The Girl Behind Those New Ben Affleck Affair Rumors
RFK Jr. has made headlines during his presidential run — but is his daughter Kick Kennedy really dating Ben Affleck?
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00:00RFK Jr. has made headlines during his presidential run, but is his daughter, Kik Kennedy, really
00:06dating Ben Affleck?
00:08In August 2024, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made headlines as he decided to drop out as an
00:13independent candidate in the 2024 presidential election and endorse Donald Trump.
00:19RFK Jr., who hails from the famously sprawling Kennedy dynasty, is a father of six children
00:25and his second oldest child, Kathleen Alexandra Kik Kennedy, has been getting a lot of media
00:31attention as well.
00:33Reports claim that Kik is apparently close to Ben Affleck, with the two stepping out
00:37together days after Affleck and Jennifer Lopez announced their breakup.
00:42That said, conflicting statements have made it quite unclear whether the two are actually
00:46strangers, friends, or even something more.
00:50Born in 1988, Kik is the great-granddaughter of Joseph Kennedy Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald.
00:56Her grandfather, Robert F. Kennedy Sr., was assassinated 20 years before she was born.
01:02Kik's dad is one of 11 kids, so she has plenty of famous aunts and uncles.
01:07Of course, her most famous relative of all is her great-uncle, former President John
01:11F. Kennedy.
01:12In a nod to Kennedy genealogy, Kik shares her name and nickname with her great-aunt,
01:18Kathleen Agnes Kennedy.
01:20Charming and vivacious, the older Kik tragically died when the small airplane she was riding
01:25in crashed in 1948.
01:27The younger Kik explained to Town & Country,
01:29"...I always thought Dad and I were the same person, but I got fascinated by Kik a few
01:34years ago, and it's funny how similar we are.
01:37She was fun and social and a performer in many ways."
01:40Whatever Ben Affleck and Kik Kennedy's personal connection, one source of common ground between
01:45the two is their acting careers.
01:47Kik received her training at Stanford University and the Lee Strasberg Institute, going on
01:52to guest star on shows like The Newsroom.
01:54She even appeared on Curb Your Enthusiasm, working with Sheryl Hines years before Hines
01:59ended up marrying her father.
02:01Kik has also participated in some family-related projects, appearing in the documentary series
02:06American Dynasties, The Kennedys, and taking on a role in her older brother Bobby Kennedy
02:12III's film, Fear and Loathing in Aspen.
02:15Affleck says that she doesn't act in search of recognition, telling Town & Country,
02:19"...I was born with a sticker, a name.
02:22That has made me totally uninterested in the fame factor of success.
02:26It kind of turns me off.
02:27I'm frightened of it, or at least uninterested, unamused."
02:31Another shared interest between Kik Kennedy and Ben Affleck is their commitment to the
02:35environment, including water-specific concerns.
02:39Affleck helped create the Eastern Congo Initiative, and Clean Water is among the organization's
02:44numerous projects.
02:45In Kik's case, she's been following in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s footsteps.
02:50She told Resident,
02:51"...I've been really connected to water issues since I can remember, as my father made it
02:55his passion.
02:56I've also spent so much time on the water, whether it's sailing with friends and family
03:00or doing a river cleanup on the Hudson."
03:03Between 1999 and 2020, Kik's father served as president of Waterkeeper Alliance, a leading
03:09clean water organization, and she spent time as an ambassador for the nonprofit.
03:14Kik also appeared in the film Grand Canyon Adventure River at Risk with her dad, demonstrating
03:19their whitewater rafting prowess.
03:21As Kik said to Stanford Magazine,
03:23"...it's a story about our trip down the river, but the movie is really about water conservation."
03:28I hope it serves to kick off the issue, like Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth did for climate
03:33change.
03:34"...well, I got to hang out with my dad just like he got to hang out with his dad when
03:39they came down the Colorado."
03:42Kennedy and Affleck have plenty of shared passions that they could talk about, but their
03:46relationship may in fact be nothing more than a fabrication.
03:49Shortly after people started talking about the potential pairing, a representative for
03:53Affleck made a statement claiming,
03:55"...there is no truth to any of it.
03:57I don't know if they even know each other."
04:00Whether or not Kik Kennedy is actually dating Affleck, the rumors have undeniably boosted
04:05her national profile.
04:07After all, having a questionable relationship with an iconic actor is one of the most Kennedy
04:12things one can possibly do.