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“Chappaquiddick” tells the story of a relatively unknown scandal involving one of the most glorified families in American history: the Kennedys. So, it is not surprising that the cast, executive producers, and director felt some nerves taking on the project. For Byron Allen, Entertainment Studios CEO and co-founder and executive producer of the film, the pushback to tell this story came when he first decided to produce the film. “Unfortunately, there are some very powerful people who tried to put pressure on me not to release this movie,” Allen said. “They went out of their way to try and influence...

On top of an $18.9 million Defense Department grant doled out in Sept. 2010, the Institute received $13.6 million from the Department of Education, according to USASpending.gov. In the 2009 federal budget, another $5.8 million was appropriated through the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services. The state of Massachusetts gave the University of Massachusetts $5 million, earmarked for the Institute. As a senator in 2010, current Sec. of State John Kerry waged an unsuccessful attempt to earmark another $28.9 million for the museum ... the $18.9 million Defense Department earmark was “funneled through the Defense...

The stated mission of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute is to teach the general public about how the U.S. Senate works, so it’s fitting that the shrine to the late Massachusetts Democrat is funded, in part, by $38 million in taxpayers’ money. The $78 million combination museum and interactive civics exhibit was formally dedicated by President Obama on Monday. Besides a section honoring Kennedy’s 46-year political career, which ended with his Aug. 25, 2009 death, the Institute will offer a “Senate Immersion Module” which aims to teach visitors how the upper chamber works. (snip) On top of an $18.9 million...

Complete Headline: EXCLUSIVE: RFK Jr will be deposed in bitter divorce battle by the husband of his 'mistress' - weeks after he wed Cheryl Hines Robert F Kennedy Jr. is set to be quizzed over the exact nature of his relationship with his alleged mistress Chelsea Kirwan, MailOnline can reveal. The Kennedy scion, who only married actress Cheryl Hines just weeks ago, will be dragged into the bitter divorce battle between Mrs Kirwan and her estranged husband, plastic surgeon to the stars Laurence Kirwan. Dr Kirwan’s lawyers have informed Chelsea's legal team that they plan to depose both her and...

EXCLUSIVE - 'She couldn't wait and allowed him to seduce her in a creaky French elevator': Bombshell book reveals Jackie Kennedy's secret lovers, her revenge on JFK with William Holden, her steamy night with Brando and her forbidden affairs with Bobby AND Teddy New book reveals that Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was a passionate woman who had many men--before, during and after her marriage to JFK Authors say she bedded Hollywood actors Warren Beatty, Paul Newman, Gregory Peck and Frank Sinatra, among others Confessed Brando, 'She took matters into her own hands and popped the magic question, ‘Would you like to...

Kerry Kennedy may agree to a plea deal over driving while drugged charges stemming from a 2012 accident so she can continue her extensive human rights work. Kennedy, 54, is afraid a conviction would bring with it restrictions that would curtail her international travels – she has visited several dozen countries on humanitarian missions. The plea deal was previously discussed between her legal team and prosecutors before being shelved, but her attorneys have brought it back to the table with her trial slated to start Monday, according to the New York Daily News. Lawyers originally tabled the deal while preparing...

Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy, will be nominated to be the next ambassador to Japan, the Washington Post reports. "Looks like there will be a Camelot East — make that Far East: Caroline Kennedy is heading to Tokyo to be the U.S. ambassador. Kennedy, whose support for President Obama during his 2008 campaign was seen as crucial, had been widely talked about as a candidate for the plum diplomatic post, but now things have apparently been firmed up," reports the Post.

CBS/AP) BOSTON - President John F. Kennedy's only surviving child is celebrating what would have been his 95th birthday this month by honoring three Iowa judges who were ousted after the court unanimously decided to legalize same-sex marriages. . . . The three judges will receive a sterling silver ship's lantern symbolizing a beacon of hope. The award, which was designed by Kennedy's husband, Edwin Schlossberg, and crafted by Tiffany & Co., resembles one belonging to the U.S. Navy's oldest commissioned warship, the USS Constitution, or "Old Ironsides."

