The Kennedy Family is no stranger to controversy. Most people's minds
typically jump to JFK's notorious womanizing and infidelity whenever discussing the love
life of members of this political powerhouse of a brood, but the late President's little brother,
Robert Francis Kennedy, was equally infamous for his cheating ways.
It would seem that monogamy wasn't something that was highly valued amongst the Kennedys. In fact,
RFK's poor wife, Ethel Skakel, who, mind you, is still alive as of April 2022,
knew full well that her hubby was sneaking around with other women at every opportunity that he got.
Bobby's widow knew the Kennedys better than practically anyone else who wasn't
born into the family. Even before she tied the knot with Robert on June 17,
1950, she was already well aware of what she was getting herself into.
Ethel understood that putting up with infidelity was just the price she had to pay for getting
hitched to a Kennedy boy. She also knew that if she didn't want to get herself into a boiling vat
of hot water, she had to keep her mouth shut about her husband's extramarital escapades.
Even so, according to a 2016
biography about her and other wives of American political royalty titled Upstairs at the White
House: My Life with the First Ladies, Ethel loved her husband dearly. In fact, she even is quoted
as saying that she loved him 'more completely than she ever dreamed possible'. This intense
love for the former United States Attorney General and senator meant that she had to
look the other way whenever he got caught up in scandalous and ethically questionable activity.
It wasn't always that easy for Ethel to turn a blind eye to her husband's
philandering. Conversely, Bobby didn't always find himself thriving in his adulterous life
in the spotlight either. In fact, the book Bobby Kennedy: The Making of A Liberal Icon,
authored by Larry Tye stakes the claim that in 1963, shortly after his brother was gunned down by
Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, he suffered from what would today be referred to as a nervous breakdown.
In the months that followed his brother John's untimely death, Bobby built a shrine to him in
his office consisting of photos, books, and other reminders of his legacy. Additionally, he wore
his bomber's jacket which was emblazoned with the Presidential seal and would drive by his gravesite
at Arlington cemetery twice daily to "visit" the fallen President as if he were still alive.
Drowning in grief, Bobby evidently obsessively chewed his nails down to the quick, lost a
tremendous amount of weight, had trouble sleeping,
and was constantly haunted by an old amputation that never fully healed.
Following in his brother's footsteps, Bobby sought out the affection of women other than
his wife to cope with his feelings of loss. He cheated on Ethel with numerous women – likely
far more than are documented. All the while, Ethel was quite aware of her husband's unfaithfulness.
While our intent isn't to run the Kennedy family's name through the proverbial mud,
in this video, we'll be taking a look at several of the women RFK cheated on his
wife with. And like we said before, the worse part is, Bobby's wife Ethel knew all about it!
The Before-Times: Bobby's First Sexual Experience
According to author Larry Tye, Bobby's very first sexual encounter was at a
brothel in Harlem when he was 21 years old. Reportedly, his father paid for
him to have sex with an African American woman. After doing the deed, Bobby was
quoted as saying that it 'wasn't bad – but wasn't all that fabulous either'.
A year later, in 1950, he married Ethel at the age of 22. In 1951, the couple welcomed
their first child into the world. They would go on to have a total of 11 kids.
Kim Novak
Born on February 13, 1933, Novak got her start in the film industry back in 1954 when she signed
with Columbia Pictures. She went on to become one of the top box office stars in Hollywood,
appearing in hit films like 1955s Picnic, 1957s Pal Joey, and 1958s Vertigo.
Although she was still young and widely considered to still be in her prime,
Novak withdrew from acting in 1966 and only has made sporadic appearances in films ever since.
Some of her later roles include appearances in films like the 1980s The Mirror Crack'd,
and 1991s Liebestraum. After filming the latter, an experience that she considered
wildly disjointedly, Nvak vowed to permanently retire from acting.
The 89-year-old actress has been married twice.
Her first marriage was to English actor, writer, and producer Richard Keith Johnson.
The couple exchanged wedding vows in 1965 and divorced just one year later.
She later married an equine veterinarian named Robert Malloy in 1976, and they remained married,
living in a log cabin together in Oregon until Malloy's death in 2020.
While little is known about their relationship,
it's alleged that Robert Kennedy and Novak had a brief affair in 1961.
