The U.S. secretary of health and human services (HHS), 72, spoke with PEOPLE exclusively at the Starry Starry Night Gala in Palm Desert, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 31. The event raised money and awareness for breast cancer<\/a>, with proceeds going to the Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n When asked if he and Caroline, 68, have been in touch after Tatiana died<\/a> at age 35\u00a0in late December following an acute myeloid leukemia diagnosis, RFK Jr. said, “Not recently.” (The Kennedy family members have a fractured relationship.)<\/p>\n “Everybody’s praying for them,” the politician, who attended the event at the Chaparral Country Club alongside his wife, Cheryl Hines<\/a>, added. The pair was presented with an award at the third annual gala.<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n David Crotty\/Getty<\/p>\n Tatiana revealed her terminal cancer diagnosis in an essay published in\u00a0The New Yorker<\/a>\u00a0in November.<\/p>\n The environmental journalist, who was the daughter of Edwin Schlossberg<\/a> and Caroline, and the granddaughter of former President\u00a0John F. Kennedy<\/a>, died a month later, the social media accounts for the JFK Library Foundation announced on behalf of Tatiana’s extended family on Dec. 30.<\/p>\n The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!<\/a><\/p>\n Members of the Kennedy dynasty mourned the loss of Tatiana during a funeral<\/a> held in New York City on Jan. 5. Immediate family \u2014 including Tatiana’s parents and siblings,\u00a0Rose Schlossberg<\/a> and Jack Schlossberg<\/a> \u2014 attended, as did her husband, George Moran<\/a>, and their two young kids<\/a>, son Edwin and daughter Josephine.<\/p>\n RFK Jr. was not among the large crowd that gathered at The Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola in the Upper East Side. That day, he instead rolled out his latest change to vaccine mandates for children, marking a major shift in the nation’s public health policy that reduces the number of vaccines from 17 to 11.<\/p>\n John Parra\/Getty; Kevin Mazur\/Getty<\/p>\n Before her death, when she announced her cancer diagnosis, Tatiana publicly ridiculed cousin RFK Jr., who has aligned himself with Donald Trump<\/a>‘s presidential administration.<\/p>\n Calling him an “embarrassment to me and the rest of my immediate family,” Tatiana specifically criticized RFK Jr.’s stance on vaccines and how his HHS appointment affected the American health care system, something she saw firsthand amid her own cancer journey.<\/p>\n Mom Caroline has also spoken out<\/a> against RFK Jr. Ahead of his\u00a0confirmation hearings<\/a>\u00a0to head the HHS last January, she called her cousin a \u201cpredator” and said he is \u201caddicted to attention and power,” asserting that he is \u201cunqualified\u201d when it comes to the nation’s health policy.<\/p>\n The scathing letter was a rare public move for Caroline, who had historically been less outspoken about RFK Jr. compared to other relatives,\u00a0including some of his siblings<\/a>, who publicly denounced him<\/a>\u00a0for promoting conspiracy theories and siding with\u00a0Trump, 79.<\/p>\n![\"Cheryl](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/bb981fd9ef358a0b79ee1046847d6a0c.jpeg\"\/)
Cheryl Hines (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (right) at the Starry Starry Night Gala on Jan. 31. <\/p>\n![\"Robert](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/557e7b79e9a5ba59a9ee25625525315a.jpeg\"\/)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Caroline Kennedy. <\/p>\n