Larry David Team Says Cheryl Hines Was Never Asked to Join 7-Episode HBO Show

Q: Was Cheryl Hines's absence from Larry David's new show a casting snub or her own quiet protest?

It appears to have been mainly a casting snub, not a documented protest by Cheryl Hines. The clearest evidence comes from Jeff Schaffer, Larry David’s co-creator and director on “Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness,” who said he and David simply “didn’t reach out” to Hines. That means she was not invited, even as other longtime “Curb Your Enthusiasm” regulars, including Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman and JB Smoove, were brought in for cameos. The broader context suggests the decision was tied to a strained relationship. Hines has said she and David lost touch after “Curb” ended in 2024, and Schaffer said he had not spoken to her in a long time. Reports have linked that distance to tensions surrounding her husband, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., especially his public health views, which David’s new show openly satirizes. That satire matters. One episode includes a character clearly modeled on Kennedy making anti-vaccine claims, with David’s character sharply rejecting him. Given that material, Hines may well have had little interest in appearing. But there is no evidence she was asked and declined, or that she mounted any quiet boycott. So the available facts point in one direction: Hines’s absence was primarily the result of the show’s producers choosing not to involve her, while the show’s content and the cooled relationship make it understandable why she likely was not part of it.

3 articles · Updated · The Mercury News · Jul 14

Jeff Schaffer said Cheryl Hines was never contacted for Larry David’s new HBO series, undercutting rumors that Michelle Obama pushed to exclude her.
Schaffer, who co-created and directed all seven episodes, said he has not spoken to Hines “in a very long time,” signaling a broader rupture beyond a single casting decision.
That split tracks with the political break between David and Hines after her husband, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., backed Donald Trump and became Health and Human Services secretary.
The show itself sharpens that divide: an upcoming Jonas Salk sketch mocks vaccine conspiracists through a character clearly modeled on RFK Jr., whom David’s character tells to “drop dead.”