Who Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Wife? All About Actress Cheryl Hines

Mar. 15, 2025

Cheryl Hines and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. attend an event in April 2022 in Bel Air, California.Photo: Jon Kopaloff/Getty

Cheryl Hines' marriage toRobert F. Kennedy Jr.has had its highs and lows.

In September 2024, Hines wasspotted without her wedding ringafter it was revealed that Kennedy developed a “personal relationship” withNew York Magazinereporter Olivia Nuzzi.

A source told PEOPLE that Hines hasconsidered filing for divorce. However, in recent months, she has been seen supporting her husband at the funeral of his late mother,Ethel Kennedy, and hisSenate confirmation hearing. In November 2024, PresidentDonald Trumpnominated Kennedy to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and he was eventuallyconfirmed on Feb. 13.

“You have given me a life I could’ve never imagined full of love, laughter, joy and adventure. In my darkest hours you bring me light. I love you,” Hines wrote onInstagram.

So, who is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s wife? Here’s everything to know about actress Cheryl Hines and her relationship with the politician.

She worked for Rob Reiner before her big break onCurb Your Enthusiasm

Cheryl Hines and Robert Kennedy Jr. in 2012.Fairchild Archive/Penske Media/Getty

Fairchild Archive/Penske Media/Getty

Hines worked odd jobs while trying to make it in Hollywood, including as a bartender and personal assistant to actor, screenwriter and directorRob Reiner— which, in a roundabout way, led to her being cast onCurb Your Enthusiasm.

“When I auditioned forCurb, it was a one-hour special on HBO. It wasn’t even meant to be a series,” she said onThe Back Roomwith Andy Ostroypodcast. “I was still working for the Reiners when I gotCurb. It was really crazy because Rob came in and was like, ‘Are you playingLarry David’s wife?’ "

The actress previously told theOrlando Sentinelin 2012, “UntilCurb, I’d done small roles, really small roles. They wanted to cast an unknown actress. It worked in my favor that I hadn’t done anything. It changed my life.”

Larry David introduced her to Kennedy

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cheryl Hines, Amy Landecker and Larry David attend the Deer Valley Celebrity Skifest in December 2012.Christopher Polk/Getty

Christopher Polk/Getty

Hines credits her on-screen husband with introducing her to her off-screen husband. She toldThe New York Timesthat David introduced her to Kennedy in 2006 at a ski weekend fundraiser for the Waterkeeper Alliance, an environmental nonprofit that Kennedy co-founded. At the time, Hines was married to her first husband and Kennedy was married to Richardson.

Hines and Kennedy didn’t reconnect until 2011, when Kennedy and Richardson were separated. Hines said David never actually intended to play matchmaker and that he gave her a hard time about her romance with Kennedy when it began.

“It’s part of the fun of Larry,” she said. “You just know no matter what you say to him, he’s going to say, ‘Why would you do that? Are you crazy?’ "

Kennedy later toldThe New York Timesthat their friendship began “slowly at first” and quickly evolved into a romantic relationship.

She and Kennedy got married after three years together

Cheryl Hines and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attend the actress’ The Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in January 2014.Michael Tran/FilmMagic

Michael Tran/FilmMagic

Hines and Kennedy went public with their relationship in October 2011 and got engaged in May 2014. Not too long after, the couple married on Aug. 2, 2014.

Hines, who wore aJackie Kennedy-inspiredwedding gown, toldThe New York Timesthat she and Kennedy initially planned on eloping with their children as witnesses, but their respective large families — particularly their mothers — wanted a bigger wedding.

They enjoyed a “casual celebration” at the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, with celebrity guests that included David,Julia Louis-Dreyfus,Kevin Nealon,Ed Begley Jr.and Sen. Ed Markey.

“It’s fun that the two families are coming together,” Hines told PEOPLE ahead of their wedding. “It’s very sweet that way. I come from a big family and the Kennedys are a big family.”

When asked how she felt about tying the knot with Kennedy, she added, “It feels great because you know you are going to be with the person you really like to be with for a very long time. And that’s a great feeling.”

She and her daughter went into business together

Cheryl Hines and her daughter Catherine Rose Young arrive at the Los Angeles season 2 premiere of “The Flight Attendant” in April 2022.Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

Hines shares a daughter, Catherine Rose, with her first husband, Young. In 2023, Hines and Catherine launched their eco-friendly cosmetics brand Hines + Young with products like scented candles, body creams, lip balms and scrubs. The line, which Hines said she wanted to start when Catherine began college, focuses on avoiding single-use plastics, according toAccess Hollywood.

Hines + Young launched in the summer of 2023 — around the same time, several 2024 presidential campaigns, including Kennedy’s, began to gain steam, and the timing wasn’t lost on Hines. She toldNewsweek, “It’s slightly ironic it’s launching at a time that’s so stressful. But that’s life.”

She loves poker

Cheryl Hines and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attend Keep It Clean Live Comedy To Benefit Waterkeeper Alliance in February 2019.Joshua Blanchard/Getty

Joshua Blanchard/Getty

Hines developed a love for poker in 2003 when she was pregnant with her daughter and has since described herself as “a real poker fiend.”

