Robert F. Kennedy Jr. secretly recorded over 60 conversations with his second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, during their contentious divorce proceedings before she died in 2012, according to documents and audio recordings obtained by Mother Jones magazine.
The recordings span multiple years and include telephone and in-person conversations, capturing heated exchanges when Kennedy was involved with numerous other women, including his current wife, actress Cheryl Hines. In one recording, Kennedy justified his decade-long pattern of infidelity by claiming he was “being abused at home.”
The revelation comes as Kennedy, now a former presidential candidate and nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services under the Trump administration, faces intense scrutiny. The recordings, which may have violated California’s two-party consent law in at least one instance, document Richardson’s emotional distress and multiple attempts at reconciliation that Kennedy rebuffed while pressing for divorce completion.
He reportedly utilized the recordings to create a 60-page affidavit detailing his claims and allegations against Mary Richardson Kennedy. The document outlined various aspects of their contentious divorce, including disputes over their relationship, accusations of misconduct, and efforts to support his case.
Richardson prepared a counterclaim challenging Kennedy’s allegations, accusing him of physical abuse, prescription drug abuse, and being a “sexual deviant.” She disputed several of his claims, including his assertion that she had discussed suicide in front of their children. Her document detailed incidents of alleged physical confrontations and claimed Kennedy had intentionally left evidence of his infidelities “strewn about” their home to torment her.
Her counterclaim also accused Kennedy of waging a “scorched earth” campaign against her. Two months after preparing her rebuttal, which was never filed in court, Richardson died by suicide at her home in Bedford, New York, in May 2012.
During their marriage, Kennedy maintained what he called his “sex diary” in small notebooks he carried. In 2013, his private diary became public, revealing detailed accounts of his relationships with 37 women. Within this diary, Kennedy employed a numerical coding system to categorize his sexual encounters. Each woman’s name was listed alongside a number from 1 to 10, with the numbers corresponding to specific sexual acts. Allegedly, a rating of 10 denoted full sexual intercourse. The diary also contained personal reflections where Kennedy wrote about struggling with what he termed his “lust demons” and acknowledging that despite having a great life, he was “looking for ways to screw it up.”
Caroline Kennedy, his cousin and daughter of President John F. Kennedy, has denounced his nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services. In a letter to senators, she described Kennedy as a “predator” and a “hypocrite” who had “misrepresented, lied, and cheated his way through life,” specifically referencing his history of substance abuse and pattern of deceptive behavior.
The emergence of these recordings coincides with Kennedy’s Senate testimony on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, where Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado questioned him about promoting various conspiracy theories. During the Senate Finance Committee hearing, Bennet pressed Kennedy about his history of making unsubstantiated claims about topics ranging from COVID-19 to Lyme disease, forcing Kennedy to acknowledge spreading conspiracy theories.
Over the decades, the Kennedy family has been associated with numerous political, personal, and legal scandals. President John F. Kennedy’s tenure was marred by allegations of extramarital affairs, most notably with actress Marilyn Monroe, which have been widely reported and discussed. In 1969, Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy was involved in the Chappaquiddick incident, where he drove off a bridge, resulting in the drowning death of Mary Jo Kopechne; his failure to promptly report the accident led to widespread criticism and legal consequences.
