Warren Beatty is known for his many Hollywood hookups, but it's not just actors and singers with whom he had flings with in his younger days. According to a new book, the movie star and Jackie Kennedy had a brief relationship in the mid-'70s. But, unlike some of the other women Beatty romanced, apparently, Kennedy wasn't impressed with him as a lover. The book claims that she once told a friend that he was just "fine." Plus, even though the fling was short-lived, the former first lady reportedly thought it went on too long. Read on to find out more.
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By 1975, Kennedy had lost two husbands.
Kennedy was, of course, married to President John F. Kennedy from 1953 until his assassination in 1963. Five years after his death, in 1968, she married Aristotle Onassis, a wealthy Greek shipping magnate. Onassis died in 1975, at which point Kennedy began working in publishing as a book editor in New York City. It was during this part of her life that she apparently met Beatty.
Kennedy and Beatty went on a few dates.
As reported by People, according to the new book Jackie: Public, Private, Secret by J. Randy Taraborrelli, Beatty and Kennedy met when she was working as an editor and trying to woo celebrities into writing memoirs. The book claims that the actor and former first lady went on a few dates and that she brought him back to her apartment. A member of Kennedy's staff said that one morning they saw Beatty talking to John F. Kennedy Jr. at the kitchen table "as if it was the most normal thing in the world." JFK Jr. would have been a teenager at the time.
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She wasn't impressed by his bedroom skills.
Jackie: Public, Private, Secret claims that Kennedy and Beatty continued spending time together for a few months, but that she found him self-absorbed. Taraborrelli wrote that she felt he was "consumed by his own career and movies. All he wanted to do was talk about directors and producers and films, and she just wasn't into any of that."
Reportedly, a friend once asked her how the Bonnie and Clyde star was in the bedroom and she said, "Oh, he's fine. Men can only do so much, anyway."
Taraborrelli told People of the relationship, "When it was over, Jackie said it lasted two weeks longer than it should have."
There are other accounts of them having a brief romance.
This new book isn't the first to claim that Kennedy and Beatty had a fling. The 2014 book Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Life Beyond Her Wildest Dreams by Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince also names Beatty as one of Kennedy's beaus. According to the Daily Mail, that book also includes claims that she hooked up with other actors, including Paul Newman, Gregory Peck, Frank Sinatra, and Marlon Brando.
There is also a reference to Beatty and Kennedy knowing each other in musician Carly Simon's 2019 book Touched by the Sun: My Friendship with Jackie. An excerpt published by The New Yorker features Simon recalling going to the movies with Kennedy in 1992 and trying to avoid the newly released film JFK. Instead, the two friends went to see Bugsy, which stars Beatty and his wife Annette Bening.
"When I called her back, Jackie was happy with the choice, and she and I had a quick Warren Beatty moment, since he was a mutual acquaintance," Simon wrote about making their movie plans. "We also talked about Annette Bening, and how interesting a person she must be."
Simon also had a fling with Beatty and told People that her song song "You're So Vain" is partially about him.
Beatty has been linked to many famous women.
Kennedy and Simon are far from the only star Beatty was involved with, and his sexual reputation has followed him throughout his career. (For instance, Madonna confirmed he was an "incredible" lover during an interview.)
In a 2016 interview with AARP: The Magazine, Beatty addressed the rumor that he'd slept with around 13,000 women.
"Think about it, sleeping with 12,775 people. That would mean not just that there were multiple people a day, but that there was no repetition," he said. He also explained how he managed to not leave anyone hating him, despite his long list of affairs. "Look, I never misled anyone … And I'm a nice guy," he said.
Lia Beck Lia Beck is a writer living in Richmond, Virginia. In addition to Best Life, she has written for Refinery29, Bustle, Hello Giggles, InStyle, and more.Read moreFiled Under1970s • Celebrities • Entertainment • NewsRead This NextThe Biggest Female Icon of Every Year
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