After weeks of criticism from fans about her look on FX’s upcoming American Love Story, Sarah Pidgeon has fired back a terse seven-word response.
The 29-year-old actress plays Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in the upcoming series following her romance with John F. Kennedy Jr., played by Paul Kelly.
Series creator Ryan Murphy shared the first official image of Pidgeon and Kelly from their camera tests as filming got under way in New York City last month.
Fans did not hold back with savage comments about how ‘horrible’ Pidgeon was styled as Bessette-Kennedy, who worked for Calvin Klein before her marriage to JFK Jr. in 1996, on Instagram and elsewhere.
Bessette-Kennedy’s own colorist even bashed the production, adding his late client would be ‘swirling in heaven’ when she sees the look.
While promoting her new I Know What You Did Last Summer remake with E! News, Pidgeon offered a terse response to the haters.
The 29-year-old actress plays Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy (seen above in 1999 with JFK Jr.) in the upcoming series following her romance with John F. Kennedy Jr., played by Paul Kelly
Series creator Ryan Murphy shared the first official image of Pidgeon and Kelly from their camera tests as filming got under way in New York City last month
‘I can’t wait for them to see it!’ Pidgeon said in response to the haters of her character’s look.
She added, ‘We’re just getting started. It’s been so exciting. I feel very honored to take on this role and learn about such an incredible woman who’s endured for close to 25 years now.’
Pidgeon added, ‘it feels very special’ adding she’s ‘very grateful’ to be a part of the late couple’s legacy.
After the first photo was released, many fans commented on Murphy’s Instagram post, savaging the casting and the character’s apparent lack of fashion sense.
‘Is it too late to recast Carolyn and hire a wardrobe dept that dresses her accurately?? She didn’t wear ill fitting inexpensive clothes!’ said Instagram user thederbyketchum.
Fashion editor and stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson added, ‘This wardrobing… during PRIDE?! Violent,’ while Taylor Frost added, ‘FIRE WARDROBE OMG
Another Instagram user named Rogelio F. Burgos insisted, ‘She would never wear this.’
The real Carolyn’s colorist Brad Johns also bashed the production in an interview with E! News after the first photo debuted.
‘I can’t wait for them to see it!’ Pidgeon said in response to the haters of her character’s look
She added, ‘We’re just getting started. It’s been so exciting. I feel very honored to take on this role and learn about such an incredible woman who’s endured for close to 25 years now.’
The real Carolyn’s colorist Brad Johns also bashed the production in an interview with E! News after the first photo debuted.
‘No one would believe that Carolyn in the ’90s would ever have that color from me. t’s too 2024,’ Johns admitted.
He added the tone of her hair is ‘totally wrong’ and was the ‘opposite of what we were going for’ back then.
‘If you show that on TV and fashion people see it, they are going to think, “Why the f**k is she all ashed out with her hair only one color?”‘ he insisted.
Johns wasn’t the only fashion expert to disagree with the TV show’s take on the fashionable figure.
Pop culture historian Marie Nicola told Daily Mail last week that she believes creator Ryan Murphy purposefully mis-styled her to start a conversation about the show.
‘Murphy has built a reputation on visual precision, particularly when working with award-winning costume designers,’ she explained, adding that the costume departments are given vast budget and historical consultants.
Stylist Liz Teich told Daily Mail she was ‘a bit shocked that the wardrobe looked more like an afterthought for such a high profile production of two of the most prominent figures of a generation.’ Like Marie, she hops that the show ‘will step it up for production.’
‘Sadly most of the wardrobe we’ve seen in the previews looked a bit more leaning towards Zara than Prada,’ the New York City-based stylist proclaimed. Teich, who calls CBK her ‘forever muse,’ takes issue with some of the small details being missed, like the actress wearing earrings, when CBK only wore a Cartier Tank watch.
‘No one would believe that Carolyn in the ’90s would ever have that color from me. t’s too 2024,’ Johns admitted.
‘If you show that on TV and fashion people see it, they are going to think, “Why the f**k is she all ashed out with her hair only one color?”‘ he insisted
‘She didn’t look like she was an entry level employee trying hard to impress in a corporate office,’ Teich quipped.
‘She didn’t look like she was an entry level employee trying hard to impress in a corporate office,’ Teich quipped.
The Converse proved particularly controversial, as people on social media proclaimed she ‘would have never worn them it’s just not accurate in the slightest’ and furiously called the styling ‘fashion murder.’
Nicola thinks ‘the styling of the Converse felt off because they were too grubby, not purposeful and lacked the nuance of how CBK styled herself.’ While Nicola confirmed that historians and biographers have mentioned that she wore Converse casually before meeting JFK Jr, she thinks they felt ‘unanchored.’
Still, the pushback about the particular footwear is not necessary, as the inexpensive canvas sneakers ‘were absolutely part of the ’90s anti-glamour ethos, symbolized a deliberate rejection of high-gloss fashion.’
Bessette-Kennedy was just 33 years old – and JFK Jr. just 38 – when they died in a tragic plane crash on July 16, 1999, along with her sister Lauren.
After a brief stint modeling, Bessette started working for Calvin Klein, starting as a saleswoman in Newton, Massachusetts.
Her style was noticed by a company executive and she landed a position dealing with high-profile clients such as Annette Bening and Diane Sawyer, before leaving the company to marry JFK Jr.
They tied the knot in a private ceremony in September 1996, though she had trouble adjusting to the spotlight, turning down interviews and offers to appear in fashion magazines.
She was in a plane piloted by her husband, along with her older sister Lauren, when the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard on July 16, 1999.
