Martha Stewart shared the warning she gave John F. Kennedy Jr. gave just days before his tragic death in a plane crash in 1999.
The son of President John F. Kennedy was just 38 when the light plane he was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Martha’s Vineyard, killing him, his wife Carolyn Bessette, 33, and her older sister Lauren, 34.
During Tuesday’s premiere of The Real Housewives of New York City, Stewart, 85, told her makeup artist and new cast member, Daisy Toye, about her last conversation with JFK Jr., revealing that she questioned him about having a co-pilot.
“I was with John-John the Monday before the Friday when they died. He called me,” Stewart explained.
She said he called to get advice about his political lifestyle magazine George: “I ran Martha Stewart Living Magazine. He called me and said he was in trouble.”
“I said whatever you want, of course,” Stewart recalled. ‘We had a very nice meal.’
Martha Stewart, 85, shared the warning she gave John F. Kennedy Jr. gave just days before his tragic death in a plane crash in 1999
JFK Jr. and his wife Carolyn Besette-Kennedy (seen together in 1998) were both killed in a plane crash off Martha’s Vineyard in 1999, along with her sister Lauren.
“And at the end of dinner I said to him, ‘What are you doing this weekend?’ He said, “Oh, we’re going to a wedding in Martha’s Vineyard, and I’m bringing my wife and her sister.”
‘I said, “Well, who’s flying?” And he said, “I’m flying.” I said, ‘You have a co-pilot, right?'” Stewart recalled.
“No, I don’t need a co-pilot,” JFK Jr is said to have replied.
‘I thought about it so much that I told him he should get a co-pilot. I’m sorry,” Stewart said.
Stewart made the revelation when Toye asked about her recent TV watch list.
“Love Story, of course,” Stewart said, referring to Ryan Murphy’s recent FX show about JFK Jr. and Bessette.
The series, starring Sarah Pidgeon as Bessette and Paul Anthony Kelly as JFK Jr, was inspired by Elizabeth Beller’s book Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and explored their undeniable chemistry, whirlwind courtship and high-profile wedding over nine episodes.
After their secret wedding in 1996, Bessette remained a figure of intense fascination and mystery, never giving an interview before the couple died in a plane crash.
During Tuesday’s premiere of The Real Housewives of New York City, Stewart told her makeup artist and new cast member, Daisy Toye, about her last conversation with JFK Jr., during which she revealed that she questioned him about having a co-pilot.
‘I said, “Well, who’s flying?” And he said, “I’m flying.” I said, ‘You have a co-pilot, right?'” Stewart recalled. “No, I don’t need a co-pilot,” JFK Jr is said to have replied
The couple (seen in 1999) were heading to Cape Cod for Rory Kennedy and Mark Bailey’s wedding
Kennedy and Bessette pictured on his plane in 1998
Their iconic romance was recently explored in Ryan Murphy’s series Love Story, starring Sarah Pidgeon as Bessette and Paul Anthony Kelly as JFK Jr; Seen stationary
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Do you think Martha Stewart’s warning changed JFK Jr.’s fate? could have changed if he had listened?
The couple was on their way to Cape Cod for Rory Kennedy and Mark Bailey’s wedding when the tragedy occurred.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the probable cause of the crash was: ‘The pilot’s inability to maintain control of the aircraft during an overwater descent at night, which was a result of spatial disorientation. Factors in the accident were mist and the dark night.’
After a five-day search, the wreckage was discovered in the late afternoon of July 21.
The bodies were recovered from the ocean floor by Navy divers and taken by motorcade to the county medical examiner’s office, where autopsies showed the crash victims had died on impact.
New episodes of Real Housewives of New York air Tuesdays at 8 PM ET on Bravo and stream the next day on Peacock.
