RFK Jr's marriage is 'all but over': New details of THAT 'affair'... his brutal comments to friends about wife Cheryl Hines... and the woman she can never live up to

By HARRIET ALEXANDER, US SENIOR FEATURES WRITER Published: 01:01, 15 April 2026 | Updated: 01:03, 15 April 2026 When Robert F. Kennedy Jr married actress Cheryl Hines, he moved about as far from his past as was possible. The Kennedy compound on the eastern seaboard was swapped for California; 3,000 miles placed between his new life with his third wife and the New York home he shared with his second, where she killed herself amid their divorce. The message was clear. With that August 2014 wedding, the then 60-year-old Kennedy was starting afresh, putting the constant family drama and his well-reported decades of debauchery and philandering behind him. Today, of course, Kennedy is back in the epicenter of his family's power, in Washington DC. He ran for the presidency in 2024, but was forced to settle for a Cabinet role instead, as Donald Trump's health and human services secretary. But lately it seems he may be back to his old ways, with a headline-grabbing dalliance with reporter Olivia Nuzzi rocking his marriage to the core when it came to light in September 2024. Now, a new book, RFK Jr: The Fall and Rise, published on Tuesday, claims that the ageing lothario's third marriage is hanging by a thread. 'Only his political career and a possible presidential run in 2028 is keeping him from formally separating from Hines,' writes author Isabel Vincent. Vincent claims that Kennedy, 72, has 'drifted away' from 60-year-old wife Hines and no longer spends time with her. Robert F. Kennedy Jr has reportedly 'drifted away' from wife Cheryl Hines and no longer spends time with her A new book claims that the ageing lothario's third marriage is hanging by a thread A dalliance with reporter Olivia Nuzzi rocked RFK Jr's marriage to the core when it came to light in September 2024 RFK Jr: The Fall and Rise, published on Tuesday, is based largely on three volumes of his diaries, with 1,200 pages detailing his innermost thoughts from 1999 to 2001 And she alleges that his second wife Mary - mother of four of his six children, who hanged herself in a barn at their Bedford, New York estate in May 2012, two years after he filed for divorce - has now 'taken on a kind of saintly status for Kennedy.' She claims that the lawyer-turned-politician now 'spends a lot of time in private conversations comparing Hines unfavorably to Mary.' Kennedy, approached by the Daily Mail for comment, did not respond. Vincent has spent 13 years following the troubled Kennedy's wild path. Her book is based largely on three volumes of his diaries, with 1,200 pages detailing his innermost thoughts from 1999 to 2001. The diaries were handed to her by a source in 2013, who had obtained them from Mary. The diaries detailed Kennedy's extensive infidelity, with lists of the women with whom he claimed to have had sexual encounters – by the end of the year in 2001, the tally was 37. Ten of those he had sex with, ranking them a 10 on his chart - a grading of the level of intimacy. Kennedy wrote euphemistically of being seduced by women as a 'mugging.' On May 21, 2001 he wrote about dropping Leonardo DiCaprio back in Manhattan after a dinner - DiCaprio was interested in Kennedy's environmental advocacy - and added: 'Got mugged on the way home. I've got to do better.' The diaries show Kennedy to be initially infatuated with Mary, who was a schoolmate and best friend of his sister Kerry. Mary, an aspiring model and architect, part of the scene at Andy Warhol's Factory, was 'ravishingly beautiful' with 'an ethereal quality,' according to Bob Colacello, editor of Warhol's magazine Interview. Kennedy, in an affidavit obtained by Vincent, described her 'stunningly beautiful, with pitch-perfect taste, electric charm, and a genius for friendship that had won her an army of loyal and loving friends.' He said she possessed 'a subtle humor, a photographic memory, and an enthusiasm for life,' praising her 'thirst for adventure.' Kennedy struck up a relationship with her in 1993, while still married to his first wife, Emily Black. By 1994 Mary was pregnant, so Kennedy petitioned for divorce from Emily, after 12 years of marriage and two children. Kennedy and Mary married that April, with the wedding held on board a boat on the Hudson River. Mary rapidly went from being a fixture on the fashionable Manhattan scene to a stay-at-home mother in Bedford, New York, with four children born in rapid succession.  