Brett Cooper — Women Are Romanticizing Violence Thanks To CBK | Episode 151

All right, so Ryan Murphy's new show Love Story, which is about JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette's love story, is taking over the internet. And I think it says a lot about young people's desperate need to follow trends and also the perilous relationship between men and women online. If you have no idea what I am talking about, FX and the team behind American Horror Story, aka Ryan Murphy, they just released a TV show about the love story between JFK's son, JP Jr., and his wife, Carolyn Bessette, and their untimely death only 3 years into their marriage.

They cover some of the Kennedy family tensions, life in the spotlight, what the paparazzi was like back in the '90s, and it has absolutely blown up. Carolyn Bessette, who was already an icon for many, has been pushed into the mainstream for my generation in more ways than one because people are copying her style. Uh, take a look at what I'm wearing. The restaurants where she ate, and yes, the fact that she allegedly beat up her husband.

So, yeah, let's talk about it. Now, before we do, I want to thank you guys so much for subscribing and being here on this channel. If you enjoyed the video, make sure you leave a like and ring that notification bell to make sure that you stay up-to-date on every single thing we upload. Make sure you watch till the end so you see a preview for our latest vlog up on Cooper Confidential. This one is about the latest cow that was born on our farm.

You don't want to miss it. All right, so in last week's episode about Gen Z and our lack of partying and what we can do about it. And also, I know, side note, I just want to say so many of you guys emailed me and told me that you guys were throwing parties. You invited people over. I LOVE IT. WE'RE GOING to talk about that at another time, but I'm very excited about that. Anyway, that is an aside. It just made me very happy.

But in that episode, I briefly referenced to this '90s nostalgia and how my generation, and honestly millennials as well, is yearning for and trying to emulate a time that most of us barely even knew and like me were not even born into. And a huge driver of that nostalgia right now is this new Love Story TV show. The response has been insane. Already, there have been multiple JFK Jr. look-alike contests held in cities around the country.

I know that there was one in Washington D.C., another one in New York City. The restaurants where these fictional characters ate are being swarmed in New York City's West Village. Chronically online people are already overhauling their entire closets just so they can dress in line with the times and try to emulate these iconic characters from the show. For example, somebody posted on X and said, "I went to the West Village today on an errand and about half the 20-something women I saw were dressed like CBK, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, dragging around finance boyfriends who have yet to start dressing like JFK, but the signs are there."

And she is not wrong because these are the videos that are all over TikTok right now. So, what you're seeing here, if you're listening to the audio version of the show, is a couple that is dressing up like John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. And now, much like with the cottagecore TikTok trend, the Barbie movie, Charli XCX and Brat, or, you know, you could say Sofia Richie's wedding, this is just another huge cultural event that is once again redefining young people who are so desperate to follow trends and be defined by anything other than their own authentic self.

I mean, they are just constantly latching onto anything in sight that seems relevant on social media. Like, for example, with that whole cottagecore trend on TikTok that really blew up in COVID, that's when girls started buying the milkmaid dresses and aesthetic relief first floor. So, it was before it had been like adopted by the political right. You know, Brat summer last year had people leaning into their messy, chaotic, cigarettes and grunge era, which is ironic because literally just the year before that, everyone was trying to be timeless and modest and exude quiet luxury because they'd all been inspired by Sofia Richie and her viral wedding.

And so now, this same generation of young people, and I think it's a lot of Gen Z, but also some millennials, like I know some 35-year-olds who are still chasing trends, but this same group is racing back to the '90s. Women are selling out the quintessential Carolyn Tortoiseshell headband online. I put mine on just for this episode. I'm trying to play the part for you guys. The men are putting on their khakis and their chinos and they're putting on their backwards baseball caps trying to look like JFK Jr.

And I really do think that this says a lot about this generation of young people and what we value, which on the surface level just looks a lot like chasing trends, which all young people throughout history have done. But I actually think that this is deeper thanks to social media and the digital age. And this writer on Medium had a really astute take about it. He wrote, "Does Gen Z only care about trends? The answer is more uncomfortable than you think.

