Inside the Life and Shocking Death of Michael Kennedy, Kyle Kennedy’s Father

Desiree AnelloWed, October 21, 2026 at 6:51 PM UTC

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Michael Kennedy during Starlight Foundation AwardsCredit: Ron Galella Collection via Getty -

Michael Kennedy died in 1997 after sustaining a major head injury and severed spine while playing a daredevil game of ski football with several of his relatives

Prior to his death, Michael was the subject of explosive public allegations of having an affair with his family’s teenage babysitter

His daughter Kyle Kennedy’s recent death at 42 years old was the most recent in a long line of tragedies for the famous family

Michael Kennedy’s shocking and tragic death was one of many untimely deaths in the Kennedy family.

Although Michael, the father of Kyle Kennedy — who recently died at age 42 in her Massachusetts home — was known to be an expert skier, he died on New Year’s Eve in 1997 after sustaining a major head injury and severed spine while playing a daredevil game of ski football with several of his relatives.

PEOPLE reported in a 1998 magazine feature that the sixth of Bobby and Ethel Kennedy’s 11 children was tossing around a football on the slopes when he lost control of one of his skis.

Michael had been ready to receive a pass from a friend higher up on the mountain before the incident took place. “He was looking toward the football,” another player told PEOPLE. “His ski hit [the tree], and he just smashed his head into it. He was bleeding real bad, and people were screaming.”

Michael Kennedy and family at the wedding of Kathie Lee and Frank GiffordCredit: Ron Galella Collection via Getty

His youngest sister Rory Kennedy tried to save Michael with CPR but he died in the hospital less than two hours later.

An autopsy later found no trace of drugs or alcohol in his system. After his death, Michael left behind three children — Kyle, as well as Michael Jr. and Rory — who were all under the age of 15. He was separated from his wife and the mother of his children, Victoria Gifford, at the time of his death.

“He was a special and wonderful father, son, brother, cousin and friend, and his family would appreciate prayers during this tragic time,” Ethel said at the time of his death.

In Kerry Kennedy‘s new book, Ethel Kennedy: The Extraordinary Life and Bold Legacy, she recalls Michael’s death being “particularly hard” for their mom.

“We used to tease Michael that he was Mum’s favorite, and in many ways that was true,” she writes. “They had a special, impenetrable bond. Michael would often call Mum just to catch up or to ask if he could take her to dinner, long before the rest of us had that kind of mature child-parent relationship.”

“She adored him,” she wrote. “It was very sweet to see them together.”

Michael Kennedy waves to a group of people gathered in Boston to celebrate the reelection of Edward KennedyCredit: Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma via Getty

Before the accident that day, Ethel uncharacteristically passed on skiing with the kids and took a gondola with her friend Bobbi Smith. On their way down, they had asked the ski patrol to keep an eye out on the kids when they were informed there had been an “accident on the slopes.”

“She and Bobbi raced to the street, hailed a cab, and went straight to the emergency room,” Kerry writes in her book. “They were the first to arrive after the ambulance, which was carrying Michael, who’d hit a patch of ice and crashed into a tree.”

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“Mum went into the emergency room, stayed for a few minutes, and came back out to get Bobbi,” she continues. “‘Please go in and say goodbye,’ she said. Bobbi went back in with Mum. By the time they came out, a dozen family members were sitting in the waiting room, praying the Holy Rosary. Michael’s wife, Vicki, arrived from Vail. After she and the children said their goodbyes, Michael passed.”

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Months before his untimely death, Michael was the subject of explosive public allegations of having an alleged affair with his family’s teenage babysitter, the oldest of three children of close family friends. Victoria reportedly found her husband and the teen together in 1995.

At the time, in keeping with family tradition, Michael managed his uncle Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate race and was expected to handle Joe Kennedy’s anticipated 1998 bid for Massachusetts governor. However, those plans were derailed by the bombshell reports of his alleged affair.

After The Boston Globe published a story about the allegations, the Norfolk County district attorney and Cohasset police launched inquiries into the allegations that Michael pursued a five-year affair with the young woman, which would have been considered statutory rape if she was 14 at the start of their relationship.

However, the woman and her parents refrained from filing a complaint and refused to cooperate with the investigations.

“Michael felt horrible about what he had done,” close friend John Rosenthal, a real estate developer, told PEOPLE in 1997. “His biggest concern was the impact it had on his children.”

Michael apologized publicly, saying in a statement at the time, “I hope that in time the [babysitter’s] family will forgive me. I also hope that my wife and children will forgive me and that I can someday earn and deserve their confidence again,” per Deseret News. “I intend to do all I can to make up for the serious mistakes I have made and to continue the help I need.”

Michael KennedyCredit: Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Michael later acknowledged that, in addition to having separated from wife Victoria after 16 years of marriage, he had been undergoing treatment for alcohol and sexual addictions, according to The New York Times.

After his funeral, family friend Phil Johnston told PEOPLE that Michael’s death repeated Kennedy family history.

“The great tragedy is that Michael was left fatherless at 10, and now his own children are left fatherless,” he said. “I don’t think there are any words anyone can say to make that better.”

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