Larry David Tears Into Former Friend RFK Jr. in New HBO Sketch

When Larry David decided to revive the dead‑pan, cringe‑laden world of Curb Your Enthusiasm for his new HBO project, he could have kept the jokes safely in the realm of fictional misfits. Instead, he dragged an old friend—Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—right into the crosshairs.

In the opening episode of Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: An Almost History of America, a thinly masked version of a vaccine‑skeptical health official (played by Gregg Perrie) rattles off the usual conspiracy‑theory sound‑bites, from “the vaccine will give you heart attacks” to “fluoride causes gender confusion.” The character, cruelly nicknamed “Bobby,” is meant to echo the real‑life rhetoric that has haunted public health debates for years.

Enter Jonas Salk’s mother—portrayed by Larry David himself—who detonates a line that feels like it was ripped from a Saturday Night Live monologue: “Drop dead, Bobby. You should die a dog’s death. You don’t know anything about science; you’re not a doctor. If you were in charge, God help us all!” The scene escalates quickly, with two “men in white coats” ushering the blustering skeptic off‑stage, a not‑so‑subtle nod to the idea that misinformation should be, well, removed from the public square.

What makes the sketch hotter than a summer barbecue is that the “Bobby” character is an almost‑transparent caricature of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Daily Beast confirmed the resemblance, noting that the sketch arrives at a time when Kennedy, now the Secretary of Health and Human Services, has been vocal about his anti‑vaccine stance.

But the joke lands on deeper, messier ground because David and Kennedy weren’t strangers. In the early 2000s, the two were close enough that David introduced Kennedy to his future wife, Cheryl Hines, who later became a regular on “Curb.” Their friendship was, by all public accounts, warm and occasionally collaborative. Fast forward two decades, and their political trajectories have fractured like broken glass.

David’s new series, co‑produced by former President Barack Obama, isn’t just taking aim at Kennedy. A later episode lampoons a group of colonial‑era figures, warning them of an upcoming “narcissistic p---k” who will turn the presidency into a family enrichment scheme. The line “Did I mention he’s friends with a pedophile?” is delivered with the same unapologetic bite that defines David’s comedy.

Interestingly, Cheryl Hines does not appear in the HBO series. According to co‑creator Jeff Schaffer, the decision was simply a casting choice—though Hines herself hinted in a recent interview that she hasn’t spoken to David since the “Curb” finale, joking, “I think he’s mad that Bobby’s in the administration.”

The production has prompted a flurry of reactions on social media, with some praising David’s fearless satire and others accusing him of personal vendettas. The Daily Beast reached out to Kennedy for comment; he declined to respond, leaving the incident to swirl in the public sphere.

Whether you see the sketch as a justified jab at dangerous rhetoric or a bitter personal dig, one thing is clear: Larry David loves to pull no punches, especially when old friendships have turned into ideological battlegrounds.