As for her strategy, she toldNeurology Nowin 2007, “I have a tendency to talk a lot at the poker table, which throws people off because they spend a lot of time trying to read me. I tend to win more than I lose, which is good!”

She’s mixed her love of the card game with business: She starred inThe Grand(2008) alongsideWoody Harrelson, Jason Alexander,Ray RomanoandJudy Greer. The actors played a real poker tournament in the improvised mockumentary film.

She’s an advocate for people with cerebral palsy

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cheryl Hines arrive at the Los Angeles premiere of ‘A Bad Moms Christmas’ in October 2017.Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Hines has also combined her advocacy with her love of poker, entering tournaments benefiting cerebral palsy research and patient care.

She denounced Kennedy’s comparison of anti-vaccine advocacy to Anne Frank

Cheryl Hines and Robert Kennedy Jr. attend the 24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in January 2018.Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

In January 2022, Kennedy made a speech comparing his experience as alongtime anti-vaccine conspiracistto that of Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager and diarist who died in a Nazi concentration camp after her family hid in an Amsterdam attic for two years during the Holocaust.

“Even in Hitler’s Germany, you could cross the Alps to Switzerland,” he said at an anti-vaccine rally in Washington, D.C. “You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did. Today the mechanisms are being put in place so none of us can run and none of us can hide.”

When asked about her husband’s comparison, Hines wroteon X(formerly known as Twitter), “My husband’s opinions arenot a reflection of my own. While we love each other, we differ on many current issues.” In aseparate post, she called his statement “reprehensible and insensitive.”

After the backlash from not only his wife but also from theAuschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and Memorial, theUnited States Holocaust Memorial Museumand many others, Kennedy offered a mea culpaon X. “I apologize for my reference to Anne Frank, especially to families that suffered the Holocaust horrors,” he wrote. “My intention was to use examples of past barbarism to show the perils from new technologies of control.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cheryl Hines arrive at the premiere of National Geographic’s “Genius” in April 2017.Amanda Edwards/WireImage

Amanda Edwards/WireImage

Kennedy toldThe New York Timesthat he prepared a press release stating that he and Hines had split merely to shield her from the backlash she’d received over his anti-vaccine views and proclamations.

“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,” he said in 2023. “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.”

“I haven’t lost any jobs because of my support for his candidacy,” she said. “But there was a project I’m involved in where there was a pause for discussion about how his candidacy might affect what we are doing but it has been resolved.”

She influenced his presidential campaign

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cheryl Hines wave to supporters on stage after announcing his candidacy for president on April 2023.Scott Eisen/Getty

Scott Eisen/Getty

Despite disagreeing on some issues, Hines announced her support for Kennedy’s presidential aspirations in April 2023.

However, she declined to talk about policy, tellingNewsweek, “I’m not going to list issues because it makes my blood pressure go up too much.” The actress added that she and Kennedy — the latter of whom supports a closed border with Mexico, according toABC News— got pushback from Democrats in Hollywood for his run.

Kennedy said that while Hines does not publicly discuss issues or policy, she does influence his choices. He toldNewsweekshe “specifically outlawed appearances onSteve Bannon’s show, which I otherwise would have done.” Kennedy added: “She’s critical. She has a sense of the popular pulse. She has wisdom that I and the rest of the campaign rely on. She’s kind of the ultimate arbiter on every discussion.”

In January 2024,The Hollywood Reporterinterviewed both Hines and Kennedy. When asked about the potential of being first lady, the actress replied: “If you’re asking me, ‘Has this been my dream, to be first lady?’ I would say, ‘No.’ But if someone said to me: ‘Guess what? You’re going to be first lady tomorrow,’ I would say, ‘Great. Let’s do it.' If that’s what life hands you, then you accept it and experience it for everything it has to offer.”

Later that year, Hines appeared onThe Coop with Kitpodcastand said being involved in a presidential campaign “feels like aVEEPepisode.”

“There’s something very funny about [always having a] security detail with you,” she said, revealing that her Secret Service name is simply “No. 2” but would prefer it to be “the Queen.”

Kennedy eventuallydropped out of the presidential racein August 2024.

She was spotted without her wedding ring amid Kennedy’s “relationship” with reporter

Hines seemingly indicated that her marriage to Kennedy had hit a rough patch when she wasseen without her wedding ringin late September 2024.

Earlier that same month,New York Magazinerevealed that one of its reporters, Olivia Nuzzi, “engaged in a personal relationship” with Kennedy while covering the 2024 presidential campaign. The outlet put Nuzzi on leave and published a statement, apologizing to its readers for violating their trust and announcing a third-party review of the situation.

“[Hines has] beentalking about filing for divorce, but he’s begging her not to file,” a source told PEOPLE in October 2024. “But how many times can you forgive a partner that’s dishonest and goes behind your back? It’s just ridiculous behavior from a grown, married man.”

She has publicly supported Kennedy following the Nuzzi scandal

Cheryl Hines and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in 2025.Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty

Kennedy and Hines appear to be working through their marital issues.

Kennedy wasconfirmed as the new secretary of healthon Feb. 13.

source: people.com