Kennedy Family Blackmail Scandal: JFK Jr Feared His Own Family Would Cruelly Tell the World He Was Secretly Gay — if He Didn’t Publicly Support Cousin Accused of Rape
JFK Jr. was allegedly the subject of a cruel blackmail plot.
Aug. 6 2025, Published 7:23 p.m. ET
John F. Kennedy Jr. was terrified a family member would ruthlessly accuse him of being secretly gay if the political scion failed to support a troubled relative, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Against JFK Jr. and his mother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' wishes, he reluctantly attended the 1991 Palm Beach, Fla., rape trial of cousin William Kennedy Smith, even allowing himself to be photographed with the accused, to keep the unfounded gay accusations from being leaked to the press by a devious and powerful relative.
Ted Kennedy's Alleged Blackmail Attempt
John F. Kennedy Jr. didn't want to appear at his cousin's rape trial because he believed he was guilty.
"John made a showing for Willie against his better judgment because he firmly suspected Willie was guilty of the crime," a close friend claimed to the Daily Mail.
"John was definitely fearful of all the scurrilous media attention he'd receive if the fake news story about his personal life was leaked, and how it would embarrass both him and Jackie, who were very protective of each other," the insider huffed about the allegations.
"I was stunned when he told me that it was his uncle Ted who threatened him," the source shockingly claimed about the late Senator Ted Kennedy, who was with Smith, 64, on the night the rape occurred.
'They Should Have Done Something About Willie'
JFK Jr. was blackmailed into showing his support for accused rapist William Kennedy Smith.
Author Jerry Oppenheimer made claims about John allegedly being blackmailed by a member of his family in his 2015 unauthorized biography, RFK, Jr.: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Dark Side of the Dream.
Oppenheimer wrote how John's friend, James Ridgway de Szigethy, gave a sworn statement to a member of Congress in 1993, saying that his pal believed Smith was "likely to have committed the rape."
De Szigethy said Kennedy told him that his cousin's issues were allegedly known to the family and "'they should have done something about Willie years ago when he first started doing this,’ meaning .... raping women."
Smith is the son of the late Jean Kennedy Smith and her husband, Stephen Smith Jr. Jean was one of Joseph Kennedy and Rose Kennedy's nine children, who included JFK Jr.'s late father, President John F. Kennedy.
Szigethy claimed John confided in him that "when the [Smith] trial took place, he would have to put in an appearance in the courtroom. He told me he did not want to do this, and his mother did not want him to, either. I suggested that he not do it since Willie was guilty, but he told me who was pressuring and why."
'You Don't Understand the Pressure'
John F. Kennedy Jr. was married to Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy from 1996 until their deaths in 1999.
“I remember every word of the next two angry questions I asked him,” De Szigethy told the congressional member.
“How does it feel to be a character assassin, John? How does it feel to be Patricia Bowman’s Oswald?” referring to Smith's accuser while making a comparison to Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who assassinated JFK Jr.'s father in November 1963.
The then-Manhattan assistant district attorney claimed if he didn't attend the trial, at least one member of his famous family would be willing to leak damaging information about him.
JFK Jr. used the word “blackmail," de Szigethy reportedly spilled in his affidavit.
“You just don’t understand the pressure I’m under,” John allegedly told his pal about how he was being pressured to support Smith at his trial as the most famous and sought-after member of the next generation of Kennedys.
The Accused
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William Kennedy Smith was a accused of violently raping a woman he met in a bar.
Smith was arrested in March 1991 for allegedly violently raping Bowman on the beach outside the Kennedy family compound in Palm Beach after meeting at a bar.
Also at the bar that evening were Smith's uncle Ted and his cousin, Patrick Kennedy. The prosecution later called the senator to testify in Smith's case, but he provided little usable information.
The then-medical student's legal team tried to paint Bowman as unstable, intoxicated and out for money when countering her version of the alleged attack.
JFK Jr. reluctantly ended up attending Smith's trial twice during jury selection, even being photographed with his accused sex pest cousin as they exited the courthouse.
Smith was acquitted on December 12, 1991, following a 10-day trial.
Tragedy struck in July 1999 when JFK Jr.’s plane plunged into the waters off Martha’s Vineyard, killing him, his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and her sister Lauren in a crash that shocked the world.
