Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Relentlessly followed by photographer Ron Galella, Jacqueline Onassis obtained a 1972 ruling ordering him to keep his distance from her and her children; Galella invoked the right to photograph public figures in public places. A decade later, facing jail for violating the order hundreds of times, he agreed never to photograph her again. The case became a landmark on the limits of paparazzi work.

State of the evidence

Published court decisions.

Legal status — source text

1972 ruling; Galella's 1982 undertaking never to photograph her again.

Attribution

Jacqueline Onassis was the plaintiff.

Person targeted by the proceedings

Ron Galella

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist is the complainant

On 20 October 1968, on the Greek island of Skorpios, Jacqueline Kennedy married shipowner Aristotle Onassis, a divorced man considerably older than her. The marriage provoked a strong reaction from the American public — one headline read 'Jackie, how could you?' — and questions about her standing in the Catholic Church, as the ceremony was Orthodox.

State of the evidence

Reactions documented by the press.

Legal status — source text

No proceedings.

Attribution

Choice of a second husband criticised by the public.

Having chosen historian William Manchester to write the authorised account of her husband's assassination, Jacqueline Kennedy objected to part of its content and, with the Kennedy family, fought for nine months in the press and the courts to block or change its publication. She was accused of trying to censor the author. A settlement reached on 16 January 1967 allowed 'The Death of a President' to be published; it became a bestseller.

State of the evidence

Proceedings and settlement documented.

Legal status — source text

Out-of-court settlement of 16 January 1967.

Attribution

Attempt to prevent the publication of a book.

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist is the complainant

During the 1960 campaign, Women's Wear Daily reported that Jacqueline Kennedy and her mother-in-law Rose together spent $30,000 a year on clothing, mostly from Paris designers. As First Lady she entrusted most of her wardrobe to American designer Oleg Cassini, while still buying the occasional piece from France.

State of the evidence

Figure published by the fashion press; disputed by her.

Legal status — source text

No proceedings.

Attribution

Clothing expenses seen as excessive.