What looks like shallow trend chasing may actually be a rational response to a hyper-visible, high-pressure world." And he writes, "The assumption behind Gen Z only cares about trends, which I'm very guilty of saying and I do think that that is accurate, but again, all young people I think are driven by trends anyway, is that trends are shallow. But trends, especially in digital spaces, are not just about taste. They are about visibility.

Gen Z grew up in an environment where being unseen is equivalent to not existing. Algorithms reward participation and speed and relevance. If you don't engage with what's trending, you don't just look out of touch, you become invisible. You get left behind if you don't jump on the trend quick enough on TikTok. And God forbid you do the trend 6 months later. Oh no, then you're cheugy and you are out of touch." He goes on and he writes, "In the past, if you missed a trend, you missed a moment.

Today, missing a trend can feel like missing relevance itself. Online culture collapses time. Everyone sees everything at once and judgment happens in real time. The fear isn't just being uncool, it is being socially left behind. Ironically, what looks like conformity often masks deep anxiety about instability, economic, social, and existential. When the future feels uncertain, aligning with what is current can feel safer than standing apart.

And this is what we are seeing right now in real time." Because this one TV show with nine episodes that has not even finished yet, it has captivated an entire subgroup of our culture. It is itching this nostalgic bone in our bodies, and now we are seeing people celebrate this couple's relationship, their style, New York City in the '90s. And so, everyone online, even like normal non-influencers who are just online, are racing to catch up, racing to get involved so that they could participate and more importantly cosplay as this couple.

And it's really not that deep, and I'll kind of explain why in a couple of seconds, but the urgency with which people throw themselves and throw their money at these trends like never ceases to amaze me. The fact that girls literally go through their entire closets, get rid of the clothes from the cottagecore era, from their brat summer in 2024, whatever that was, and then buy a whole Carolyn Bessette wardrobe, It's insane.

In this economy, ladies, a better way to spend your money would be with Balance of Nature. Now, if you're like me and you don't really know what phytonutrients are, then you are going to love this because my friends over at Balance of Nature supplements make understanding and taking care of your health so easy. And it all starts with phytonutrients, the naturally occurring plant nutrients found in whole foods that give them their color, taste, and smell.

And when it comes to your diet and your supplements, the presence of these is a sure fire sign that you are getting real phytonutrients. And Balance of Nature prioritizes that. They take whole foods through a tailored cold vacuum process that stabilizes those nutrients. And then, they are powdered and packaged with no binders, no fillers, or flow agents, which is so unique in the supplement space. That is how you know they are the real deal.

Balance of Nature's whole health system gives you 47 whole food ingredients, all of which contain those naturally occurring phytonutrients. Whole food phytonutrition plus Balance of Nature lets you fight fight the good fight. So, go to balanceofnature.com to subscribe and start saving today. Join hundreds of thousands of customers in one simple routine that is changing the world. Now, the other routine that can change the world, obviously, is good sleep.

And the key to that is a Helix mattress. You guys know how obsessed I am with Helix because quality sleep is my non-negotiable. And my Helix sleep mattress has been a game changer, even postpartum, because the only person who might love our Helix mattress more than me is my baby. So, I am hereby begging Helix to make crib mattresses because maybe then we will be able to stop co-sleeping. Anyway, Helix Sleep makes premium mattresses and bedding customized to fit your personal sleep needs.

They have soft, medium, and firm mattresses, and there are different options for side, and back sleepers. Plus, you can choose to elevate your mattress with premium cooling options and things like that. They have over 20 plus unique mattresses to choose from, plus a variety of mattress toppers. So, Helix truly has a sleep solution for just about everyone. And don't worry, they ship it right to your door. So, what are you waiting for?

Go to helixsleep.com/brett for 27% off site wide, exclusive for viewers of The Brett Cooper Show. Again, that is helixsleep.com/brett for 27% off. And at checkout, make sure you enter our show name, so that they know that we sent you. Again, that's helixsleep.com/brett. Anyway, back to the story and the point that I'm trying to make is that this is normal for my generation. It's happened before. It's not the first decade that we've been nostalgic for, that we have tried to recapture as a trend.

