Cheryl Hines Tells RFK Jr. Late Mother Ethel ‘Was Very Proud of You’

Cheryl Hines is sharing her support and condolences for husband Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after his mother died.

Kennedy, 70, posted a lengthy Instagram tribute to his mother, Ethel, who died earlier this week at age 96. Hines, 59, responded in the comments section.

“This is beautiful,” Hines wrote on Thursday, October 10. “Your mother was very proud of you. 🤍”

News broke earlier on Thursday that Ethel, who was the widow of Robert Kennedy Sr., died following complications of a stroke. Ethel and Robert Sr. shared 11 children: Kerry, Kathleen, Joseph, Robert Jr., Michael, Christopher, Max, Douglas and Rory. The late activist is also survived by 34 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.

“[God] blessed her with a rich and eventful life,” Robert Jr. wrote in his Thursday tribute. “Even as she declined in recent months, she never lost her sense of fun, her humor, her spark, her spunk and her joie de vivre. She wrung joy from every moment, but for 56 years, she has spoken with yearning for the day she would reunite with her beloved husband. She is with him now, with my brothers David and Michael, with her parents, her six siblings and her ‘adopted’ Kennedy siblings.”

Robert Jr. continued, “Among her most defining qualities were moral and physical fearlessness. … My mother invented tough love, and she could be hard on her children when we didn’t live up to her expectations. But she was also intensely loyal and we always knew that she would stand fiercely behind us when we came under attack by others. She was our role model for self-discipline, for resilience and for self-confidence.”

Robert Jr. has been married to Hines, an actress best known for her role on Curb Your Enthusiasm, since 2014 following their respective divorces. A decade later, Robert Jr. was accused of having an inappropriate “personal relationship” with a journalist.

News broke in September that New York Magazine had placed Washington correspondent Olivia Nuzzi on leave after she allegedly failed to disclose her relationship with Kennedy. (Nuzzi previously profiled him for the magazine.)

“She is currently on leave from the magazine, and the magazine is conducting a more thorough third-party review. We regret this violation of our readers’ trust,” the magazine’s statement, in part, read.

Neither New York Magazine nor Nuzzi publicly named Robert Jr. in the statement, but CNN and The New York Times both reported that the subject was Robert Jr. In a statement to The Times, Nuzzi denied having a physical relationship with Robert Jr.

“I did not directly report on the subject nor use them as a source. The relationship was never physical but should have been disclosed to prevent the appearance of a conflict,” Nuzzi said in her statement. “I deeply regret not doing so immediately and apologize to those I’ve disappointed, especially my colleagues at New York.”

Robert Jr. also denied an affair, with his spokesperson telling NBC News, “Mr. Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece.”

Hines has not publicly addressed the scandal, but a source exclusively told Us Weekly that she was more “upset” about her husband’s political ties.

“Cheryl wasn’t so upset about the alleged affair, but more about how her husband’s involvement with Trump will affect her in Hollywood,” the insider told Us earlier this month. “[RFK Jr.’s] political outspokenness has garnered a lot of polarizing attention. She‘s worried that it will hinder her work opportunities, given her long career.”