\u2019s best friend from high school<\/a>, exclusively spoke with Page Six about why Bessette left her PR position with the American fashion house after marrying the only son of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe left her job basically because everything had to revolve around John and George magazine,\u201d Chermayeff said, referring to the political lifestyle magazine Kennedy Jr. co-founded in 1995. <\/p>\n

Carolyn Bessette (seen here with Calvin Klein in 1992) quit her job with the brand to make way for John F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s career, according to the couple\u2019s friend. Penske Media via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Sasha Chermayeff spoke with Page Six about why Bessette left her role at the American fashion house after marrying JFK Jr. Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Chermayeff also claimed there was a \u201cconflict of interest\u201d for advertisers because of the magazine\u2019s crossover with fashion. (The first issue\u2019s cover famously featured supermodel Cindy Crawford\u00a0dressed as\u00a0George Washington<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was supposed to sort of give up everything in order to make his career moves more palatable for the world, and I feel sad about it,\u201d Chermayeff said, adding that in the \u201990s, women \u201cweren\u2019t really as important.\u201d <\/p>\n

Chermayeff wondered what Bessette could have accomplished had she stayed in the industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe left her job basically because everything had to revolve around John and George magazine,\u201d Chermayeff said, referring to his political magazine. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Bessette (seen here with Klein in 1992) also left because there was a \u201cconflict of interest.\u201d Penske Media via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was a very smart girl\u2026 She was very, very well-read. She was interested in all kinds of things,\u201d Chermayeff reminisced.<\/p>\n

After graduating from Boston University, Bessette started working for the brand as saleswoman at a store located in a Massachusetts shopping mall. While working the floor, she was noticed by a traveling sales coordinator and was offered a position at the flagship store in New York City.<\/p>\n

Bessette quickly worked her way up and began dressing Klein\u2019s high-profile clients like Annette Bening and Diane Sawyer. <\/p>\n

After being noticed by the designer himself, Bessette quickly rose up the ranks to become the director of show productions.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was supposed to sort of give up everything in order to make his career moves more palatable for the world, and I feel sad about it,\u201d Chermayeff said, Corbis\/VCG via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Chermayeff described Bessette as \u201cvery smart\u201d and \u201cwell-read.\u201d Getty Images<\/p>\n

Her reign at the clothing company came to an abrupt end when she quit her job following her and Kennedy Jr.\u2019s 1996 nuptials. <\/a><\/p>\n

Hulu and FX\u2019s \u201cLove Story\u201d series \u2014 which is based on Elizabeth Beller\u2019s novel \u201cOnce Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy\u201d \u2014 portrays Klein as the person who initially introduced Bessette to the Kennedy scion. <\/p>\n

Episode 6 depicts the heartbreaking moment Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon) informs Klein (Alessandro Nivola) that she is quitting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope you know how deeply indebted I am to you \u2014 for your mentorship, your friendship \u2014 you\u2019ve changed my life,\u201d she says. \u201cYou saw something in me and fostered it and for that I am forever grateful, truly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s become apparent that I can no longer serve you or this company in the way we both would like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hulu and FX\u2019s \u201cLove Story\u201d depicts Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon) quitting her job at Calvin in episode 6. FX<\/p>\n

On the show, she tells the designer, \u201cI just think my presence here has become a bit of a distraction.\u201d FX<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWant more celebrity and pop culture news?\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with Page Six Daily.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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Klein, taken aback, responds by telling her he didn\u2019t think that was where the conversation was going.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think my presence here has become a bit of a distraction,\u201d she explains, \u201cMy whole job is to promote your work and I can\u2019t do that to my full ability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bessette went on to explain that she knows the mayhem surrounding her relationship is only \u201ctemporary,\u201d to which Klein disagrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t downplay it, Carolyn. You\u2019re the realization of every woman\u2019s dream. America\u2019s son has chosen you. It\u2019s not a temporary feat, it\u2019s a masterstroke,\u201d he spits back, before adding that he felt \u201cblindsided.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bessette apologizes before walking out and leaving for good. The scene ends with Klein calling her out for choosing her friend, Narciso Rodriguez, to design her wedding gown over him. <\/p>\n

Kennedy Jr. co-founded George magazine in 1995. Lawrence Schwartzwald<\/p>\n

The magazine was shut down two years after Kennedy Jr. and Bessette died in a 1999 plane crash. Getty Images<\/p>\n

In Thursday night\u2019s episode, Bessette is seen struggling with the aftermath of leaving her job and feels lost without her PR position. Bessette then goes to a job interview with Klein\u2019s competitor, Ralph Lauren, only to be stalked by the paparazzi on the way to the meeting. <\/p>\n

While Bessette is grappling with her new life as Mrs. Kennedy, her husband is having issues with his magazine, from financial setbacks to disagreements with co-founder Michael J. Berman\u00a0over the creative direction of the monthly mag. <\/p>\n

The final issue of George Magazine was published in January 2001 \u2014 two years after Kennedy Jr. and Bessette died in a tragic 1999 plane crash. He was 38 and she was 33. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the height of her high-powered Calvin Klein career, Carolyn Bessette was forced to leave her job so…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":651812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[19805,64284,185,172,171,6335,29767,1194,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-651811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-calvin-klein","tag-carolyn-bessette-kennedy","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrity-news","tag-entertainment","tag-exclusive","tag-john-f-kennedy-jr","tag-society","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116219864910338166","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/651812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}