John F Kennedy series rejection down to 'bullying campaign'

America's most iconic political dynasty is at the centre of a censorship scandal after a TV network suddenly dropped a multi-million dollar series giving a warts-and-all look at the lives of the Kennedy clan.

Those behind the project believe members of the family "bullied" The History Channel into axing The Kennedys after objecting to the way the drama portrayed the private life and sexual escapades of assassinated president John F Kennedy.

And they claim the Kennedys have called in favours to prevent the eight-part show, starring Katie Holmes as JFK's wife Jackie, from being aired in the US.

The network Showtime became the latest to reject the project, declaring it to be "well-acted and well-produced" but that "it doesn't fit the Showtime brand". The same claim was made by The History Channel when it pulled the plug.

The furious director of Muse Entertainment, the Canadian company that filmed the series, said he believed the networks rejected it for political reasons.

"I doubt they've even seen it. They're objecting to it before it started," John Cassar said.

Showtime's subsequent decision not to pick up the series is seen as particularly disingenuous, given that it aired The Reagans when CBS dropped it in 2003 after criticism that the documentary-drama portrayed former US president Ronald Reagan in an unfavourable light.

Respected industry newspaper the Hollywood Reporter said two prominent Kennedy family members had driven a campaign to get the series scrapped.

It claimed Caroline Kennedy, JFK's last surviving child, and Maria Shriver, daughter of his sister Eunice and wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger, had used their influence in the broadcasting world to get their way, personally lobbying a Disney executive and a senior figure at NBC and A&E Television Networks, the parent of The History Channel.

Ms Shriver was an award-winning journalist with NBC, and Ms Kennedy has a book deal with a Disney-owned publisher for a collection of previously unreleased interviews with her father. Disney and NBC are part of a consortium that owns AETN.

The scandal broke in the wake of the leaking of an early copy of the script last year, which prompted former Kennedy aide Theodore Sorenson to dismiss it as "malicious and vindictive".

But executive producer Michael Prupas insisted The Kennedys was an accurate historical portrayal of the controversial life of JFK, who was shot dead in Dallas, Texas, in November 1963. "It's the truth. It's a positive reflection, but we have shown the flaws," he said.

He added that he remained confident that The Kennedys would find a buyer so it could be shown in the US.

The series will be broadcast in Canada in March and probably in Europe at a later date.