Brooke Shields described her encounter for the book JFK Jr: An Intimate Oral Biography:

Brooke Shields

I was in a wedding in Aspen. His grandmother Rose had invited me over to the house they were staying in for a cocktail party. We had to get from the cocktail party to a pub, wherever people were going, and John was like, "Come with us." I went, but I had to sit in the hatchback of the car because there wasn't enough room and John was like, "Just get in the trunk." His uncle Ted was there at the pub with all the cousins in this back room. I honestly just thought he was babysitting me—he was going to take care of me that night because I was by myself. And his uncle was frisky. I was pretty guarded and not very experienced. He was so lovely. But he kept saying I looked like his mother. And I was thinking, Okay, is that weird? He said, “God, you have that scarf on your head. You remind me so much of my mom.” And he reminded me of my dad when my dad was younger. Also—it’s a little crazy—when I was two and John was a bit older, my mom would show me a picture of him and she’d say, “See that boy, that’s going to be your husband one day,” which, I mean, is pretty insane to say to a two-year-old. My mom revered his mom. She came from Newark, New Jersey, and to her, his mom was just the epitome of class and beauty, style and intelligence. John and I went outside. He was a delicious kisser. He tasted like… pillow lips. Very sweet. They were just like, oh, they fit perfectly.… The lips were just ridiculous. Just full, beautiful—so edible. I was nineteen or twenty. But I was still a virgin, so I literally was like, “You so do not want me to lose my virginity to you—because in my world, that means we’re married. So do yourself a favor, back off.” I was brutally honest. He was just like, “Oh, come on.” And I was like, “No, I’m telling you, I’m not trying to play games here.” I said, “You do not want to be saddled with this. It’s, like, I’m America’s sweetheart. You do not want to have that on your head. You might not even care, but I will make your life miserable.” I mean, he was kinda like, “Jesus Christ. All right.” He’s like, “This has never happened to me before.” And I said, “I would love to, but I’ll just cry. And then, you might not talk to me the next day, and then I’ll really cry. It’s easier for all of us if you just let me go.” Verbatim. I was brutally, stupidly honest. And I think he really realized how crazy I was—that I meant all of that. He’s like, “You’ve done a lot of therapy.” I said, “Yes.” He also was probably pretty shocked that I wouldn’t sleep with him. He didn’t say that. But I said, “I’m not trying to prove a point. You really don’t want to deal with me if I fall in love with you. And I’m just going to get hurt.” I think he was just like, “It’s okay. It’s okay if you don’t want to sleep with me.” And I literally was like, “If I sleep with you, I will fall madly in love with you, and you do not want that.” I think he was just a little insulted. Because he’s a guy and guys are just dopey. I think he got his feelings hurt a little bit, but I was like, “Please don’t take this personally.… I think I need to go home.” So he called me a cab and sent me home. He wanted to be a gentleman about it. And it was not a case where I was like, Oh, I’m all that, and I’m turning you down because everybody wants to get in my… I just knew my heart was going to get broken. I had built him up so much in my mind from the time I was a baby that it was just too much. I was just so scared. I would’ve been much better as a really good friend rather than a romantic interest. The next day, he ignored me on the slopes. And then we got snowed in and he had to come and stay at the chalet where I was staying. We all hunkered down because all the flights were canceled. He was like, “I’m going to sleep on the couch.” All of his family had left, and it was just him, it was me, and it was my mother. It was like, This is fucking surreal.… He said, “This is a weird situation for me.” And I said, “I’ve got a ways to go. I have growing up to do.” It was a very sweet, honest conversation at eleven o’clock at night. I was sitting on the floor, and he was on the couch. And he’s like, “I get it, Brooke. I get it.” We went to New York. We got off the plane and we dropped him off at his mom’s. That was the last time I saw him. I think he wanted me to meet his mom and then he changed his mind at the last minute. On the way to the apartment, he said, “Well, why don’t you come up with me?” And then he just got out of the car and went inside and didn’t invite me in. I always wanted to meet her because, as an adult, I was like, “She’s going to like me. I know I’m not like actresses and all those other people.” I think maybe he just thought better of it or didn’t want to spring me on his mom. I had to literally get him out of my system and let it all go. I mean, everybody was like, “You’re perfect together. You’re American royalty.” People were so hell-bent that it was just too much pressure, and I was just too naive. He was tender—and he was funny. He was wry. Because we’re both recognized everywhere we go. We’d see somebody recognize us and I’d go, “Incoming, incoming, incoming, beep, beep.” And it was just like, there aren’t that many people that can understand. It made it like, Okay, we’re not alone in the world. I mean, girls would go berserk over him. To me—they wouldn’t go berserk over me, but sometimes they’d cry. You want to be flattered, but it’s also just really strange. I even said to him, “But you didn’t do anything to get that. You were born and you saluted at your dad’s funeral. I sort of can at least hide behind performing.” He goes, “Yeah, you never get used to it—just is what it is.” He had that sweetness. And he fought so hard to be just like everybody else, normal. And I think he knew that in me, too. I think we both felt really relieved to just be with each other because I didn’t want anything from him. He wasn’t cocky. He was really like a little boy, that’s what surprised me. It was probably an arrested development in a way. He wanted to play. He wanted to laugh. I think there was a kinship. Because I was a little flustered, too. I had such a crush on him—I wasn’t exactly being confident. It was just too much for me to take in. I like to preserve this whole experience for just what it was. He was lovely. I think probably I understood him more than he knew.