And it feels like every year there's something new. Honestly, every couple of months. Like last year in 2025, it was the year 2000. In January, just 3 months ago, it was the 2010s. And now we've gone back even further to the 90s. Like I have whiplash from being part of my generation and watching all of these trends just fly by me at rapid speed. And it's fleeting and it's not really that serious. Again, because everybody moves on within a matter of months.

But already, people online who have nothing better to do are hyper-politicizing folks jumping on these trends. Like look at this reaction to the JFK Jr. look-alike contest, the most innocent, funny part of this entire trend. And this is how this man chose to respond. Watching these white conservatives larp as JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette without any of the swag, any of the aura is actually hilarious. And it makes sense that it feels that way.

Y'all are trying to replicate individuals who aren't close-minded and they're actually inspired by people of color. These two individuals weren't only wearing Uniqlo and Zara and only looking to other white people for their fashion taste. Talked about it the other day. JFK Jr. was tapped in with the culture of what black men were wearing at the time and it inferred a lot of his style choices. Carolyn Bessette was out here wearing forward-thinking and groundbreaking designers like Yohji Yamamoto.

Conservatives could never look as good as they did. And even when they 100% replicate the exact items, it still looks bad. Especially when it comes to some of the girls. You're already giving Erica Kirk. You're not giving Carolyn Bessette. Overall, it's just really funny watching these conservatives larp as the newest trend and they're doing it so poorly. >> Okay, like genuinely, what did I miss? I feel like I am very chronically online.

I am plugged in. Like how did this become about conservatives being the ones driving this trend of emulating JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette? The last time I checked, we are still in the midst of the podcast wars over on right-wing Twitter. Like people are debating Iran, they are debating their favorite podcasters. That is what's happening. I think I could literally count on one hand the amount of people I follow in the right-wing space that are talking about this show and talking about even remotely emulating JFK Jr.

And yet this man decides that it is conservatives and he needs to like harp on us. And also, how is this even about race? You are creating this story in your mind. Like do you people genuinely have nothing better to think about? Like this was a look-alike contest in New York City. I'm guessing that most of the participants were soy boy Mumford and Sons voters and you're claiming that conservatives are the one doing this.

Conservatives are the ones that have no aura. They're so embarrassed. We're saying like don't. That's not reality. That is not what is happening. I am exhausted. But anyway, now that we have covered the trends and the social impact, now we can get into the juicier part of the story. And now this is where I have thoughts. Or somebody might make a response video and say she's politicizing this. But now this is my turn to speak.

You've all made it about conservatives. You made it about race. Now I get to talk. Because it's not just the fashion that women online are excited about. They want the timeless classic essence of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. And for a lot of women, they started to see her as this 90s clean Pilates matcha drinking version of themselves. But apparently, that was not her. Not in the slightest. Now my friend Hannah Cox posted about this and she said, "Watching Gen Z discover CBK is so funny because they're all so desperate for the next quiet luxury Pilates clean girl to emulate."

She wrote "Emily" but I think she meant "emulate." And then she goes on, "Because they have no individual identities that they do zero fact checking. If you're going to emulate CBK, her aesthetic was cocaine, diet coke, cigarettes, and beating men in Central Park. Put some respect on her name." Like that version of CBK seems a lot more like Brat Summer than Sofia Richie's wedding. And yet most of the girls online are putting her in line with Sofia Richie.

Anyway, I know that that is very chronically online TikTok talk, but I just had to say it. But anyway, the thing is and why I'm bringing this up is that now as more episodes of the show have come out on Hulu, now the girls are seeing more of the real Carolyn. They are just as excited. And you might ask, well, why? Well, because allegedly, she was kind of a who beat up her boyfriends. Now with JFK Jr., they had the now infamous physical fight in Central Park that was immortalized by the paparazzi.

