• September 25, 1995
• Vol. 45
• No. 13

Heeere's Johnny

By Tom Gliatto

Suddenly, JFK Jr. Is Meeting the Press and Doing Sitcoms. It's the Work of a Mag Man!

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From PEOPLE Magazine

THE FIRST ISSUE OF GEORGE, AS IN Washington, arrives on newsstands next week with politics on its mind and Cindy Crawford on its cover. Crawford, dressed as the magazine's namesake, wears a powdered wig, unbuttoned frock coat and—a detail Gilbert Stuart overlooked in his portraits of our first President—what looks like a jogging bra with ruffles. Inside, the magazine is a mixture of would-be statesmen and certified celebs. GOP presidential candidate Richard Lugar? He's in here. Newt Gingrich's gay half sister, Can-dace? She is too. Yet George also proffers Sly Stallone's mom, Jackie, scrutinizing astrological charts of White House hopefuls and designer Isaac Mizrahi dissing First Lady fashions. In one article, Madonna reflects on the topic "If I Were President." Among other things, she writes, "Roman Polanski would be let back in."

Yet nothing in the pages of George can match the celebrity firepower of the editor-in-chief, John F. Kennedy Jr. Without him, Hachette Filipacchi Magazines, the French-owned company that publishes George in New York City (along with Elk and Road & Track), would probably not have invested up to $20 million in what Kennedy describes as "a lifestyle magazine with politics at its core." The 34-year-old Kennedy, who in 1993 ended a respectable but ho-hum four-year stint in the Manhattan DA's office, has finally found a professional endeavor that lights a fire behind his much-admired brown eyes. It's a crucial moment, says Pierre Salinger, a lifelong friend who was press secretary to Kennedy's father: "John has reached the stage in life where he wants to be known for something other than chasing girls."

With the bimonthly George, Kennedy is taking his intense physical charisma, displayed to such fine effect on in-line skates in Central Park before countless paparazzi, and using it to sell a project all his own. (Or nearly all his own: he and his friend and business partner, former public relations executive Michael Berman, came up with the idea three years ago.) Unveiling George at a press conference earlier this month in New York, Kennedy, in a crisp navy suit, fielded questions deftly. Asked why he'd want to be part of the media that has made his life hell, he said, "You didn't make my life hell." What would his mother, an editor herself, think of his new career? "My mother would be mildly amused to see me up here and very proud."

His telegenic father surely would have approved of Kennedy's appearance on CBS's Murphy Brown this week. Kennedy (a hit in college shows at Brown who was reportedly dissuaded from an acting career by his mother) plays himself, bearing a gift subscription of George for Murphy. Kennedy did the 90-second scene, without flubs, in two takes last month on the Warner Bros, lot in Los Angeles. Off-camera, he was his usual, easygoing, well-bred self, willing to stand in line in the studio cafeteria. "A very pleasant guy," says executive producer Bill Diamond.

And now this affable scion of America's greatest political dynasty wants to be an editor-in-chief, even though his only publishing experience is the two-day seminar he attended on "Starting Your Own Magazine." In Washington last weekend to be sworn in for the President's Committee on Mental Retardation, he reluctantly answered work questions. Will he be a hands-on editor? Nod. Is he surprised by the hype? "Frankly, I think the magazine deserves it," he says. "There's nothing like it. And hopefully it will do some good."

Reviews are mixed. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd ridiculed George for its lack of depth. "It makes [Vanity Fair writer] Gail Sheehy look like Alexis de Tocqueville," she wrote. But USA Today praised it as "smart, witty, irreverent."

And yet even if George founders, Kennedy has achieved something important. "I like the fact that he's going very public to launch the magazine," says biographer C. David Heymann (A Woman Called Jackie). "He's saying, 'If it flops, it's my fault.' He's really taking a responsible stance."

The magazine may not be the only sign of Kennedy's new maturity. On Sept. 1 the New York Post reported that he had proposed to his live-in girlfriend of nearly half a year, Carolyn Bessette, 28, a publicist for designer Calvin Klein. Kennedy's assistant quickly denied the report, though rumors persist. Bessette is by all accounts the kind of woman with whom Kennedy could settle down. One fashion photographer who has worked with the Boston University graduate describes her as smart, elegant and highly competent at her job of handling models for the designer.

Kennedy, as TV cameras noted, turned up at the U.S. Open in New York's Flushing Meadows without Bessette on Sept. 10. Salinger, watching at home, was impressed to note that the new editor had upgraded his attire, which often doesn't even include a shirt. "He was very dressed up in a suit and tie." says Salinger. "Very grown up."

TOM GLIATTO
ROCHELLE JONES in Washington, NANCY MATSUMOTO and LISA RUSSELL in New York City, JOYCE WAGNER in Los Angeles

• Contributors:
• Rochelle Jones,
• Nancy Matsumoto,
• Lisa Russell,
• Joyce Wagner.