Cory Kennedy-Levin (born February 21, 1990) is an American Internet celebrity.
Biography
Kennedy met
photographer
A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs.
Duties and types of photographers
As in other ...
Mark Hunter (who goes by the alias "The Cobrasnake") at a Blood Brothers concert at the
El Rey Theatre
The El Rey Theatre is a live music venue in the Miracle Mile area of the Mid-Wilshire region in Los Angeles, California.
This art deco building was designed by Clifford A. Balch (who designed over twenty classic art deco movie theatres aroun ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
in the summer of 2005. He took some photographs of her for his web site and they exchanged phone numbers. In January 2006 Kennedy began an
internship
An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gover ...
at his office, to fulfill a requirement from her high school for graduation. Hunter's web site featured photos of celebrities at various parties, to which he began bringing Kennedy. Consequently, Hunter and Kennedy began dating with the approval of her parents.
In December 2005, Hunter had posted photos of Kennedy with the title "JFK CORY KENNEDY", which began speculation that she was somehow related to the
Kennedy family
The Kennedy family is an American political family that has long been prominent in American politics, public service, entertainment, and business. In 1884, 35 years after the family's arrival from Ireland, Patrick Joseph "P. J." Kennedy beca ...
, which she is not. By April, Hunter claims that he had noticed that every time he posted photos of Kennedy on his site, the web traffic from fashion community sites would spike. Hunter quickly realized that Kennedy had the potential to be a star. That month, as the Kennedy-Levin family visited
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
on vacation, Kennedy and Hunter visited the offices of ''
Nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic.
Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from pe ...
'' magazine, the editor-in-chief of which was a friend of Hunter's. The very next day she was in a photo shoot for an issue focused on music and MySpace, which hit news stands in June.
She was mentioned in an article about interns in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' and ''LA Weekly's'' Caroline Ryder did a short article about her. Then in October, she appeared in a mock
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
for
Good Charlotte
Good Charlotte is an American rock band from Waldorf, Maryland that formed in 1996. Since 2005, the band's lineup has consisted of twin brothers Joel Madden (lead vocals) and Benji Madden (guitar and vocals), Paul Thomas (bass), Billy Mart ...
's "Keep Your Hands Off My Girl", directed by ''
Nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic.
Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from pe ...
s editor-in-chief Marvin Scott Jarrett. The entire clip is shot from a single camera at a fixed angle, and consists of Kennedy shaking salt and pepper to the beat while eating
Indian food
Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to India. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally available spices, her ...
and listening to the song on a portable music player.
Her parents had known about her exposure online but had not realized the extent to which it had grown until the June issue of ''Nylon'' appeared. Because Kennedy had been previously treated for
clinical depression
Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Intro ...
, their primary concern had been her health and well-being. By September 2006, her celebrity life began to conflict with her home and school life. Worrying for her education, her parents had her placed in a boarding school, a "nonpublic therapeutic placement for kids with various types of learning, behavioral and emotional problems" with limited phone and computer use, although she was free to return home on weekends.
Career highlights
*In the fall of 2007, Kennedy was named the face of
Urban Decay
Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban deca ...
.
*September 2007, appeared on the cover of Jalouse Magazine, shot by French photographer, and video director
Jean-Baptiste Mondino
Jean-Baptiste Mondino (born Aubervilliers, France on 21 July 1949) is a French fashion photographer and music video director. He has directed music videos for Madonna, David Bowie, Sting, Björk, Don Henley, Neneh Cherry, Axel Bauer and Les Rita ...
.
*In May 2008, she starred in an ad campaign for
Procter & Gamble
The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...
's "Sebastian" line of hair products. She was later replaced by
Charlotte Ronson
Charlotte Julia Ronson (born 7 August 1977) is an English fashion designer, currently based in Los Angeles, US.
Career
Charlotte Ronson always had an interest in fashion, however, she began designing after friends asked her to create pieces f ...
.
*From May 3-August 31, 2008, photographs of Kennedy were on display in
The Andy Warhol Museum
The Andy Warhol Museum is located on the North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is the largest museum in North America dedicated to a single artist. The museum holds an extensive permanent collection of art and archive ...
(Pittsburgh, PA). Deemed an 'Uberstar'--along with designer
Rami Kashou
''Project Runway Season 4'' was the fourth season of ''Project Runway'', Bravo's reality competition for fashion designers. The season premiered November 14, 2007. Returning as judges were supermodel Heidi Klum; fashion designer Michael Kors; ...
, photographer
Dirk Mai
A dirk is a long bladed thrusting dagger.Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), ''Dagger'', The Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed., Vol. VII, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press (1910), p. 729 Historically, it gained its name from the Highland Dirk (Scot ...
, journalist Rose Apodaca, model/designer
Audrey Kitching
Audrey Lynn Kitching (born July 26, 1985) is an American fashion blogger, model, and fashion designer, known for her "pink hair and Lisa Frank vibe".
Kitching is the owner and founder of an online New Age store called Crystal Cactus. In Febr ...
, and writer/actor
Clint Catalyst
Clint Catalyst (born April 8, 1971) is the nom de plumeGlenn Kaino to represent his 21st Century take on
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...
's Superstars. For the exhibit, Kaino took portraits of his "Uberstars" using a Polaroid Big Shot camera, the type of
instant camera
An instant camera is a camera which uses self-developing film to create a chemically developed print shortly after taking the picture. Polaroid Corporation pioneered (and patented) consumer-friendly instant cameras and film, and were follow ...
Warhol used for his infamous series. Kaino's Polaroids and Warhol's portraits were then juxtaposed, aligning each of Kaino's cyber-celebrities to their
Warhol superstar
Warhol superstars were a clique of New York City personalities promoted by the pop artist Andy Warhol during the 1960s and early 1970s. These personalities appeared in Warhol's artworks and accompanied him in his social life, epitomizing his fam ...
-era counterpart. Kennedy's picture was paired with socialite
Brigid Berlin
Brigid Emmett Berlin (September 6, 1939 – July 17, 2020) was an American artist and Warhol superstar.
Early years
Berlin was born on September 6, 1939 in Manhattan in New York City. She was the eldest of three daughters born to socialite parent ...
.
*Kennedy and Hunter both appeared in the first episode of '' 90210''.
Personal
Kennedy has a
fraternal twin
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...