Cheryl Hines is opening up about the damaged relationships within the Kennedy family.
After some family members publicly criticized Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after he endorsed President Donald Trump, Hines, 60, shared a glimpse into how her husband navigates his relatives.
“Well, it’s a big family. There are a lot of Kennedys and, you know, they all have different relationships with each other and different relationships with Bobby,” Hines shared on the Tuesday, December 9, episode of NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas Reports. “It was a difficult time. I know that some of them were part of the Biden administration or, you know, working somehow in that administration. I understood that, but I was really, really disappointed to see a few of them really speak so disrespectfully about Bobby.”
When asked by host Elizabeth Vargas if she was angry at the Kennedy family for not supporting her husband, Hines replied, “Sometimes, yes.”
“It was really disappointing to me,” she said. “I’ve really loved them through the years and still love them, but I can’t help but to think of some of them differently because I didn’t respect what they did.”
Back in August 2024, multiple members of the Kennedy family denounced Robert’s decision to endorse Trump, 79.
“Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear,” Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Courtney Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Chris Kennedy and Rory Kennedy said in a statement. “It is a sad ending to a sad story.”
Trump later beat former Vice President Kamala Harris and became the 47th president of the United States. He then chose Robert, 71, to serve as the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Cheryl Hines and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images
In November, Hines released a memoir detailing her experiences both in Hollywood and Washington, D.C. In one portion of the book titled Unscripted, the former Curb Your Enthusiasm actress shared her reaction to some Kennedy family members criticizing her husband.
“I found myself feeling sorry for them, that they were choosing politics over family,” she wrote. “I realized they were not who I thought they were.”
Robert’s cousin Caroline Kennedy has also called him out, as have her children, Jack and Tatiana Schlossberg. After revealing her terminal cancer diagnosis in November, Tatiana, 35, criticized her relative for his stance on vaccines and inexperience in the medical field.
In a rare interview following Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent alleged scandal, Cheryl Hines is exclusively opening up to Us Weekly about their long-lasting marriage. “There has to be a connection,” Hines, 59, exclusively told Us at the Groundlings 50th Anniversary Event in Los Angeles on Saturday, October 19. “There’s, like, a connection that you […]
“Suddenly, the health-care system on which I relied felt strained, shaky,” Tatiana wrote in an essay for The New Yorker.
She also stated, “Throughout my treatment, he had been on the national stage: previously a Democrat, he was running for President as an Independent. But mostly as an embarrassment to me and the rest of my immediate family.”
Married to Robert since August 2014, Hines has continued to stand by her husband as he works within the Trump administration.
From Hollywood to Washington, D.C., Cheryl Hines and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have found themselves in the center of some tight circles. The couple — who were first introduced to each other by Curb Your Enthusiasm creator Larry David — met in 2006. It wasn’t until late 2011, however, when things turned romantic between the […]
Weeks before the 2024 presidential election, Hines shared a glimpse into what keeps her marriage strong.
“There has to be a connection,” the actress exclusively told Us Weekly in October 2024. “There’s, like, a connection that you look at your husband or your partner and all the crazy going on around you, or you look and you check in and it’s like, ‘OK. It’s going to be OK. We’re going to move through this moment.’ And, you know, a lot of times it’s funny and you can lean over and say, ‘This is crazy balls,’ and have a moment together and then hold your head up high and go to the next thing.”
Elizabeth Vargas Reports airs on NewsNation weeknights at 7 p.m. ET.
