Several members of the Kennedy family have had relationships with singers, actors and other influential figures
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NEED TO KNOW
- The Kennedy family has a long history of relationships and rumored romances with celebrities
- John F. Kennedy Jr. dated Daryl Hannah and had a fleeting romance with Madonna before marrying Carolyn Bessette in 1996
- Conor Kennedy and Taylor Swift dated in 2012, while Maria Shriver’s son Patrick Schwarzenegger dated Miley Cyrus in 2014
The Kennedy family has been a political dynasty for so many years that it's not hard to believe they've crossed paths with a handful of celebrities.
Shortly after President John F. Kennedy took office in 1961, his family — which included his siblings and wife first lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis — skyrocketed to fame. JFK served as president for nearly three years before his November 1963 assassination, but during that time, he allegedly had a rumored romance with Marilyn Monroe amid his marriage to Jackie.
The Kennedys had two children, John F. Kennedy Jr. and Caroline Kennedy, who both went on to get married. JFK Jr. wed Carolyn Bessette in September 1996, but prior to his marriage, he was in a relationship with Daryl Hannah and had a rumored romance with Madonna.
As the Kennedy family has grown over the years, several members — including Maria Shriver and her son Patrick Schwarzenegger — have had relationships with celebrities, as well.
Here's everything to know about all the Kennedy family members who have had relationships or rumored dalliances with celebrities.
01 of 09
John F. Kennedy Jr.
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Before he and Bessette tied the knot in 1996, JFK and Jackie's only son, JFK Jr., was one of the most eligible bachelors in New York. During this time, he dated various high profile women — including his on- and off-again relationship with Hannah.
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In addition to his romance with Hannah, he also had a fling with Madonna in the late 1980s, around the same time he earned the title of PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive in 1988.
"It was a flirtation, and when other people referred to her as M around that time, just by her first initial, he would say, ‘I started that,' " a friend told PEOPLE in 2016. "He called her M when he wrote or faxed her. There were no cell phones then and he was always very territorial that he started that moniker for her.”
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However, he ultimately settled down with Bessette and they married at a private ceremony on Cumberland Island, Ga., in September 1996. Their marriage, which has been dramatized for the FX series Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, had its ups and downs over the next three years.
The couple, alongside her sister Lauren Bessette, tragically died when he crashed the plane he was flying on their way to the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port on July 16, 1999.
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02 of 09
Conor Kennedy
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Conor, whose parents are Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the late Mary Richardson Kennedy, dated Taylor Swift in 2012.
At the time, Conor's grandmother, Ethel Kennedy, said that Swift was "sensational inside and out.” And though Swift spent a good deal of time around the Kennedy compound that summer (so much so that she bought a place nearby, which she later sold), by the time Conor left to go back to school, things had fizzled out.
Credit: Giulia Be/Instagram
In August 2024, Conor announced in a joint Instagram post that he and Brazilian singer Giulia Be were engaged after two years of dating.
“easiest yes of all time 🩵💍,” the singer and actress, whose real name is Giulia Bourguignon Marinho, wrote in the caption alongside photos and video from their special moment.
03 of 09
Maria Shriver
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Maria Shriver, whose parents are Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Robert Sargent Shriver Jr., was married to actor, body builder and former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger for 25 years after first meeting in 1977.
They wed in 1986 at the Kennedy compound — with Shriver's cousin, Caroline Kennedy, acting as her maid of honor.
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After welcoming four children together, Shriver and Schwarzenegger split in 2011, officially settling their divorce 10 years later.
04 of 09
Patrick Schwarzenegger
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Shriver and Schwarzenegger's elder son, Patrick, dated Cyrus from November 2014 to April 2015.
After first being spotted together at a Halloween event in L.A., a few weeks later the two were seen kissing at a University of Southern California football game where Patrick was a student.
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When the news of their split came in April 2015, a source told PEOPLE, "They're just in two different places in their lives. He's in college and she's focused on her music and career."
In December 2023, Patrick announced his engagement to model Abby Champion. The couple tied the knot on Sept. 6, 2025, during an intimate lakeside wedding overlooking Lake Coeur d’Alene in northern Idaho.
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05 of 09
Katherine Schwarzenegger
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Shriver and Arnold's elder daughter, Katherine Schwarzenegger, married actor Chris Pratt in June 2019 after announcing their engagement in January of that year.
In August 2020, the couple welcomed their first child together, daughter Lyla, before expanding their brood in 2022 with daughter Eloise and later son Ford in November 2024.
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Pratt is also dad to son Jack, whom he shares with his ex, Anna Faris.
06 of 09
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
RFK Jr. wed Curb Your Enthusiasm actress Cheryl Hines in 2014.
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The couple have seven children between them as Hines shares her daughter, Catherine, with ex Paul Young and Kennedy has six children — sons Bobby III, Conor, Finn and Aidan and daughters Kick and Kyra — from his two previous marriages.
07 of 09
John F. Kennedy
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Following a particularly sultry performance of "Happy Birthday" to then President JFK, speculation flew about the nature of the relationship between Monroe and the 35th president.
"She was enamored of him," Tony Oppedisano, Frank Sinatra's friend and author of Sinatra and Me: In The Wee Small Hours told PEOPLE of the two, claiming that they were "obviously" intimate.
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Though he added, "She wasn't about to break up [the president's] marriage, so she wouldn't let it go that far, even if she felt that deeply."
There was also reportedly a fling with the president's younger brother, Robert F. Kennedy, after things "phased out" with JFK.
"I don't think it lasted anywhere near as long or was as deep as it was with JFK. Bobby was a different mentality all together," Oppedisano claimed.
08 of 09
Patricia Kennedy Lawford
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JFK's sister, the sixth child of Joseph and Rose Kennedy, was working in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles in the 1940s when JFK introduced her to the English actor Peter Lawford, according to her bio on the JFK Presidential Library and Museum website.
They wed in 1954 and had four children before divorcing in 1965.
09 of 09
Joseph P. Kennedy
The patriarch of the Kennedy family, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., was a powerful political figure and influence over his nine children with wife Rose.
Kennedy was allegedly known to have had long-term affairs with Old Hollywood icons Marlene Dietrich and Gloria Swanson; both women spoke about the alleged romances in their later years.
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