Cheryl Hines Seems Cool With RFK Jr.’s Conspiracy Theories But Draws the Line at Alex Jones
Hines revealed that RFK Jr. has made her a bit more of a conspiracy theorist. But don't worry, she's "forbidden" him from talking to Jones and Steven Bannon.
On Thursday, The Hollywood Reporter revealed Cheryl Hines as its latest cover star. In the accompanying story, the Curb Your Enthusiasm star and RFK Jr.’s indubitable better half got very candid—mostly, about her husband.
From the bizarreness of how RFK Jr. asked Larry David for permission to date her to how she feels about the (very unlikely) possibility of becoming First Lady, Hines isn’t one bit shy. At times, like when she’s asked about her newfound curiosity in conspiracy theories, one might wonder if Hines simultaneously abandoned shame.
“I mean, people do conspire to do bad things,” Hines explained, before recalling a 2018 lawsuit in which her husband represented a groundskeeper who developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma from exposure to an herbicide. “Watching him in the courtroom for the Monsanto trial, where they were suing over Roundup weed killer causing cancer, you see the emails that people share, people inside Monsanto who knew this was happening. Is that a conspiracy? Yes. But when people say he’s a conspiracy theorist, I really don’t know what to make of that. I mean, what is a conspiracy theorist? I’m asking you.”
This is just a shot in the dark but I’m pretty sure a conspiracy theorist is a presidential candidate who says things like this when the press are present: “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.” When asked about that, I’ll note, she said she wants to stay out of it.
Hines then confirms that one of RFK Jr.’s weirder attributes has rubbed off on her (spoiler alert: It’s his penchant for conspiracy theories):
“If you were an attorney, maybe you would see certain things before other people do. My mind might not go there. I don’t automatically think, ‘Oh, there’s poison in the baby food — people must have gotten together to do it.’ But there is poison in the baby food. There’s arsenic in the baby food.” (She is referring to studies that have found trace amounts of toxic metals in commercial baby food.) “So who knew about it and when did they know?”
“So, yeah. I guess maybe I have changed,” Hines went on. “Maybe I am like, ‘OK, what’s the rest of the story? What’s the whole story?’ ”
Hmm. It took me a minute, but I guess I also get it. I, too, once fancied myself something of a conspiracy theorist when I was hanging out with this guy who watched a lot of Bigfoot found footage on YouTube.
What I will never understand though, is Hines’ next admission: She was forced to “forbid” her husband from corresponding with Steve Bannon and Alex Jones—as in, the MAGA podcast host who just said men like Rep. Mike Johnson would lead to “mass conversions” to Islam and the guy who claims he’s too broke to pay the Sandy Hook families.
“Bobby will talk to anybody and wants to connect with everybody,” she told THR. “I understand where he is coming from. But I also have my limits.” So basically, Hines is cool with his anti-vax rhetoric—even when it relies heavily on anti-semitic and racist tropes—but she absolutely draws the line at him speaking to a sweaty con artist. Got it.
Later on in the interview, when Hines is asked how she feels about possibly inhabiting the White House, she says that though it’s never been a dream of hers, she’d be down.
“I’ll be in the window, etching, ‘HELP ME,’ ” she then offers. Is this a cry for help? You decide!