RFK Jr.'s Alleged Mistress Claims Cheryl Hines' Reaction To Affair Was More Intense Than We Knew

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The reporting about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s alleged digital affair with journalist Olivia Nuzzi has truly been a wild, unpredictable ride from start to finish. The whole situation has been a real mess, from the embarrassment suffered by Kennedy's wife, Cheryl Hines – who's been trying so hard to make their marriage seem normal – to the legal drama Nuzzi found herself in with her ex-fiancé, Ryan Lizza. Along the way, Hines has tried to play it all off as just the usual rumors and tabloid drama that is par for the course when it comes to being in the political spotlight. According to Nuzzi, however, Hines wasn't so chill about things behind the scenes.

In her controversial new tell-all book "American Canto," which hit shelves December 2, Nuzzi obtusely details their inappropriate relationship without explicitly naming Kennedy or Hines, painting a much more intense picture of their supposed romance than anyone knew. Additionally, Nuzzi claims that Hines had a very strong reaction to the news of their relationship when it first broke in September 2024, one month after Kennedy dropped out of the presidential race.

As Nuzzi wrote (via The New York Post), Kennedy told Nuzzi that she "needed to take a bullet" for him regarding the political fallout from the scandal, as his relationship with Trump was tenuous. "The deal he made with the president wrought personal complications; already, his wife had told him she would not be seen with him until after the election," Nuzzi wrote. "Now she was in Milan reading the news, hysterical, he said." That sounds like a far cry from Hines' public reaction to the allegations, which she essentially tried to brush off.

It's no secret that Cheryl Hines' marriage to Robert Kennedy Jr. is filled with more red flags than a bull fight. Before even tying the knot, it was rumored that Kennedy had numerous affairs during his previous marriages, and that's not to mention the stories that have emerged about his high-profile drug use, controversial political and scientific views, and his parasitic brain worm. Despite all the strangeness in their relationship, Hines did her best to put up a brave front and deny that her husband had been unfaithful.

In October 2024, Hines sat down for an interview on "The Katie Miller Podcast" and was asked about reports concerning the alleged affair. "I think you always have to consider the source, right? So that's where I start," Hines said (via Newsweek). "Bobby had been running for president, and it was an exhausting year-and-a-half of headlines and rumors and articles and chaos. And at that time, I thought 'OK, this is more chaos and more rumors.'"

However, Hines released her own memoir in November 2025, "Unscripted," which was obviously meant to preempt Nuzzi's account. In her book, Hines discussed being in Italy when she found out about the affair, as Nuzzi said, and wrote, "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" (via People).

Despite everything, it seems like they were able to patch things up. Hines gave a subtle sign that she and Kennedy were still going strong when she attended a Red Cross care package event in Maryland on Dec. 1 alongside Melania Trump and Usha Vance — who was spotted yet again without her wedding ring, amid ongoing rumors about yet another marriage on the rocks in D.C.