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Lee Remick
This actress and singer is best known for her Academy Award-nominated role in 1962s Days of
Wine and Roses. On Broadway, she won a Tony for her performance in the 1966 play Wait Until Dark.
Remick made her cinema debut in the 1957 film A Face in The Crowd. She later starred
in films like Anatomy of Murder, Now Way to Treat a Lady, The Omen, and The Europeans.
In 1973, she won a Golden Globe for her appearance in the television film The Blue Knight.
She also played the title role in the 1974 miniseries Jennie:
Lady Randolph Churchill. That role ended up winning her a BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress.
While she was connected to many men throughout her 4-decade spanning career,
she was married twice. Her first husband was producer Bill Colleran
whom she married on August 3, 1957. The couple had two children together before divorcing in 1968.
She then married British producer William Rory Gowans on December 18,
1970. They remained married while living in their home in Osterville, Massachusetts, until Remick's
death in July of 1991. She was 55 years old when she lost her battle with kidney cancer.
While it's unclear precisely when Remick and Kennedy hooked up, it's presumed that they
had an affair sometime while she was still married to her first husband in the early 60s.
Claudine Longet
Longet is a Franco-American actress,
singer, and dancer who was quite popular in the 60s and 70s. She was born in France and
was married to the American television star and singer Andy Williams from 1961 to 1975.
Longet and Williams and Robert Kennedy and his wife Ethel were close friends.
They would often take cruises together on the Salmon River in Central Idaho in the summertime.
Throughout the 60s, Longet and her husband would often host the Kennedys
at their homes in Bel Air and Palm Springs. Likewise, they would often
spend time over at Kennedy's residences in New York City and Hickory Hill, Virginia.
Longet and Kennedy's affair likely happened in 1967, but nothing more ever came from it.
After Robert was shot at the Ambassador Hotel on June 5, 1968, Longet and Williams
joined the Kennedys and their friends at Good Samaritan Hospital, where doctors did their
best to save Bobby's life. Unfortunately, he died in the early hours of the following day.
Longet and Williams later named their son Robert after the assassinated senator.
Marilyn Monroe
For years it had been rumored that Robert and the quintessential Hollywood blond-bombshell
Marilyn Monroe had an affair. A recently uncovered letter appears to confirm this
rumor. The letter in question is two pages in length and was penned sometime in the early 60s
by JFK and RFK's sister Jean Kennedy Smith.
In it, Smith expressed her delight in the fact that her brother Bobby
and Monroe were a hot 'new item'. She further insisted that Monroe
should come with Kennedy when he came back to the East coast.
Rumors began to swirl that Monroe and Kennedy were involved in a romantic fling
after photographs of the two attending a number of events surfaced. That being said, there has never
been any concrete evidence confirming the nature of their relationship.
Those in attendance at JFK's notorious 45th birthday bash
in 1962 when Monroe sang a rather sultry rendition of the 'Happy Birthday to the President
have said that she put the moves on Bobby that night right in front of his wife, Ethel.
One attendee named Lou Harris claimed that Ms. Monroe pinned Bobby against
the wall. Ethel was apparently so enraged that she went home in a huff,
saying that what just happened was the most disgusting thing she had ever seen.
Jackie Kennedy
Not long after JFK's assassination, the first lady struck up an affair with Bobby
that apparently went on for four years. And according to one source, it was her, not Ethel,
that instructed doctors to 'pull the plug' after RFK was shot at the Ambassador Hotel.
According to the book 'Bobby and Jackie: A Love Story', Ethel, Bobby's 11 kids,
and the rest of the Kennedy family all knew about Jackie and the late senator's romance.
According to Franklin Roosevelt Jr, who served as JFK's undersecretary of commerce,
RFK and Jackie 'carried on', as he put it, 'like a pair of lovesick teenagers. He went on
to speculate that Bobby likely would have dumped Ethel to marry Jackie if it had been possible.
Well, that about wraps up this video, but we'd love to hear from you.
Do you think that Robert F. Kennedy's wife Ethel should have left her husband for cheating on her
as many times as he did? Or do you think that she did the right thing by staying by
his side and keeping her mouth shut? We'd love to hear your take in the comments.
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