What did Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 2010 divorce filings allege about Mary Richardson Kennedy?
Executive summary
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed for divorce from Mary Richardson Kennedy in May 2010, and during the subsequent proceedings he submitted sealed court papers and affidavits that made a series of severe accusations about her behavior, mental health and parenting; those filings accused Mary of violence, heavy drinking, threats of suicide, harming pets and mistreating children while framing those claims as relevant to custody and safety [1] [2] [3]. The Richardson family strongly disputed the filings as vindictive and “scurrilous,” and later reporting has surfaced clandestine audio recordings and other materials that complicate any single narrative [4] [5] [6].
1. The procedural context: divorce, custody fight and sealed affidavits
Kennedy’s formal divorce filing came after a May 2010 police response to an incident at the couple’s home and was followed by a contentious custody battle that produced sealed court documents, including what has been described as a lengthy affidavit dated in 2011 that Kennedy used as part of his legal effort to win custody or limit Mary’s contact with the children [1] [2] [3].
2. What the filings expressly alleged about Mary’s conduct
The affidavit and related court requests accused Mary Richardson Kennedy of violent and erratic behavior—violent outbursts, excessive drinking, physical abuse toward Robert and allegations she had abused children from Robert’s earlier marriage—as well as theft, stalking and other actions Kennedy sought to restrict by court order [6] [2] [3] [4].
3. Specific sensational claims reported in media coverage
Reporting that obtained and summarized parts of the affidavit and court records said the filings included specific, lurid allegations such as Mary threatening suicide in front of the children, running over and killing the family dog, and instances of physical abuse directed at Robert and others—details that fueled public outrage and grief after her death [2] [6].
4. Supplemental materials and disputed recordings about marital conduct
Separate from the affidavit, later press accounts and magazine reporting revealed clandestine audio recordings Kennedy reportedly made of conversations with Mary during the divorce in which he acknowledged extensive infidelities and discussed the breakdown of the marriage; those recordings and a purported “sex diary” leaked later painted a picture of mutual recrimination and long‑running marital dysfunction [5] [7] [8].
5. The Richardson family’s rebuttal and accusations of weaponizing the courts
Mary’s relatives publicly denounced Kennedy’s affidavit as a “brutal psychological weapon” and “scurrilous,” saying the document was full of lies and was used against her in a bitter legal fight; reporting at the time emphasized the family’s repudiation of the claims and their contention that the affidavit exacerbated an already fragile situation [4] [9] [2].
6. Aftermath, reporting limits and why claims remain contested
Mary Richardson Kennedy died by suicide in 2012, and press coverage since has revisited the divorce filings and surfaced recordings and draft rebuttals that were never filed in court; the public record therefore contains Kennedy’s sealed allegations, family denials, clandestine audio and later leaks (such as a purported diary), but available reporting does not resolve disputed factual claims in court, nor does it substitute for adjudicated findings—many assertions remain contested in media accounts rather than definitively proven in public court rulings [2] [5] [7] [6].