EXCLUSIVE: Joan Kennedy's Secret Pain Revealed – Ted's Ex 'Driven to Drink' and 'Pushed Over the Edge' by Betrayal, Booze and Secrets Before Her Death at 89
Joan Kennedy's secret pain has emerged as Ted's ex was driven to drink by betrayal, booze and hidden secrets.
Nov. 20 2025, Published 6:30 p.m. ET
Keeping up with the ruthlessly ambitious political clan that cruelly kicked her to the curb fueled the self-destructive boozing that destroyed fragile and tragic Joan Bennett Kennedy, RadarOnline.com can reveal
The beautiful former model and musician died on October 8 at 89, after a troubled life that saw her survive two miscarriages, two children's cancer battles and a shattered marriage to Sen. Edward Kennedy, rife with infidelity and a humiliating national scandal.
Driving Her To Drink
Joan Kennedy struggled under the pressure of the Kennedy dynasty after John and Robert's assassinations.
"Ted Kennedy and his family pushed her over the edge, and she was never able to come back from that," said one family insider. "They drove her to drink because she couldn't cope in the clan."
Sources said she was not built for life in the glare of the Kennedy political machine. After the assassinations of both his brothers – President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy five years later – the family looked to her husband to pick up the mantle.
"Rather than get mad or ask questions concerning the rumors about Ted and his girlfriends, or really stand up for myself at all, it was easier for me to just go and have a few drinks and calm myself down as if I weren't hurt or angry," she was quoted as saying in The Kennedy Wives.
Joan stood by young Sen. Teddy throughout his endless philandering to support the family's ambition – even when, in July 1969, he drove off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts with 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne in the car.
Mary Jo Kopechne's death during Ted Kennedy's Chappaquiddick crash deepened Joan's private suffering.
Kennedy swam to safety, leaving the young woman to drown, and later pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, while a pregnant Joan was doomed to suffer her second miscarriage.
A humiliated Joan was by his side at Kopechne's funeral.
While interviewing the Kopechne family, Kennedy historian Leon Wagener said Joan and Ted's mother, Rose, were the only people from the Kennedy clan who ever expressed sympathy for the loss of their daughter.
"Joan was the only one that could understand the horror and the pain that they went through because she, in her own way, felt like she was slowly being killed by Ted," he said.
Dealing With Heartbreaking Tragedies
Author Laurence Leamer quoted Joan admitting her alcoholism stemmed from family tragedies.
"For a few months, everyone had to put on this show, and then I just didn't care anymore," Joan told Laurence Leamer, the author of 1994's The Kennedy Women. "That's when I truly became an alcoholic."
She admitted she drank because of the many family tragedies she dealt with, even after Kopechne's death. Her daughter Kara Kennedy was diagnosed with lung cancer and died from a heart attack in 2011, and Teddy Jr. lost a leg to bone cancer when he was only 12.
Son Patrick, now 58, had his own battles with addiction and went to rehab twice before finding sobriety.
Joan left Ted before his failed 1980 presidential campaign, but stood by his side for appearances' sake, announcing their plans for divorce after he dropped out.
Finalizing The Divorce
Ted Kennedy was accused of using his influence to distance Joan from their children after the divorce.
Their divorce was finalized in 1982 after 24 years of marriage. Instead of supporting her, sources said Ted kept her beloved children from her after she left.
"Ted used his power to keep the kids away from her," said one family insider. "He didn't want them to hear what a monster he had been."
"The entire family ignored her once she was gone."
She moved to Boston, where she entered Alcoholics Anonymous, but continued to battle booze until her death. At one point, she was found laid out on the street near her home with a concussion and a broken shoulder.
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The Moment She Felt Free
Joan later said in an interview she felt relieved to finally be free from the Kennedy name.
Still, she freely admitted she was thrilled to no longer be a Kennedy.
"So much of my married life was about keeping secrets and pretending that I was doing great and was happy," she told The Boston Globe in 2000.
"It's such a relief now to be free."
