Brooke Shields has offered a rare glimpse into the brief romance she had with John F. Kennedy Jr. during the 1980s.
Having grown up in the public eye, Shields was no stranger to fame—something she likely had in common with JFK Jr., who faced intense attention throughout his life as the late president’s son.
Born just two weeks before John F. Kennedy became President of the United States, JFK Jr. spent his earliest years in the White House. That chapter ended abruptly in 1963 when his father was assassinated, leaving JFK Jr. just three years old.
Although he didn’t pursue a political career, JFK Jr. remained a high-profile public figure for decades. In the 1980s, his path crossed with Shields while both were in Aspen, Colorado, and the pair struck up a short-lived romance during the ski trip.
Years later, Shields referenced the relationship in a playful TikTok filmed with her daughter Rowan Henchy.
In the video, Rowan, 22, and Shields, 60, lip-sync to audio from Taylor Swift and Charli XCX’s performance of “Boom Clap” from Swift’s 1989 tour. Text over the clip reads: “I wonder if JFK Jr. was a good kisser?”
As the camera shifts to Shields while she mouths Swift’s line, the on-screen caption changes to: “One of the best”.
Shields has also spoken about meeting JFK Jr. in an interview with Howard Stern, including how she attempted to keep up with him on the slopes despite barely knowing how to ski.
“I was like, ‘Sure, I’ll ski down those moguls and a black diamond,’ and [had] never skied before in my life,” Shields told Stern in 2023 (via Entertainment Weekly).
“I had to get ski-lifted out because I went into the trees. And I couldn’t get off the mountain. And he didn’t help me, but I was like, ‘It’s okay, he can’t help me. He’s John John.'”
She said the evening continued at a pub with JFK Jr. and his family.
“Everybody’s just drinking at the bar, and there’s bar fights and drinking, and [JFK Jr.’s] like, ‘Do you want to get out of here?’ And I was like, ‘Uh, yeah, I do want to get out of here, John Kennedy.'”
From there, Shields recalled going back to his hotel room, where they shared a kiss that clearly left an impression.
“He kissed me, and it was like the best kiss I’ve ever had in my life,” she recalled, adding: “It was beyond not-disappointing. The lips are beautiful, and the face is amazing, and the body, and the person, and he was down-to-earth and funny and irreverent.”