Robert F. Kennedy Jr.‘s wife, Cheryl Hines, is opening the door into her personal life with her husband in an intimate new memoir that sees her discussing everything from the MAHA leader’s controversial stance on vaccines—to his obsession with filling their home with a menagerie of exotic animals.
Hines, 60, largely took a step back from the spotlight after RFK Jr. was named as the 26th secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by President Donald Trump—allowing rumors to swirl about the state of her marriage and her true thoughts on her husband’s policies.
However, the former “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star is now shedding some light on her side of the story, as it were, in her newly published memoir, “Unscripted,” which was released Nov. 12.
In it, Hines opens up about how her relationship and life with Kennedy, 71, has changed since he announced his decision to launch a short-lived presidential campaign in 2023, before later throwing his support behind Trump.
The actress admits that her husband’s political aspirations caused something of a rift in their marriage, one that was made that much worse when reports surfaced that RFK Jr. had engaged in a romantic “sexting” affair with 31-year-old political journalist Olivia Nuzzi.
Nuzzi, who is due to publish her own memoir about the fallout from that scandal, later admitted that her relationship with the political scion had “turned personal” after she wrote a piece on him but insisted that there was never anything physical between them.
Hines reveals in her book that the reports about her husband’s involvement with Nuzzi were very nearly her breaking point—explaining that she “hit a wall” with regards to the rumors surrounding her marriage.
“Of course, I hated all of it,” she said. “The swirl of headlines, rumors, and insinuations was upsetting and overwhelming. I had hit a wall.”
The comedian was traveling in Europe with her daughters when the news initially broke and admitted that her first reaction was “a wave of indifference,” one that was caused by a seemingly endless barrage of negative press coverage about her relationship.
“I didn’t care what had happened, who said what, what was real, what wasn’t real, who was involved or why they were involved,” she shared. “I was fine with letting them all continue with the drama and the politics without me.
“It felt like a game people were playing and I wasn’t interested in participating. It was the end of the line for me.”
Eager to process the news alone, Hines extended her trip so she could “breakdown” without her daughters there, giving her a chance to figure out her own feelings before she spoke to Kennedy about it.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen when I returned home and saw Bobby again, but he was eager to talk to me,” she revealed.
When she flew back to the U.S., her husband was waiting to pick her up at the airport—and the pair didn’t even wait to return home before discussing the Nuzzi scandal, instead parking up and carrying out that emotional conversation in their car.
“We probably talked for an hour while the security team watched over the car,” she recalled. “I felt so distant from him. It seemed like the only threads that were connecting me to him were directly tied to all of our kids.”
It was, she said, her “adoration” and “respect” of her children that motivated her to “listen to what Bobby had to say” over the following days, during which they “locked [themselves] in a room and laid it all on the table.”
Ultimately, that no-holds-barred conversation spread to other pain points on both sides, with Hines explaining: “We talked about all of the painful times we’d been through in the last few years and what we meant to each other. We analyzed how we had become disconnected and what had kept us together.
“We went through all of the details about the latest story—what was true and what wasn’t.
“Through those soul-searching days, we tightened our ties that bind.”
Publicly, however, the tidal wave of news coverage about her marriage continued, with reports soon surfacing that Hines had “ordered” RFK Jr. to move her to Washington, DC, out of concern that his “lust demons” would cloud his judgment and prompt him to stray from their marriage.
According to Kennedy family expert Jerry Oppenheimer, sources claimed in March that Hines—who was residing in Los Angeles at the time—was “absolutely still recovering from the emotional shock and pain” over her husband’s reported involvement with Nuzzi.
“Cheryl doesn’t feel Bobby can be trusted one iota living on his own in DC, even part time, with so many attractive women and Kennedy groupies around, as he gets settled in his powerful new position. So she’s given him a strict ultimatum—move me or else,” an anonymous source told Oppenheimer for a piece published by the Daily Mail.
It was later claimed that Hines had then backtracked on those so-called demands—but only after her husband had purchased a $4.4 million Georgetown townhouse for them to reside in while he continues his political career.
“Bobby felt the house in Georgetown would mend their marital bridges,” one insider said, according to Page Six. Kennedy believed the home would help to “keep their marriage alive,” while also helping him to fulfill his dream of being part of “Washington’s latest power couple.”
While Hines never commented on those rumors, she later confirmed in a series of interviews about her book that she had moved to DC, where she was slowly coming to grips with her new life as a political spouse.
In her book, the actress elaborates on what that new life looks like—particularly after several of her once-dear friends have severed ties with her as a result of her husband’s political stance.
Some, she insisted, she bears no grudge against, saying that she understands why they have felt the need to distance themselves from anyone or anything to do with Kennedy’s views.
However, Hines readily takes aim at others, specifically those who have publicly bashed her for continuing to support her husband amid increasing outrage over his healthcare policies, particularly his anti-vax stance.
She bashed her former co-star Larry David‘s wife, Laurie, who criticized Hines for attending RFK Jr.’s confirmation hearing, while also hitting out at her “actor friend,” Bradley Whitford, for publicly slamming her decision to stand by her husband in a vitriolic post in X.
“Why didn’t Bradley just call me to see if he could talk me into revolting against my husband, if that was the goal?” Hines questioned.
The public outcry against her proved so hateful—even from those she once considered friends—that her husband suggested that they “fake” a separation in a bid to get her critics to back off.
Hines said she shut that idea down out of fear that they would be caught in a lie by “paparazzi lurking around.”
Though her life on the sidelines of a fraught political arena has proven challenging at times, Hines conceded that her relationship with RFK Jr. has always been full of surprises—albeit historically, they were a little less serious.
She recounts her first meeting with Kennedy—who was introduced to her by her former “Curb Your Enthusiasm” co-star David—in 2005, before they reconnected six years later, by which point they were both going through divorces from their former spouses.
It was at that point that a romantic relationship began to blossom, starting with early dates in New York City, when she said the “rancid smell of roadkill in Bobby’s minivan” was the only thing that brought her back to Earth after what felt like a “dream.”
After they wed, the surprises continued—not least RFK Jr.’s unique hobby of buying up exotic animals to house in their backyard, including an emu named Toby that he once bought for Hines’ daughter, Cat.
“It got to the point where I couldn’t go into the backyard without carrying a shovel for protection,” she wrote after being attacked by Toby at her home.
Hines has previously opened up about the earliest days of their relationship, when they were enjoying a long-distance romance—with RFK Jr. working as a lawyer in New York City, while she was pursuing an entertainment career in Los Angeles.
“When I met Bobby, he was living in New York, I was living in L.A., and I had just been in this entertainment … bubble,” she said during a recent appearance on “The View.”
“Then I meet him and he’s an environmental attorney, and he’s fascinating and he’s interesting, and he’s smart and he’s funny, and completely different from anyone I ever met in my life.”
Kennedy ultimately relocated to California to be with Hines, and in 2021 the pair purchased a staggering $6.6 million Brentwood home, which still serves as their main base on the West Coast.