Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has earned his fair share of baffling headlines in recent months, but the New York Times carried a particularly odd one on Sunday: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Admits He Left a Dead Bear in Central Park." The independent presidential candidate himself was the source for the story, per a video he posted on X in which he relays a very odd story to comedian Roseanne Barr, who sips wide-eyed from a coffee mug as Kennedy reveals the decade-old incident, apparently in an attempt to get ahead of a New Yorker story about it. "Looking forward to seeing how you spin this one, @NewYorker," RFK Jr. taunted in his X caption.
Kennedy's story: He says he was driving in New York's Hudson Valley, saw someone hit a bear cub and drive away, and decided to scoop the "very good condition" bear into his own vehicle so he could skin it and take its meat. But when Kennedy realized later that day that he had to get to the airport, he concocted the most "amusing" way to get rid of the bear: He placed the bear in Central Park next to an old bike he had in his vehicle, making it appear as if someone had killed the bear with the bike. The Times notes that its original 2014 story about the bear—coincidentally written by reporter Tatiana Schlossberg, the daughter of RFK Jr.'s cousin Caroline Kennedy—"caused quite a stir" at the time. Schlossberg now tells the paper, "Like law enforcement, I had no idea who was responsible for this when I wrote the story."
The New Yorker did indeed drop its story on RFK Jr. early Monday, the bear tale (and even a photo) included. Kennedy told writer Clare Malone of the 2014 incident: "Maybe that's where I got my brain worm." Newsweek notes that an "avalanche" of memes and jokes bombarded online feeds after Kennedy's video made the rounds. More from the New Yorker story here, including a text exchange in which Kennedy calls former President Trump "a terrible human being" who's "probably a sociopath." (More RFK Jr. stories.)
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