You can see a couple of photos here. They're grabbing each other, shoving each other, screaming in each other's faces. And that obviously has now been recreated in the show, so people are getting it in an even more intimate light. And then to add on to that, another one of Carolyn's boyfriends, this is pre-JFK Jr., told this story in his memoir. He wrote that he was in his apartment one night and somebody was buzzing trying to come up and he said, "Who is it?"

"It's me," Carolyn said. He goes on and he writes, "I didn't want to let her up, but she buzzed again and again and wouldn't stop until I let her through. She walked in fuming. I had never seen such rage in her eyes. "What is wrong with you?" she screamed. This is Carolyn. "And she punched me in the chest with her small fist." Boom, boom, boom, three times in quick succession. "Carolyn," she cuts him off, "how dare you parade that girl around in front of me?"

She turned, saw one of my white candles, a huge candle, nothing like the little ones in the back of a bar, candles I'd purchased to protect myself from evil spirits, picked it up and flung it across the room. She threw it so hard that she chipped the plaster on the wall. "Carolyn," he screams. I began to move towards her, but she was already reaching for candle number two and I ducked it as it flew past and shattered the window that looked out onto the courtyard.

Then she threw a third, striking the mirror over the mantle, the mirror that we'd bought together at the flea market, and smashed it to bits. The shards rained down on the floor. There was one candle left, he writes. She threw it at my feet. It gouged a 2-in hunk out of the polished wood floor. "What is wrong with you?" she screamed, completely losing control. "You like trashy girls, is that it? You like them dirty?"

She turned and she kicked my TV set, knocking the VCR to the ground, and then she literally leaped into the air and came crashing down on the VCR, smashing it. "I didn't want to be there and I didn't know how to stop her without manhandling her." I mean, that is an insane story. That is a crazy thing to write. Obviously, this was written after her death. She's not here to defend herself. We have no idea if this is accurate.

It's just, you know, one side of the story. But needless to say, based on her fights with JFK, based on this story, it seems like maybe she was not the personality-less TikTok clean girly that my generation first assumed based on Ryan Murphy's TV show. Now, going on from that, taking it even a step further, journalist Marie Callahan, who is actually a guest on Meghan Kelly's show, she often writes about the Kennedy family, she went even further and she posted this article with the Daily Mail.

The headline reads, "The real Carolyn Bessette was a violent, deeply disturbed cokehead with a humiliation fetish. The lies must stop. Her friends are telling the truth and it is ugly." All right, now, here's the thing about Maureen's op-ed in the Daily Mail. I actually think that she's wrong. Not about Carolyn, I have no idea if the story that she is telling is accurate, I am just reading the second-hand information, so I don't know, but I do think Maureen is wrong about the internet's response.

Because listen to this. In the article she writes, "This is the truth about Carolyn Bessette. She says she was the one with a cocaine problem. She was the one who pretended to have zero interest in marriage while plotting to work her way into JFK Jr.'s circle, meet and marry him. And Carolyn Bessette was violent. She physically abused at least one boyfriend before JFK Jr., but this miniseries still number one on Hulu six weeks in depicts Bessette as near perfect.

She was selfish," she writes. "She went after her close friends' boyfriends. She told a Calvin Klein colleague who worshipped her to dump an otherwise great boyfriend because he didn't make enough money. Her mantra was date them, train them, dump them. Bessette would invite one man she dated before JFK Jr., a working actor whose brother went on to television fame, to dinner with her friends, where she proceeded to mock him to his face for being so besotted with her."

And those are just a couple of excerpts from Maureen's article, but she did not hold back. And then here is Maureen's thesis that in this piece she states over and over again. She writes, "If the truth about her, aka Carolyn, were more widely told, more commonly known and accepted, no woman would idolize her." Okay, well, here's the thing. I'm chronically ONLINE. I LIVE ON THE internet and maybe women are just not in their right minds.

Actually, I know that they're not in their right minds because actually, the more they learn about Carolyn, the more they love her, specifically because of the way that she allegedly treated men. Somebody posted on X and said, "Everybody romanticizing Carolyn Bessette Kennedy like she wasn't beating JFK Jr.'s ass with that tortoiseshell headband." Pull this off and start hitting. And then somebody responded and they commented, "That's exactly why we romanticize her."

