{"id":197953,"date":"2025-10-08T20:08:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T20:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/08\/joan-kennedy-cause-of-death-former-wife-of-ted-kennedy-passes-away-amid-ongoing-family-feud\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T20:08:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T20:08:51","slug":"joan-kennedy-cause-of-death-former-wife-of-ted-kennedy-passes-away-amid-ongoing-family-feud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/08\/joan-kennedy-cause-of-death-former-wife-of-ted-kennedy-passes-away-amid-ongoing-family-feud\/","title":{"rendered":"Joan Kennedy Cause of Death; Former Wife of Ted Kennedy Passes Away Amid Ongoing Family Feud"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Joan Kennedy \u2014 who was married to Senator Ted Kennedy for 22 years \u2014 has passed away.<\/p>\n<p>The death comes amid a tumultuous year for the Kennedy family, have been divided along ideological lines since the appointment of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehollywoodgossip.com\/2025\/08\/chris-pratt-defends-rfk-jr-after-slashes-to-cancer-research\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Robert F. Kennedy Jr. <\/a>as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.<\/p>\n<p>Joan Kennedy was 89 years old.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><noscript><\/noscript><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"676\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-468142408-1024x676.jpg\" alt=\"Joan Bennett Kennedy, the first wife of US Senator Ted Kennedy, attends the dedication of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston, Massachusetts, March 30, 2015. \" class=\"wp-image-537249 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-468142408-1024x676.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-468142408-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-468142408-768x507.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-468142408-2048x1352.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-468142408-960x634.jpg 960w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-468142408-1080x713.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-468142408-1200x792.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-468142408-scaled.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Joan Bennett Kennedy, the first wife of US Senator Ted Kennedy, attends the dedication of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston, Massachusetts, March 30, 2015. <span class=\"image-caption-credit\"> (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-joan-kennedy-s-son-shares-news-of-her-death\">Joan Kennedy\u2019s son shares news of her death<\/h2>\n<p>News of Joan\u2019s passing comes courtesy of her son, Patrick Kennedy, and his wife, Amy:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMrs. Kennedy was a classically trained pianist, an advocate for mental health and addiction recovery, and a quiet pioneer in publicly addressing challenges with alcoholism and depression at a time when few others would,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/joan-kennedy-wife-sen-ted-kennedy-22-years-dead-89\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the couple wrote<\/a>, adding:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHer courage and candor helped break stigma and inspired others to seek help and healing. Her impact on the arts, mental health advocacy, her beloved Boston community, and the nation will be remembered by many.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No cause of death has been made public.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"777\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90059788-1024x777.jpg\" alt=\"US Senator Ted Kennedy watches a bullfight in Seville with his wife Joan Bennett Kennedy, 21st April 1965. \" class=\"wp-image-537248\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90059788-1024x777.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90059788-300x228.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90059788-768x583.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90059788-2048x1554.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90059788-960x728.jpg 960w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90059788-1080x819.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90059788-1200x910.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"777\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90059788-1024x777.jpg\" alt=\"US Senator Ted Kennedy watches a bullfight in Seville with his wife Joan Bennett Kennedy, 21st April 1965. \" class=\"wp-image-537248 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90059788-1024x777.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90059788-300x228.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90059788-768x583.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90059788-2048x1554.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90059788-960x728.jpg 960w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90059788-1080x819.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90059788-1200x910.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90059788-scaled.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">US Senator Ted Kennedy watches a bullfight in Seville with his wife Joan Bennett Kennedy, 21st April 1965. <span class=\"image-caption-credit\"> (Photo by Express\/Hulton Archive\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-joan-kennedy-s-tumultuous-life-in-the-spotlight\">Joan Kennedy\u2019s tumultuous life in the spotlight<\/h2>\n<p>Once one of the nation\u2019s most famous political spouses, Kennedy struggled with alcoholism and mental health issues, and she inspired millions by going public with these challenges. <\/p>\n<p>While she stood by Ted Kennedy throughout the infamous Chappaquiddick scandal that nearly derailed his career, signs of the couple\u2019s estrangement were impossible to hide by the time he challenged Jimmy Carter for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1980.<\/p>\n<p>A popular bumper sticker at the time read, \u201cVote for Jimmy Carter, Free Joan Kennedy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Three years later, the couple would finally divorce under the strain of Ted\u2019s numerous public scandals and extramarital affairs<\/p>\n<p>Born Virginia Joan Bennett on September 2, 1936, Kennedy worked as a model in television ads before being introduced to Ted Kennedy by his sister Jean in 1957.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"977\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90172136-977x1024.jpg\" alt=\"U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (R) and his wife Jill (C) talk with U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy's ex-wife Joan Kennedy (L) during funeral services for Sen. Kennedy at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help August 29, 2009 in Boston, Massachusetts. \" class=\"wp-image-537247\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90172136-977x1024.jpg 977w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90172136-286x300.jpg 286w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90172136-768x805.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90172136-1953x2048.jpg 1953w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90172136-916x960.jpg 916w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90172136-1030x1080.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90172136-1145x1200.jpg 1145w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"977\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90172136-977x1024.jpg\" alt=\"U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (R) and his wife Jill (C) talk with U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy's ex-wife Joan Kennedy (L) during funeral services for Sen. Kennedy at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help August 29, 2009 in Boston, Massachusetts. \" class=\"wp-image-537247 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90172136-977x1024.jpg 977w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90172136-286x300.jpg 286w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90172136-768x805.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90172136-1953x2048.jpg 1953w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90172136-916x960.jpg 916w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90172136-1030x1080.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90172136-1145x1200.jpg 1145w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-90172136-scaled.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (R) and his wife Jill (C) talk with U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy\u2019s ex-wife Joan Kennedy (L) during funeral services for Sen. Kennedy at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help August 29, 2009 in Boston, Massachusetts. <span class=\"image-caption-credit\"> (Photo by Brian Snyder-Pool\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After suffering a fall in Boston\u2019s Beacon Hill neighborhood, Joan became one of the first high-profile American women to publicly acknowledge her addiction.<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy gave interviews to <em>People<\/em> and <em>McCall\u2019s<\/em> magazines discussing her struggles with alcoholism and reported that she\u2019d gotten sober with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous.<\/p>\n<p>Reinventing herself after the public dissolution of her marriage, Joan earned a Master\u2019s degree in Education from Lesley College University in 1982 and later published a book entitled <em>The Joy of Classical Music.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>She is survived by two of her children, her eldest, Kara Kennedy, having passed away in 2011.<\/p>\n<p>Our thoughts go out to the Kennedy family during this enormously difficult time.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehollywoodgossip.com\/2025\/10\/joan-kennedy-cause-of-death-former-wife-of-ted-kennedy-passes-away-amid-ongoing-family-feud\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reading Time: 3 minutes Joan Kennedy \u2014 who was married to Senator Ted Kennedy for 22 years \u2014 has passed away. The death comes amid a tumultuous year for the Kennedy family, have been divided along ideological lines since the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the Department of Health and Human [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":197954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-197953","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hollywood"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}