Kennedy's diaries show him roaming the world like his hero Odysseus on adventures and environmental crusades - and fighting temptation every step of the way. In the summer of 1999, after a sojourn in the Hamptons, he writes: 'I made it through a difficult week without acting out. I am proud of myself because the Sirens were on every rock out there.' Mary, meanwhile, was struggling. On May 7, 1999 Kennedy writes that she 'is full of anger as usual,' describing her as 'filled with venom, retribution and vituperation.' Several weeks later he writes: 'If we weren't married, she might feel like she had to put some effort into the relationship and perhaps she would take some responsibility for her unhappiness rather than blaming it all on others.' He continues: 'Our bed is an unfriendly place. She hates it when I go to bed with her and will never have sex at night. She rarely speaks to me of anything but scheduling.' Kennedy described his second wife Mary - killed herself amid their divorce - as 'stunningly beautiful, with pitch-perfect taste, electric charm, and a genius for friendship that had won her an army of loyal and loving friends' Kennedy struck up a relationship with Mary in 1993, while still married to his first wife, Emily Black (pictured here). By 1994 Mary was pregnant, so Kennedy petitioned for divorce from Emily, after 12 years of marriage and two children Kennedy is back in the epicenter of his family's power, in Washington DC as Donald Trump's health and human services secretary By September 1999, the domestic disagreements were getting to him, and a 45-year-old Kennedy reflected on how the lessons learnt from his decades-long battles with heroin, cocaine and alcohol were fading. 'I've lost the sense of certitude since the early days of my sobriety when I had all the answers and say God in everything,' he wrote. 'Now I feel shattered, like nothing has meaning and nothing makes sense.' Ominously, he noted: 'My defects are like weeds. You cut them down and they stay down a while. Then they come back. You pour pesticides on them and they come back. You pull them by the roots, they come back. They pop up through the cracks.' In 2002, Kennedy was introduced to Cheryl Hines by Larry David - Hines played David's wife on Curb Your Enthusiasm, having initially worked as an assistant for director and producer Rob Reiner, and was a popular figure in their Brentwood group of friends. She was married to Hollywood producer Paul Young at the time, but by the spring of 2010 they were separated. That May, Kennedy stunned Mary by telling her he too wanted a divorce. 'Mary was waiting and hoping for Bobby,' an unnamed source claimed to Vincent. 'And Bobby was cruel about her weight, telling her that she had squandered her beauty. He would put his arm around her and criticize her. It was ugly.' But she loved the cachet of being a Kennedy and was distraught at the idea of walking away. 'It was the Kennedys or nobody,' the source said. Kennedy, however, had moved on. In 2023, Hines told the New York Times that Larry David had jokingly warned her not to get involved with the serial philanderer, but Hines insisted it was a comment made in jest. 'It's part of the fun of Larry,' she told the paper. 'You just know no matter what you say to him, he's going to say, 'Why would you do that? Are you crazy?'' She must have known what she was getting in to. Even his presidential campaign, as strange as it was, cannot have come as too much of a surprise, given his family. Hines told the New York Times, in the June 2023 interview: 'Bobby is very smart and funny, although a lot of people don't see the funny side. He also has this sense of adventure that will catapult me outside of my comfort zone, which I find exciting most of the time.' Hines was said to be 'heartbroken' when the story of her husband's relationship with Nuzzi was made public, in September 2024. When contacted by the Daily Mail, Hines declined to comment.  Nuzzi, almost 40 years Kennedy's junior, was assigned by New York magazine to write a profile of Kennedy. Despite only meeting in person once they embarked on a sexting relationship, which led to her firing, and the demise of her own engagement to fellow journalist Ryan Lizza. Nuzzi and Hines published competing memoirs in November. The diaries detailed Kennedy's extensive infidelity, with lists of the women with whom he claimed to have had sexual encounters – by the end of the year in 2001, the tally was 37 Nuzzi, almost 40 years Kennedy's junior, was assigned by New York magazine to write a profile of Kennedy. Despite only meeting in person once they embarked on a sexting relationship, which led to her firing Hines and Kennedy, seen here in 2013, married in August 2014 Hines was said to be 'heartbroken' when the story of her husband's relationship with Nuzzi was made public Hines wrote in her memoir of the Nuzzi revelations: 'Of course, I hated all of it. The swirl of headlines, rumors, and insinuations was upsetting and overwhelming. I had hit a wall.' She was in Europe at the time and writes: 'I didn't know what was going to happen when I returned home and saw Bobby again, but he was eager to talk to me.' 'We talked about all of the painful times we'd been through in the last few years and what we meant to each other. We analyzed how we had become disconnected and what had kept us together.' Contrary to Vincent's allegations, Hines used her memoir to insist that the scandal had only made them stronger, writing: '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.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. 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