Comedian Jim Gaffigan decided during his turn emceeing the Al Smith charity dinner in October to cut a gag about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., he revealed on Seth Meyers’ “Late Night” show on Monday.
Why? Because anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Kennedy was in attendance with his wife, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Cheryl Hines.
“I wrote these jokes with Ted Alexander, who’s a great comedian. And he was texting me. He’s like, ‘We got to scrap the RFK joke.’ … He was sitting next to Cheryl Hines and she’s a sweet, brilliant actor, so I was like, ‘I don’t want any shrapnel to hit someone else,’” he told Meyers.
Gaffigan didn’t say the joke.
But just weeks earlier, reports surfaced about Kennedy having a digital relationship with now-former New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi.
President-elect Donald Trump, who also spoke at the white-tie event and who Gaffigan also roasted during his address, has now tapped Kennedy to run the Health and Human Services Department.