Reports of a split between Taylor Swift and Conor Kennedy may have embarrassed the Kennedy family just hours before they announced plans to honor the superstar singer at their high-profile December family gala.
Kerry Kennedy sent out an e-mail yesterday announcing that Swift will be honored — along with Wall Street bigwig and human-rights activist Vincent A. Mai — at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights’ Ripple of Hope Awards Dinner, Page Six has exclusively learned. The event’s scheduled for Dec. 3 at New York’s Marriott Marquis.
The gala, to be hosted by Ethel Kennedy with Kerry and Roger Altman, will be emceed by Alec Baldwin and attended by many in the Kennedy clan, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and such celebs as Dianna Agron, Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas, Matthew Broderick, Harry Belafonte, Mia Farrow and Jerry Springer.
PHOTOS: TAYLOR SWIFT AND CONOR KENNEDY
But while Us Weekly yesterday breathlessly blasted out the news that Swift and Conor have split, sources tell us the Kennedy family believes it’s not completely over for Conor and the “You Belong With Me” singer. Instead, sources say the family’s under the impression the couple’s apart because Swift is busy promoting her new album, “Red,” while Conor’s at school at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts.
A source tells us, “Conor has gone back to school, and the deans at Deerfield are not happy about him jetting around with Taylor. He was due to attend an awards ceremony with her at the end of the summer, but the school chiefs put the kibosh on it. He can’t just leave school to be with her at every point.”
Meanwhile, Conor’s grandmother Ethel was last week happily talking about Swift as a welcome addition to the family. We’re told that the singer’s still bidding on a house near the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port but hasn’t yet sealed the deal because there is a wealthy rival bidder.
Swift’s rep didn’t get back to us last night.