Inside The Rumors Cheryl Hines Cheated On Her Ex-Husband With RFK Jr.

Cheryl Hines and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have been married since 2014, but their romance was marred with controversy. There are rumors that she cheated on her ex-husband, Paul Young, with her now-spouse.

Hines was married to Young from 2002 to 2010 and she met Kennedy while they were still together. Her on-screen husband on "Curb Your Enthusiasm," Larry David, introduced her to Kennedy in 2004 at a ski weekend fundraiser in Banff, Alberta. However, no romance sparked until the third time they hit the slope, this time at a resort in Colorado. "I was separated at the time, and Cheryl was still married," Kennedy told The New York Times. 

The statement sparked rumors she was being unfaithful to Young. "Cheryl may have two-timed her hubby," an unnamed source said (via RadarOnline). Kennedy and Hines remained friends and only reconnected in 2010 when they were both going through divorces. Kennedy, however, remained married to his second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, until she died by suicide in May 2012. Journalist Maureen Callahan mentioned in her book "Ask Not: The Kennedys and The Women They Destroyed" that "by April 2012, actress Cheryl Hines was looking like the next Mrs. RFK Jr."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had been plagued with affair rumors, and he acknowledged his history of being a playboy. In the 2015 book "RFK Jr.: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Dark Side of the Dream," Jerry Oppenheimer detailed his string of infidelities, claiming that he was still married to his first wife, Emily Black, when he proposed to his second spouse, Mary Richardson.

His infidelity continued in his second marriage. Multiple women allegedly approached Mary and confessed about their affairs, and some were long-term. "When he was in A.A., he had multiple affairs with people," one source told Oppenheimer in his book. Kennedy's history of womanizing reportedly went on for years, and he allegedly made sexual advances on some of them. "He would be at the dinner table and his hands would go all up their legs or skirts and they just laughed. The Kennedy aura kept them from saying, 'You're an a**hole,'" Oppenheimer wrote, quoting a trusted friend of Mary.

Another source claimed that Kennedy had been unfaithful to Hines, too. He allegedly had an affair with a divorced woman he encountered in New York. The other woman wasn't aware he was dating Hines, and their romance was serious, per The National Enquirer (via RadarOnline).

Robert F. Kennedy invited Cheryl Hines to join the 2010 ski fundraiser where they reconnected after several celebrities canceled their attendance. When they met again, "something clicked," Hines shared. "I saw him through different eyes. It was like, 'Oh, you're actually handsome,'" Hines told The Hollywood Reporter in January 2024. The feeling was mutual, with Kennedy admitting he was captivated when he saw her again.

Their romance blossomed while she was in Los Angeles and he was in New York. They made sure to reunite every few months. They publicized their relationship in October 2011, and confirmed their engagement in May 2014. The two tied the knot a few months later at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, on August 2, 2014.

When Kennedy was still in the 2024 presidential race, he mentioned during his first campaign announcement that he had "many skeletons in my closet" that might be used against him. When asked about it, Hines acknowledged that she knew it and didn't mind because it was history. "He is pretty candid about his past — and I guess the womanizing of it is a part of his past," she explained to The Hollywood Reporter. Hines marked her 10th wedding anniversary with Kennedy with a sweet post on Instagram on August 2, 2024. He also did the same by sharing a throwback wedding photo of the two.