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Kennedys have held congressional seats, the presidency and the public's imagination for more than 60 years. That era ends when Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island vacates his U.S. House seat next month, leaving a City Council post in California as Camelot's sole remaining political holding.

CAROLINE KENNEDY is so ticked off at the OBAMAs she coldly snubbed them during the family's recent vacation to Martha's Vineyard, sources tell The ENQUIRER. After working hard to elect President Obama, Caroline was widely expected to host the first family at her sprawling Red Gate Farm on the island, as the Kennedys did the Clintons when they were in the White House. Instead, when the Obamas recently relaxed on Martha's Vineyard, they ended up renting the same place as last year, Blue Heron Farm in the town of Chilmark. Caroline's blatant cold-shoulder treatment is evidence of the bad blood...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel lost his bid for a new trial in the 1975 slaying of his 15-year-old neighbor when the state Supreme Court on Monday rejected his appeal that cited a claim implicating two other men. The court ruled 4-1 against Skakel's request. Skakel - a nephew of Robert Kennedy's widow, Ethel - was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison in 2002 for fatally beating Martha Moxley with a golf club in 1975 in a wealthy Connecticut suburb

Political figures are said to be remembered in one line. George Washington was the father of his country. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves. Ronald Reagan won the Cold War without firing a shot. Ted Kennedy let a woman die at Chappaquiddick and tried to cover it up. If obituaries rightly remember the Massachusetts solon as America's third longest serving senator, they do history a disservice by downplaying why he served so long in the Senate and not a day in the White House.

On Friday night’s Hardball, guest host Lawrence O’Donnell enthusiastically promoted HBO’s new, glowing Ted Kennedy documentary. He began by declaring "There‘s so much ground to cover. We don‘t have enough time for this. And I want to show the people out there, people under 60, who don‘t know the early Ted Kennedy, don‘t remember the early Ted Kennedy, I want to show what you have got in this movie." But O’Donnell’s interview completely left out the biggest scandal of "the early Ted Kennedy" – the death of Mary Jo Kopechne at Chappaquiddick. This seemed especially odd as O’Donnell recounted with...

Saving the environment is not about protecting the fish and the birds, according to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. It is about protecting the human race. Kennedy, nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, spoke at Western Hall Wednesday as part of Western's theme, "Global Challenges and Personal Responsibility." An award-winning journalist and lawyer, Kennedy spoke about the lackadaisical state of environmental law. He also talked about the roles of corporations with respect to nature and the media's impact on the issue in his presentation. He added that the biggest threat to water resources in America is the Bush administration. According...

RFK Jr. Calls Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck Lying ‘Flat Earthers’ Posted by Noel Sheppard on July 9, 2007 - 16:47. For those whose gastrointestinal tracts couldn’t allow them to stomach the goings on during Saturday’s Live Earth concerts, conceivably one of the best moments was Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s rant at Giants Stadium. Not only did Kennedy attack the politicians and the media as “corporate toadies” for the oil industry, but he also slammed conservative radio hosts Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck as being lying “Flat Earthers.” I kid you not. For those that can...

Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) is pressing for documents on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's involvement with a conservative group that argued Princeton University lowered its admission standards to accept women and minorities. In a letter on Thursday, Kennedy, D-Mass., asked Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., to make a formal request for files in the private papers of a founder and leader of Concerned Alumni of Princeton. "In view of CAP's troubling opposition to equal educational opportunity for women, minorities and the disabled, it is important for the committee to learn more about Judge Alito's involvement...

In the book "The Kennedy Curse - Why Tragedy Has Haunted America's First Family for 150 Years" family biographer Edward Klein writes that Carolyn was a highly dysfunctional cokehead and the marriage was headed for the rocks. http://www.msnbc.com/news/933109.asp?vts=070120030730