What Really Happened Between Marilyn Monroe & JFK? Blonde Fact Check (2024)

Blonde features a scene addressing Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy's alleged affair, but there is more to their reported shared history than the film showed. Directed by Andrew Dominik (Killing Them Softly) and starring Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe, Blonde is a partially fictionalized recounting of the actress' life and career up until her death. Born Norma Jeane Mortenson, Monroe found success starring in films like 1953's Niagara and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Her popularity continued to rise as she starred in multiple other projects, such as How to Marry a Millionaire, The Prince and the Showgirl and Some Like It Hot. Monroe quickly cemented herself as one of the most popular performers in the entertainment industry.

As such, Marilyn Monroe has long been one of Hollywood's most discussed personalities, not only for her extensive career, but also for her substance abuse struggles and her much-rumored affairs with John and Robert Kennedy. Her alleged relationships with the pair have been intriguing topics for decades, with multiple accounts somewhat supporting the rumor. Blonde touches on Marilyn Monroe's life, career and struggles with addiction through a partly fictional perspective. It also tackles her alleged affair with JFK (played by Caspar Phillipson, who also portrayed Kennedy in the Natalie Portman-starring Jackie) in a now infamous scene.

Related: Blonde: Who Really Was Marilyn Monroe's Father?

Blonde has been mired in controversy due to its depiction of sexual assault and trauma, and the sequence centering on Monroe's encounter with Kennedy has become arguably one of the project's most criticized moments. The scene in question shows Marilyn Monroe being sexually assaulted by a character who, while unnamed, is clearly meant to be the former U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Aside from the controversy generated by the scene due to its graphic and exploitative nature, Blonde, which carries an NC-17 rating, has also opened the question of how accurate its representation of the dynamic between the actress and JFK was.

When Did Marilyn Monroe And JFK First Meet?

According to biographer James Spada, who co-authored Monroe: Her Life in Pictures (via People), the actress first met JFK in 1954 after being introduced by Peter Lawford, an actor and JFK's brother-in-law. There is scarce photographic evidence of the two of them together. In fact, perhaps the only picture available of them in the same room is one that was taken by Cecil William Stoughton, an official White House photographer, who captured the meeting at an after-party hosted by Hollywood executive Arthur B. Krim in New York (via Time). The photograph shows Monroe, JFK and Robert Kennedy, then U.S. Attorney General, talking to each other.

What We Know About Marilyn Monroe's Relationship With The Kennedys

There is a lot of speculation surrounding the real-life story of Marilyn Monroe and her connection to the Kennedy brothers. Though confirmed details about their relationship are scarce, there are accounts from people close to Monroe that provide a somewhat understandable picture of what could have happened between the three of them. As James Spada told People: "[It] was pretty clear that Marilyn had had sexual relations with both Bobby and Jack." Donald Spoto's 1993's Marilyn Monroe: The Biography (via Esquire) claimed that only four encounters between Monroe and JFK are confirmed to have taken place between October 1961 and August 1962 (the month of her death).

Though the nature of their meetings remains largely a mystery, the book described a phone call that took place from the actress to her masseur, Ralph Roberts, that points to the possibility of the real Marilyn Monroe and Kennedy indeed having been in a romantic relationship, albeit a brief one. Per Spoto's book, the call occurred in March 1962, during a party at the Palm Springs abode of singer Bing Crosby. Roberts claims the actress asked for advice on how to give a massage, after which Roberts supposedly talked to John F. Kennedy on the phone:

Related: Blonde: How Ana De Armas' Marilyn Monroe Compares To Real Life

"Marilyn told me that this night in March was the only time of her 'affair' with JFK. A great many people thought, after that weekend, that there was more to it. But Marilyn gave me the impression that it was not a major event for either of them: it happened once, that weekend, and that was that."

James Spada further stated while speaking to People that JFK ended his affair with Monroe, after which the actress appears to have become more seriously involved with Robert Kennedy. In the Netflix documentary The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes, Monroe's housekeeper, Eunice Murray, claimed that "the Kennedys were a very important part of Marilyn's life." Marilyn Monroe's relationship with them is said to have been strained leading up to her death, however. Murray alleged that RFK was at the actress' house on the day she died. According to the documentary, RFK had gone to end their relationship.

Former head MGM hairdresser Sydney Guilaroff, who is said to have been a confidant to stars like Elizabeth Taylor and Monroe, shared details about the supposed encounter, stating RFK had gone there to end their affair. According to his 1996 autobiography, Crowning Glory, Monroe called him at 9:30 p.m. to tell him that Robert Kennedy had threatened her. Per Guilaroff, Monroe was privy to a lot of secrets, which she described as "dangerous." Biographer Spada, however, said the Kennedys were not involved in the actress' death, something echoed by the Blonde movie ending. This was supported near the end of Netflix's The Unheard Tapes by Anthony Summers, author of Goddess, the Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe, who stated he was convinced Monroe was not killed.

Did Blonde's Depiction Of Marilyn Monroe & JFK's Story Happen?

Marilyn Monroe's relationship with JFK is largely shrouded in mystery. Confirmed details on their interactions are scarce to nonexistent, so it's not possible to tell with exactitude how accurate Blonde's JFK scene is. However, the movie is not meant to be a fully accurate exploration of Monroe's career - as indeed this would prove a borderline impossible feat given the lack of transparent details surrounding the pair's history. As the film is based on Joyce Carol Oates' book, Blonde, a fictionalized version of Monroe's story, Blonde's movie adaptation makes several changes to its protagonist's life, often depicting moments that can't be confirmed to have transpired. JFK's infamous scene is one of them - which is part of what made it such a controversial element of the film.

Why Blonde's Marilyn Monroe & JFK Changes Are So Controversial

Blonde's JFK scene was understandably met with a significant amount of backlash due to its exploitative nature. The rest of the film takes the same approach to Marilyn's life, exploring it through an exploitative lens that puts an emphasis on graphic sexual and emotional violence instead of offering a holistic view on who she was, her accomplishments and her career trajectory. The actress' emotional and physical plights have already been extensively covered throughout various media adaptations over the years. Portraying said suffering in the manner done by Blonde — like what was done with Marilyn Monroe's death scene and the JFK sequence — approached the complicated subject manner in a reductive light, which resulted in controversy when audiences saw it as an inappropriate way to highlight the actress' struggles, especially through what seems to have been a fictionalized rape scene. Blonde appears to have attempted to delve into the legend of Norma Jeane Mortenson deeper than any prior piece of entertainment about her life, but its execution was flawed. As such, audiences have naturally had issues with the movie's controversial decisions in regard to its depiction of Marilyn Monroe.

Next: Ana De Armas' Marilyn Monroe Accent Backlash In Blonde Is Absurd