Conor isn't the only Kennedy enamored of Taylor Swift. His iconic grandmother, Ethel Kennedy, is equally smitten — she even listens to Swift's music!
According to Conor's cousin Ted Kennedy Jr., the country superstar, 22, and the Kennedy family matriarch, 84, have formed something of a mutual admiration society since Swift started dating the high school senior earlier this year.
"[Taylor and Ethel] love spending time with one another," Kennedy Jr., a 51-year-old lawyer and financial adviser, revealed to Us Weekly at Monday’s New York premiere of the HBO documentary Ethel. "They are fascinated by each other."
The Kennedy clan's relationship with Swift — whom Kennedy Jr. describes as "a very genuine, down-to-earth person" — has at times seemed less than perfect, thanks to reports that the star "kidnapped" her 18-year-old boyfriend and crashed Kyle Kennedy's Boston wedding in August. But Conor's cousin says the "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" singer gets along beautifully with the family, and especially with Ethel.
"[Ethel] is a very open person to people of all generations. She's a very welcoming person. She and Taylor have a genuine friendship," he told Us.
"I think Ethel makes [Taylor] feel very at ease," he added. "Taylor lives in a world — she's obviously achieved incredible success, and for people who live in that world, some people just like to hang out and relax and let their hair down. I think Ethel makes that possible."
Swift won't have much time to relax in the coming weeks, though. Her new album, Red, drops October 22, and fans are already speculating about which of her famous exes she's singing about on the newest tracks. Past songs have alluded to her rocky relationships with Joe Jonas, 23, Taylor Lautner, 20, Jake Gyllenhaal, 31, and John Mayer, 34.
"Every person I've fallen for, they've all been a song," she told Us Weekly in late 2010. "Guys will say something like, 'Oh, I'd better never make you mad because you'd write something about it.' Or, 'I don't want to be one of those guys.' But I've always lived by the theory that if a guy doesn't want me to write a bad song about him, he won't do bad things. And he shouldn't, you know?"
