The Un-Curbable Rift: Cheryl Hines Exposes the Bitter War Dividing America’s Royal Family
The Kennedy family—a name synonymous with American political royalty and staunch Democratic values—has always been fiercely private about its internal dynamics. But no longer. Cheryl Hines, the Emmy-nominated actress and wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has thrown open the curtains on a dramatic, painful “rift” that is tearing the famous clan apart, all thanks to her husband’s controversial appointment to President Donald Trump’s cabinet as the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).
In a candid interview with CBS Mornings, Hines, 60, confessed her profound disappointment over the public condemnation her husband has faced from his own blood.
I always thought the Kennedy family, one of their virtues was that family came first, and I admired that,” Hines said. “So when some of his family decided to — there’s no other way to say it — attack him publicly, it was disappointing.”
The Betrayal: A Family United Against Their Own
The “attacks” Hines refers to are not veiled remarks. Following RFK Jr.’s nomination and subsequent confirmation in February 2025, a powerful faction of the family, including several of his siblings and John F. Kennedy’s own relatives, mounted a fierce public campaign against him.
The most cutting blow came in a 2023 open letter from siblings including Kerry Kennedy, Rory Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy II, and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, posted to social media during his independent presidential bid:
“Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment… We denounce his candidacy and believe it to be perilous for our country.”
Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President JFK, has also weighed in, not only against his candidacy but his cabinet role, stating his views on public health were “dangerous” and writing a letter to the Senate that reportedly labeled her cousin a “predator” ahead of his confirmation hearings.
“It was hard. I found it to be hard,” Hines admitted, reflecting on the raw, public nature of the family’s condemnation.
The Grandson Weighs In: “It’s Not The Godfather”
While Hines and RFK Jr. view the situation as a betrayal of the family code, Jack Schlossberg, 32, the grandson of JFK, has a decidedly more detached take on the drama. He argues that the public often misunderstands the nature of their large, fractured political dynasty.
“There is no ‘family’ — it’s not The Godfather,” Schlossberg told New York Magazine. “We don’t all meet every year and have a discussion about what to do. It’s just a bunch of individual people.”
However, his mother, Caroline Kennedy, clearly feels a profound sense of public obligation to separate her family’s legacy from RFK Jr.’s anti-establishment and anti-vaccine views.
As she put it days after the 2024 election: “I would say that our family is united in terms of our support for the public health sector and infrastructure… and Bobby Kennedy has got a different set of views.”
The fact remains that RFK Jr., a scion of the most famous Democratic family, is now serving a Republican administration and spearheading health initiatives that stand in direct opposition to the political and scientific consensus long championed by his own relatives—a conflict that has resulted in a spectacular and heartbreaking family civil war, with Cheryl Hines stuck right in the middle.