I mean, but honestly, guys, like who's surprised? I mean, like think about CBK's tagline of date 'em, train 'em, and dump them. It sounds like something straight out of a Call Her Daddy episode, which has taught modern women to sleep with men and then discard them, all in the pursuit of equality and settling the score. You're going to date around like men, you're going to play the game, chew up men's hearts, and spit them out.

That is what Call Her Daddy and other podcasts like it have told modern women. So, yes, obviously, they're going to love this part of Carolyn's story. And now, this is all over social media, especially on TikTok. one girl posted and said, "Y'all love CBK for her aesthetic. I love her because she housed darts and put her hands on men, and also for her aesthetic." But like, listen to the comments here. This girl said, "She made me feel comfortable to admit that I hit my ex-boyfriend, and also bumming a cig from a stranger after a public fight."

Another person said, "Girlie was whooping on a Kennedy and then wearing clothes off the runway, queen." And then now, also this has become a trend. Watch this. So again, if you're listening to the audio version, number one, go to YouTube, obviously, and watch. We have way more fun over here. But anyway, if you can't see what's happening, this is a girl like essentially doing a Rocky. She's out here like pretend boxing, and the caption reads, "Training for when my JFK Jr.

comes into my life." So that she can beat him up, essentially. And likewise, much like the first TikTok, the comments are just as insane. This woman says, "I'm telling you you've got to start beating these men, keep them in line." Another girl says, "Look, cuz forget the outfits, my goal is to be a professional man boxer like CBK." And again, it's so not surprising. It is completely expected. Now, the first thing that comes to my mind is like, can you believe that women get away with this?

Like, I mean, imagine the outrage if a man said something like this about a woman. Oh, wait, we don't have to. We don't have to imagine it all. I mean, think about the manosphere, guys. Andrew Tate, Nick Fuentes talking about how women are only good for having babies, how he'd like to slap some, even me at one point. Thank you, Nick. And the internet, rightfully, calls that out. They point to how maybe yeah, it's, you know, being an edgelord and joking, but it's a slippery slope.

It's teaching men to hate women. Meanwhile, on the flip side, the mainstream media, Hollywood, and pop culture applaud this behavior when it comes to women. And if you call it out, if you point to the hypocrisy, apparently, oh, then you need to chill because it's just a joke. Or even worse, they claim that women have a right to say all of that because of how they've been oppressed by men, because of the patriarchy. Again, it's settling the score.

Men deserve to be beaten up, whatever it is. I feel like a broken clock talking about this, like added on to the laundry list of hypocritical things that go on in our society. But seeing this response to Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, seeing all these comments, it just shows you exactly why modern men become so frustrated by their walking away from dating and why, more importantly, these patriarchy bros and their content has taken off so rapidly over the last couple of years.

You can love it or hate it, and obviously, I'm not a huge fan of it all, but if you're going to talk about the problem, you might as well actually diagnose it. It's important to acknowledge where that actually stems from and how women, sorry, aren't actually so innocent in the equation. So, there you go. There's my take. There is my hyper-politicized contribution to the love story internet discourse, and I would argue that it is a lot more interesting, more relevant than just adding conservatives and race into everything, claiming that people aren't consulting black people enough before they cosplay as Carolyn Bessette Kennedy.

I don't even know. Again, give me a break. Nobody cares. Anyway, guys, if you have been watching this show, or if after you watch this episode, you go and you give it a watch, let me know what you think, especially if you are somebody in my audience who lived through that era, maybe watched Carolyn Bessette Kennedy in real time. Like, let us know if the story is accurate and if we all really should be pining for this era because clearly, Gen Z wants to be anywhere but here and anyone but themselves.

I'm about to go head over to my mom's house cuz she just texted and said that a baby is being born. So, let's go. All right, so my mom is going [music] down to check on her right now. Taking a leak. This is Donald, by the way. Donald Trump. >> [music]