Cheryl Hines Makes First Statement Since RFK Jr. Scandal

Cheryl Hines paid tribute to mother-in-law Ethel Kennedy after her death Thursday, marking the first time the actress and wife of embattled politician Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is speaking out publicly since the news of her husband’s affair with New York magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi. it broke last month.

“My mother-in-law, Ethel Kennedy, Bobby’s mother, passed away this morning,” Hines wrote on his personal X account: “Bobby” is RFK Jr. “It has been my great honor to have shared laughter and love with Ethel. Her charisma, wisdom and strength will live with me in every memory of her.”

“Bobby and I spent many warm evenings in Hyannis Port dining with her and hearing stories of her extraordinary life,” the post continued. “She always made me laugh. She was never too serious except when she needed to be. She dressed to the nines with bare feet. She will be missed. My love is with the family.”

My mother-in-law, Ethel Kennedy, Bobby’s mother, died this morning. It has been my great honor to have shared laughter and love with Ethel. Her charisma, wisdom and strength will live with me in every memory of her. Bobby and I spent many warm nights in Hyannis Port having… pic.twitter.com/j7faAcU1Bm

— Cheryl Hines (@CherylHines) October 10, 2024

Thursday’s social media post was Hines’ first since Aug. 23, when he shared the news that Kennedy was withdrawing from the presidential race as an independent candidate against Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris.

At the time, she praised her husband’s efforts, expressed respect for his decision to run, and shared that the experience of campaigning alongside him was “an eye-opening, transformative and endearing journey.”

Less than a month later, journalist Oliver Darcy, founder of the Status newsletter, broke the news of the so-called “digital” affair between RFK Jr. and New York Magazine correspondent Nuzzi in Washington, DC. The news sent Nuzzi’s career and reputation plummeting as her messages with the politician, whom she profiled for the magazine in 2023, became gossip fodder and the subject of a lawsuit against her ex-fiancé , political reporter Ryan Lizza.

Hines has also remained silent in the face of mounting criticism amid her husband’s pivot to support Trump and reports of his increasingly strange and sordid past, not the least of which involved decapitating a whale and take her home.