Cheryl Hines as First Lady? 'Great, Let's Do It'

Actor wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. learns to navigate controversy
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 26, 2024 1:20 PM CST
Cheryl Hines as First Lady? 'Great, Let's Do It'
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., left, looks on as his wife, Cheryl Hines, introduces him at a campaign event on Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023, in Spartanburg, SC.   (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

Twenty-five years ago, Cheryl Hines was largely unknown, working as a bartender and performing with the Groundlings improv troupe. Much has changed since: As the Hollywood Reporter notes in an interview with the 58-year-old, she landed the role of Larry David's TV wife in Curb Your Enthusiasm, which is just now ending its run, and through David met her current husband, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The interview explores how Hines is navigating her new world as the wife of an independent and controversial presidential candidate, described in the piece as the "country's most visible vaccine skeptic." Four of his own siblings have denounced his campaign, and while Hines has spoken out against his statements when she thinks they cross a line, she is fully supportive of him and his run.

She pushes back against the description of him as a conspiracy theorist, for example. "I mean, people do conspire to do bad things," she says, moving into a reference of his career as an environmental lawyer. "Watching him in the courtroom for the Monsanto trial, where they were suing over Roundup weed killer causing cancer, you see the emails that people share, people inside Monsanto who knew this was happening. Is that a conspiracy? Yes." When the interviewer suggests that he "gravitates to conspiratorial explanations of events" over straightforward ones, she responds, "I would think that you would see the world through a different lens if you saw your uncle be assassinated, then your father."

So is Hines prepared for the possibility of being first lady? Sure, why not. It was never her dream, but "I would say, 'Great. Let's do it. I can't wait to see what this looks like.' ... If that's what life hands you, then you accept it and experience it for everything it has to offer." (Read the full interview, in which she and Kennedy say friction over his candidacy doesn't prevent the famously large Kennedy family get-togethers from happening or being awkward.)

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