Howard Stern Remains Tight-Lipped About Friend Carolyn Bessette
Howard Stern recently shared insights about his surprising friendship with the late Carolyn Bessette, though he has vowed to keep the details of their connection a secret.
“I knew the true Carolyn Bessette,” the 72-year-old DJ disclosed on The Howard Stern Show on Monday, March 23 (via Rolling Stone). “I wouldn’t say I knew her well, but we had numerous conversations—definitely more than just casual chats. She was incredibly lovely and genuinely nice… I prefer not to elaborate on how I knew her, but I can say I had my experiences with her.”
Stern added, “There are some things that should remain private… But she was very kind to me, open, and engaging. She didn’t act aloof in any way. I don’t have any thrilling, gossip-worthy stories.”
The radio icon mentioned that he had been watching Love Story—Ryan Murphy’s dramatization of Bessette’s and John F. Kennedy Jr.’s marriage—during his recent break from The Howard Stern Show.
Stern was also acquainted with Bessette’s husband, JFK Jr., having posed for the cover of Kennedy’s George Magazine in 1996. On the recent Stern Show, he explained why he accepted the photo shoot at a time when he was quite selective about magazine covers.
“The only one I would do was Rolling Stone,” Stern noted. “But when John Kennedy Jr. asks—literally American royalty and an incredibly nice person—it was an opportunity for him to potentially appear on my show.”
Stern recounted that Kennedy actually attended the cover shoot, where Stern was dressed as George Washington in colonial attire. (George often featured its cover stars in Revolutionary War-era costumes.)
“He truly showed up for the shoot,” Stern reminisced. “It ended up being one of the worst covers I ever did, and I’ve done quite a few bad ones. They persuaded me to be chopping a cherry tree with a chainsaw, dressed in colonial attire. I was supposed to be George Washington, but I looked more like Paul Revere in drag.”
The Stern Show host added, “John and the photographer were doing that supermodel thing, saying, ‘You look amazing!’ while I posed like I was Cindy Crawford or one of the Hadid sisters. That was before I understood about photo approval, so I probably looked like Captain Hook or something.”
In exchange for shooting the George cover, Kennedy gave The Howard Stern Show a rare interview in 1996, during which he openly discussed his relationship with Bessette. (Bessette and Kennedy were married at the First African Baptist Church on Cumberland Island, Georgia, in September 1996.)
Tragically, Kennedy, Carolyn, and her sister Lauren Bessette lost their lives in July 1999 when their private plane crashed off Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
The group was headed to John’s cousin Rory Kennedy’s wedding to Mark Bailey at the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis Port when their flight faced severe weather conditions.
