Gonzalo Marroquin/Getty Images for Gold House // Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
- The New York Times reported that Nicole Shanahan funded a major chunk of super PAC ad for RFJ Jr.
- The Super Bowl ad used archival footage of some in the Kennedy family, stirring some controversy.
- Shanahan said the ad was a "great opportunity" to showcase the candidate.
The Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-supporting Super Bowl ad that shook up the Kennedy family was backed by a tech-connected figure.
Nicole Shanahan, lawyer and ex-wife of Google cofounder Sergey Brin, helped fund the ad run by the super PAC American Values 2024, The New York Times reported.
“It seems like a great opportunity to highlight that he’s running for president,” Shanahan told the Times.
The $7 million ad, to promote Kennedy as an independent presidential candidate, featured archival footage of his family and references to an ad run by his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy, during his 1960 presidential campaign.
"She's a very strong supporter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.," Tony Lyons, a co-chairman of American Values 2024, told Business Insider on Tuesday. "She's a lifelong Democrat. And she believes that Bobby Kennedy is aligned with her fundamental values."
Shanahan told the Times she gave the Kennedy-aligned super PAC $4 million to help the ad make the prime-time spot on Sunday, saying she was compelled partially by Kennedy’s views on the environment and vaccines.
Kennedy, as Business Insider has previously reported, has made numerous false claims about vaccines and vaccine safety.
Shanahan told the Times she is "not an anti-vaxxer" but wonders "about vaccine injuries" and wants more screening for vaccination risks.
Not the first time RFK Jr.'s family has been irked
While Kennedy had previously irked his family for his baseless conspiracy theories on vaccines, the ad stirred further controversy after a few Kennedy relatives disapproved of the use of images of deceased family members.
"My cousin's Super Bowl ad used our uncle's faces- and my Mother's," Bobby Shriver, Kennedy’s cousin, wrote on X. "She would be appalled by his deadly health care views. Respect for science, vaccines, & health care equity were in her DNA."
Lyons told BI the response to the ad was "overwhelmingly positive," and only a small group in Kennedy's family did not support his campaign.
"Bobby Kennedy grew up with a huge family with people sitting at the dinner table encouraged to argue over politics and encouraged to speak truly whatever their points of view were," Lyons said. "So, overwhelmingly, his family supports him."
Kennedy, however, later apologized.
Shanahan played a part in putting together the archival footage for the Kennedy ad. Per the Times, Shanahan connected the super PAC to friends in her circle who suggested they turn to the retro theme to get around laws that bar super PACs from working with candidates.
Shanahan — a lawyer and founder of legal tech company ClearAccessIP and the Bia-Echo Foundation — made headlines in 2022 after being accused of cheating on her ex-husband Brin with tech billionaire Elon Musk.
She and Brin divorced in May. Musk has denied the affair.
Shanahan also denied the reports in a June 2023 profile with People Magazine, saying her close relationship with Musk was related to her inquiring about “how I might think about helping my daughter with her autism treatment, given his background with Neuralink.”
Neuralink is the company Musk founded that aims to install microchips in human brains.
Shanahan and Musk did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.