You can bet that the gossip columns will remain busy when a comedian marries into American royalty. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (better known as RFK Jr.), the controversial heir who later became the US Health Secretary, and Cheryl Hines (from Curb Your Enthusiasm) had a marriage filled with political tension, family ghosts, leaked s—-, alleged affairs, and an emu named Toby!
Let’s go back to the first act. Most people got worried when Hines and RFK Jr. went public in 2012. Many people think that Kennedy and Mary Richardson were still married when their affair began. “RFK Jr. was cheating when they h—– –,” one Redditor stated. There isn’t much proof, though. Still, ten years of rumors have been there, thanks to this scandal. RFK Jr. was said to have had 37 affairs. He filed for divorce in 2010 and began dating Hines in early 2012.
Richardson then died by suicide four months after Hines and RFK Jr. went public with their relationship. In 2024, the internet flared up once more. Because of reports that she had a “personal relationship with a (…) subject relevant to the 2024 campaign,” political reporter Olivia Nuzzi was fired from her job at New York Magazine. The shocking information that RFK Jr. was the “subject” was leaked by Status News. The alleged affair between the 71-year-old RFK Jr. and the 31-year-old journalist involved lots of gossip and s——.
Olivia Nuzzi’s behavior with RFK Jr. is an indictment on journalism itself, but the fact that she’s been allowed to rise to the top despite being so awful at her job, and that she’s been defended so often, should also cause self-reflection. My latest:https://t.co/0wFCeLeDMo
— Jeremy Fassler (@J_fassler) September 20, 2024
Then, Nuzzi’s ex-fiance, journalist Ryan Lizza, charged her with having a one-year emotional connection with Kennedy. CNN got court documents that back up Nuzzi’s claim against Lizza for publishing information about it. Lizza’s allegation that RFK Jr. told Nuzzi he wanted to “possess,” “control,” and “impregnate” her was what really turned the knife. It was reported that Cheryl Hines felt humiliated by all this. In late 2024, People magazine found out the couple were no longer talking due to the controversy.
They have, however, managed to pull off the most remarkable comeback since Bill and Hillary Clinton. Hines claims that although the event was devastating, it also gave her clarity in her new memoir, Unscripted, released on November 12, 2025. She says that she “hit a wall” due to the daily headlines. She even thought about staying in Europe at the time.
But when she returned home, RFK Jr. met her at the airport, and the two hashed everything out in the car while Secret Service agents were standing by. That confessional drive led to a number of nighttime talks. Hines writes, “We laid it all on the table. (…) We talked about all of the painful times we’d been through (…) how we had become disconnected and what had kept us together.” Those sessions led to living together in a $4.4 million townhouse in Georgetown, which Kennedy offered as a peace offering.
Hines claims their relationship was strengthened by the scandal. Of course, that didn’t stop rumors that she ordered to be moved to D.C., to keep track of him. Hines, now 61, could win an Emmy for “Best Supporting Spouse in a Political Drama,” though!
