Cheryl Hines breaks silence on husband RFK Jr.’s alleged online affair ahead of journalist's tell-all

Actress Cheryl Hines, wife of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was confronted about her husband's alleged "digital affair" with journalist Olivia Nuzzi in a podcast clip published Friday.

Hines, who starred in HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," appeared on the "Katie Miller Podcast" for an interview that will publish in full next Tuesday. In a preview of the episode shared by the show, Miller asked Hines how she responds to "rumors or speculation about her marriage."

"I think you always have to consider the source, right? So that’s where I start," Hines told Miller. "And then it ends with a conversation with Bobby."

Journalist Olivia Nuzzi, now an editor at Vanity Fair, is coming out with a book that details her alleged emotional and digital relationship with Kennedy. Nuzzi was at the center of a media firestorm in September 2024 after claiming she had an online romantic relationship with Kennedy while she was covering his presidential campaign for New York magazine. Nuzzi has maintained that the relationship was "personal" but never physical.

Cheryl Hines, wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, watches her husband testify on Jan. 29, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Hines said Friday when Nuzzi's allegations broke, she took them as "more chaos and rumors" during the turbulent period of her husband's foray into politics. He dropped his independent bid in August and endorsed eventual President Donald Trump.

"I don’t know this person," Hines said in response to the upcoming book. 

"Don’t know their intentions. I could guess, but I won’t. But you can, if you want," she said to Miller with a laugh.

"There’s a lot of people who look for clout," Miller said.

"Well, that’s the thing that I really learned during the campaign," Hines said. "There are people that really want to be involved in the conversation, and they want to be a part of it. And they want to— I’m not just talking about this person, I’m talking about a lot of people. And they spend a lot of time figuring out how to write something that’s going to get people’s attention, and if they do, then they are really celebrating, you know? And whether it’s true or false, it doesn’t matter if it gets people’s attention. It’s a celebration, it’s a success for them."

Nuzzi exited New York magazine after the news broke and her engagement with Politico's chief Washington correspondent Ryan Lizza was called off.

Politico's chief Washington correspondent and Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza and Olivia Nuzzi were engaged before the star New York Magazine writer revealed an alleged relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Getty Images)

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Sources close to Hines and Kennedy told The New York Post that news of the upcoming tell-all "blindsided" them.

"Bobby and Cheryl initially went through marital hell last year when the affair was first revealed. She even considered divorce for a time, but they’ve since reconciled and had been relieved that the scandal had seemingly blown over," the insider told the Post.

"Cheryl eventually and emphatically believed, without reservation, Bobby’s denial" that he had an intimate relationship with Nuzzi, the Post reported.

During an interview with Fox News Digital this week, Hines revealed the heightened public scrutiny during her husband's campaign only made their marriage stronger.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, wave to supporters during Kennedy's 2024 presidential campaign. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

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She said Kennedy suggested they fake a separation during the campaign to take pressure off their marriage, which she rejected.

"It was a very sweet notion, but yeah, I didn’t think that was helpful," she told Fox News Digital. "What needed to happen — and what did happen — is we got closer together. I understood the sentiment behind it, but this is why I think the book is so interesting: you’re in these unique situations that nobody else can imagine."

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Hines has made several media appearances this month to promote her memoir, "Unscripted."

Fox News' Stephanie Giang-Paunon and Joseph A. Wilson contributed to this report.