Cheryl Hines says she finds Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s falling out with his relatives “disappointing,” speaking out against the public “attacks” coming from members of what she thought was a close-knit family.
“It was hard. I found it to be hard,” Hines said when asked by “CBS Mornings'” Natalie Morales in a Tuesday interview if it was difficult for the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star, to witness the “rift” with her husband’s family over politics.
“I always thought the Kennedy family, one of their virtues was that family came first, and I admired that,” Hines said.
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“So when some of his family decided to — there’s no other way to say it — attack him publicly, it was disappointing,” added the 60-year-old actor, who tied the knot with Kennedy in 2014.
Several members of Kennedy’s family have sounded off against the 2024 presidential candidate and third-eldest child of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of the late President Kennedy, condemned her cousin’s skepticism of vaccines last year, calling his views “dangerous.”
“I would say that our family is united in terms of our support for the public health sector and infrastructure and has greatest admiration for the medical profession in our country, and Bobby Kennedy has got a different set of views,” Caroline Kennedy said.
Kennedy is poised to attend an event on Wednesday in Washington alongside his cousin, former Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.). The former congressman has called the Health secretary the “leader we need.”
But in 2023, four of Kennedy’s family members — including former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D), Rory Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy and former Rep. Joseph Kennedy II (D-Mass.) signed a letter criticizing RFK Jr.’s independent White House bid.
“Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment… We denounce his candidacy and believe it to be perilous for our country,” the Kennedy family members said.
In her interview with CBS News, Hines said the move surprised even her spouse’s mother, Ethel Kennedy.
“Bobby told her that he was running for president, and she told him she was proud of him and then asked, ‘Who of the siblings are working on your campaign?'” Hines told Morales.
“And he said that they’re not working on it and some are opposing him. And she was very surprised,” Hines, the author of the new memoir, “Unscripted,” said.
She said beyond family fissures, politics have also fractured some of her relationships with friends.
“I have a few friends, when Bobby stepped into the political arena, it became too difficult emotionally for them to stay close, just a few friends,” Hines said.
“And I understand it,” she said.
Asked what “Curb Your Enthusiasm” creator and co-star Larry David thought about Kennedy joining President Trump’s Cabinet, Hines replied with a laugh, “That’ll be a question for Larry.”
“But let’s be honest,” she said of David, a Trump critic who introduced Hines to Kennedy, “he can’t love it.”
—Updated at 3:44 p.m. EDT
