Weird Things About Cheryl Hines & RFK Jr.'s Marriage Everyone Ignores
Cheryl Hines and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are one of the unlikeliest actor-politician pairings, and the weird things that go on in their marriage prove it. Larry David played a key role in their marriage, as he was the one who introduced them in 2006. The two were both married to their respective partners at the time but when they later reconnected in 2011, they were single, and eventually sparks flew, leading to their marriage in 2014.
With Kennedy's outspoken political views and his bid for the 2024 presidential election, Hines has had to defend her husband on occasion. On an episode of "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen" (via The Daily Beast), she was asked if her and Kennedy Jr.'s differing viewpoints ever come between them. "I say, 'I disagree with you.' And then we have a conversation." It can't be easy being married to someone with controversial views and there were times the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" actor publicly slammed her husband, which is one of the many strange things about Hines and Kennedy Jr.
RFK Jr. threw Cheryl Hines under the bus for her COVID-19 vaccine request
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been outspoken about the COVID-19 vaccine and gave a speech in 2021 that poo-pooed getting the jab, per AP. "It is criminal medical malpractice to give a child one of these vaccines," the environmental lawyer told the crowd. Through his organization, Children's Health Defense, Kennedy Jr. spread misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine in an effort to sway people against it.
That same year, Politico reported (via The Hill) that Hines and Kennedy Jr. threw a party at their house that required guests to be vaccinated. According to Kennedy Jr., the request was not his doing and he had no idea that she had put the rule on the invite. "I guess I'm not always the boss at my own house" was his snarky response. "Politico and other news outlets have written near-identical stories regarding a recent holiday party at my home. The angle of these stories is that I required guests to be vaccinated in order to attend. I did not," he told The Hill. Hines later told The Hollywood Reporter that the vaccine was not a strict requirement for her party and that if guests tested negative for COVID-19, they could attend, noting that she had an inkling as to which one of her so-called friends leaked the invite to the press.
Cheryl Hines blasted RFK Jr. for his Holocaust statements
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was at it again with his anti-vax comments during a Washington D.C. rally in January 2022, but this time, he went too far by comparing the COVID-19 mandates to the Holocaust. As reported by CNN, Kennedy Jr. stated, "Even in Hitler Germany ... you could, you could cross the Alps into Switzerland. You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did. I visited, in 1962, East Germany with my father and met people who had climbed the wall and escaped, so it was possible. Many died, true, but it was possible."
In order to distance her own political view from her husband, Cheryl Hines tweeted, "My husband's reference to Anne Frank at a mandate rally in D.C. was reprehensible and insensitive. The atrocities that millions endured during the Holocaust should never be compared to anyone or anything. His opinions are not a reflection of my own." X users, formerly Twitter, either applauded Hines for standing up against Kennedy Jr.'s Holocaust comparison or criticized her for being tied to him. "Everything he says is reprehensible and you're tolerating it," a fan tweeted.
RFK Jr. offered to fake his separation with Cheryl Hines
Cheryl Hines received a lot of flack for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s comments about the Holocaust and COVID-19 vaccines, so her husband naturally felt protective over her. In an interview with the New York Times, the presidential hopeful revealed the sad reason he wanted to fake his split from Hines. "I saw how it was affecting her life and I said to her, 'We should just announce that we are separated,' so that you can have some distance from me.' We wouldn't really be doing anything, we would just — I felt so desperate about protecting her at a time where my statements and my decisions were impacting her," he shared. Hines didn't want to go through with it but Kennedy Jr. went so far as to write a formal statement. "I support Bobby and I want to be there for him, and I want him to feel loved and supported by me," she insisted.
It looks like Hines is going to stand by her man no matter what and is up for possibly becoming the first lady. When asked what she would want as FLOTUS, she joked to ET, "World peace and world happiness ... Listen, I'm ready [for] whatever comes. I'm ready for it."
RFK Jr. allegedly cheated on Cheryl Hines
In 2014, just two months before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cheryl Hines were set to marry, the Daily Mail reported that the lawyer had an affair with a socialite named Chelsea Chapman Kirwan. A source revealed that Chelsea, who was married to plastic surgeon Laurence Kirwan at the time, had been seeing Kennedy Jr. for two years and shared, "[Laurence] was well aware that his wife and Bobby had a friendship before their split and that they have had ongoing telephone calls." The insider spilled that while Chelsea never admitted to having an affair, her estranged husband was convinced she was."
Author Jerry Oppenheimer wrote in Kennedy Jr.'s biography "RFK Jr.: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Dark Side of the Dream" (via Page Six) that a friend of the politico was baffled as to why Hines would marry such a well-known cheater. "Any woman who gets involved with Bobby does so with her eyes open, or their brains lopped off. Any woman who thinks they're going to change Bobby is misguided and purposefully ignorant. Women have to understand what they're getting into when they're with him," the unnamed pal stated.
Larry David was against Cheryl Hines dating RFK Jr.
Although Larry David was the one who first introduced Cheryl Hines and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., when he learned that they started dating, he tried to put a stop to it. Hines told Alec Baldwin on his podcast "Here's the Thing," that after she told David about her attraction to Kennedy Jr., he said, "That's a terrible idea. No, no, no, don't get involved, that's a terrible idea." In an interview with the New York Times, Hines shared that David was just joking about being against her relationship with Kennedy Jr., adding, "It's part of the fun of Larry. You just know no matter what you say to him, he's going to say, 'Why would you do that? Are you crazy?'"
Perhaps David was also just joking when he made a face at Hines and Kennedy Jr.'s wedding. In 2015, fresh after her wedding to her new husband, Hines appeared on "The Meredith Vieira Show" and shared a picture of David looking unhappy as he posed with the newly wedded couple. "I read that he was not optimistic about you guys as a couple when you first got together," Vieira told Hines. "He's not optimistic about anything," the actor laughed.