Actress Cheryl Hines has broken her silence about the rumored digital affair between her husband, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and former New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi.
Just over a year after the alleged sexting scandal made headlines, Hines stood by her husband of 11 years and shot down the story on a recent podcast appearance, dismissing Nuzzi, 32, in the process.
“I think you always have to consider the source, right? So that’s where I start,” Hines, 60, told The Katie Miller Podcast, the Politico Playbook reported after obtaining a sneak peek of the chat.
“And then it ends with a conversation with Bobby,” the Curb Your Enthusiasm actress said.
Hines went on to say that Nuzzi’s disclosure of her “digital” relationship with 71-year-old Kennedy, which allegedly began after the journalist wrote a profile on him, was just a piece of the mayhem that came with running a presidential campaign.
“Bobby had been running for president and it was a — an exhausting year-and-a-half of headlines and rumors and articles and chaos,” Hines said on the podcast.
“And at that time, I thought ‘OK, this is more chaos and more rumors.’ And, um, it was a lot.”
Hines also questioned the motive behind reports that Nuzzi, announced last month as the new West Coast editor of Vanity Fair, is writing a tell-all book that is set to be published next year.
“I don’t know this person. Don’t know their intentions,” Hines said of the writer. “I could guess, but I won’t. But you can if you want.”
The Independent has contacted a representative for Nuzzi for comment.
Kennedy, who ran as an independent candidate, suspended his campaign and endorsed Donald Trump in August 2024. Weeks later, Nuzzi admitted their “personal relationship” and was put on leave from New York Magazine.
At the time, she wrote in a statement to the New York Times that “some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal.”
“The relationship was never physical but should have been disclosed to prevent the appearance of a conflict,” she added. Nuzzi insisted that she had never directly reported on Kennedy during their alleged relationship.
Despite reports that Kennedy allegedly bragged to his friends about receiving intimate pictures from Nuzzi, the pioneer of the Make America Healthy Again movement has denied any relationship with the writer.
His spokesperson said at the time that Kennedy “only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece.”
Nuzzi went on to officially part ways with the magazine, where she had written as the Washington Correspondent for nearly eight years. Her engagement to Ryan Lizza also ended in the wake of the affair.
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