John Mulaney skewered U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his third marriage to actor Cheryl Hines during a recent stand-up set at the Hollywood Bowl.
Performing last week as part of the Netflix Is a Joke Festival, the comedian, 43, switched from his typical self-deprecating humor to take aim at RFK Jr. and Hines, who have been married since 2012.
Speaking to the sold-out crowd, Mulaney claimed he had met “Bobby” a decade ago, when they were both involved with Riverkeeper, an environmental organization dedicated to protecting New York’s Hudson River.
“That’s how much he shouldn’t be in the government — I know him,” the comedian quipped, according to Entertainment Weekly. After mimicking the politician’s gravely voice, he delivered the brutal punch line: “He’s comedy adjacent, you know. He’s married to that woman from Curb Your Enthusiasm and cheats on her like a dog.”
His joke reportedly left the audience silent, except for a few audible gasps. “Sorry for the pearl clutch here,” Mulaney responded. “Sorry to drop that Public Domain information on the Hollywood Bowl.”
The Independent has contacted RFK Jr.’s representative for comment.
Kennedy, 72, has been involved in multiple cheating scandals across his three marriages. During his first marriage to Emily Ruth Black, which lasted from 1982 to 1994, he allegedly cheated on her repeatedly, biographer Jerry Oppenheimer wrote in his 2015 book, RFK Jr.: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Dark Side of the Dream. Oppenheimer also claimed that Kennedy proposed to his second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, while he was still married to Black.
He was married to Mary from 1994 to 2012. During their relationship, he reportedly admitted to having cheated on her at least 37 times with different women in surfaced audio footage obtained by Mother Jones in 2025. The outlet reported that Kennedy had set up audio recording devices in the couple’s house during their divorce.
The pair were married for 16 years before Kennedy filed for divorce in 2010. Richardson died by suicide in 2012.
In 2014, he wed Hines, and just last year found himself at the center of another cheating scandal. Former Politico reporter Ryan Lizza, who was engaged to former New York magazine star journalist Olivia Nuzzi, claimed that Nuzzi and Kennedy were involved in an alleged digital affair. Kennedy denied having a romantic or sexual relationship with Nuzzi, insisting they only met once for an interview.
Hines eventually broke her silence on her husband’s rumored affair, saying on an episode of The Katie Miller Podcast: “I think you always have to consider the source, right? So that’s where I start.”
Elsewhere in his comedy set, Mulaney returned to mocking Kennedy’s past work with Riverkeeper. “His old job was keeping the Hudson River, whose native fish is tied-off used condoms, clean,” the comic said, again impersonating Kennedy’s raspy voice. “Now I’m in charge of your bones and your tummy.”
