Holly Robinson Peete isn’t afraid to speak her mind — especially in defense of people with autism.
“We’ve made so many strides in the autism community and just really normalizing diversity and neurodiversity. And then here comes a guy in the ‘health and human services’ to tell us all the things our kids will never do, the ‘never’ day all over again for us,” Peete, 62, exclusively told Us on Saturday, November 7, while hosting her HollyRod Foundation’s DesignCare 2026 Gala sponsored by American Airlines, referring to presidential hopeful-turned-U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“So it feels good to be able to speak out,” Peete, who stunned in a Frederick Anderson ensemble for the event, continued. “I’m a bit of a gangster mom. I want to support. We are always going to. We are ride or die for our kids. That’s it.”
Peete publicly condemned RFK Jr.’s April 2025 comments in which he made several erroneous and false claims about children who have been diagnosed with autism.
“This is an individual tragedy as well,” the once-Democratic candidate for president claimed at the time. “Autism destroys families. More importantly, it destroys our greatest resource, which is our children. These are children who should not be suffering like this. These are kids who, many of them were fully functional and regressed because of some environmental exposure into autism when they’re 2 years old. These are kids who will never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted. And we have to recognize, we are doing this to our children.”
Peete promptly defended her own son, RJ, who was diagnosed with autism when he was a toddler.
“My 27-year-old son with autism didn’t ‘destroy our family’ — he gave us purpose and unity,” she wrote via X at the time. “Oh, and he pays taxes.”
Peete elaborated further in an interview with People, recalling what her own personal “never” day was like in 2000 when a doctor listed all the things her son would allegedly “never” be able to do after he received his diagnosis. (Peete shares RJ with her husband, Rodney Peete.)
“First of all, that’s just not true,” Peete told the outlet of RFK Jr.’s erroneous claims. “We got our diagnosis in 2000, and it feels like I’m transported back in time to a time when we didn’t kow as much as we know about autism.”
“A developmental pediatrician said [RJ] would never speak, he would never have friends … in school, live on his own, have meaningful employment, never drive, never probably have a significant other, never get married,” Holly recalled at the time. “And I’m not sure why she felt on that day that she needed to sort of doom our 3-year-old to all these ‘nevers.’ But in some ways, I’m glad she did because it made me angry.”
She continued, “Autism does not destroy families. But you know what does? Not having access to health care. In Black and brown communities, families are not able to even get their kids to the diagnosis of autism so that they can get the interventions and treatments [they need]. Those are the things that destroy families, not autism. So immediately, I was so triggered hearing that because that is just inherently false.”
Holly and her husband went on to found the HollyRod Foundation to raise awareness an provide resources for families impacted by Parkinson’s Disease and autism, lending a type of support that Holly told Us she didn’t have after RJ was diagnosed.
“When we got RJ’s diagnosis, we had no one to talk to,” Holly exclusively told Us on Saturday. “There was no one to call, and so we wanted to be that for other people. And so it feels great that people look up to us or get hope for their situation because of what we’ve been able to talk about.”
She added, “It’s all about providing hope and support, and never let anyone limit the possibilities for your child.”
