While many parents can’t wait for their grown children to leave home, longtime Hallmark star Holly Robinson Peete was understandably nervous to cross that rite of passage off her son RJ Peete’s list of accomplishments. But 27-year-old RJ, who is on the autism spectrum, achieved that huge milestone in the spring of 2025.
“It was so daunting, but it was something that it needed to happen,” Robinson Peete told EntertainmentNow in early May. “We just had to pull the Band-Aid off. He was not comfortable with moving out. I was not comfortable with him moving out. I wanted him to stay.”
But now that it’s done and RJ has settled into independent living, Robinson Peete and her husband, former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete, couldn’t be prouder.
Holly Robinson Peete Says Decision to Move Her Son Closer to His Job Came After a ‘Stressful’ Night
GettyRobinson Peete is one of Hollywood’s most vocal advocates for families impacted by autism. She was one of the first celebrity parents to speak openly and raise awareness about the condition as RJ was growing up, including featuring his challenges and accomplishments on her Hallmark Channel reality show, “Meet the Peetes,” in 2018 and 2019.
The actress, who currently co-stars in “Hats Off to Love” on Hallmark+, runs the HollyRod Foundation to empower families impacted by autism and regularly advocates for greater resources to help those with autism thrive.
Although she and Peete were initially told their son would accomplish almost nothing in his life, RJ has learned how to drive, works as a beloved clubhouse attendant for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and is now living independently — a feat the actress was not sure would ever happen.
The decision to find RJ an apartment came after he was “driving home from Dodger Stadium at one or two in the morning,” Robinson Peete told EntertainmentNow, which had become a regular occurrence given his long hours working for the team.
“It was stressful for him, and I was nervous he would get stopped by the police, or get in an accident,” Robinson Peete said, noting that she’d often wait up late to make sure he got home safely. “So one night, he was really struggling, and I made him pull over so he could just rest. And it just hit me like a ton of bricks. I said, ‘Okay, that’s it.’ And the next day, I started looking for apartments for him.”
RJ Peete’s New Apartment is Another Item on the ‘List of Nevers’ His Mom Holly Robinson Peete Will Never Forget
Robinson Peete found an apartment for RJ located minutes from the ballpark, she said, and she got to work setting up everything in the space for him, from furniture to cooking utensils. Not that she expects him to do much cooking, laughing that he’s an “Uber eater” and will likely order most of his meals.
“He’s still a little nervous about it, and I get it,” Robinson Peete said, admitting it was “exhausting” to manage the transition. “But it’s a great building and it’s a really nurturing environment over there.”
RJ’s new apartment is the latest accomplishment the Peetes were told would never happen when he was first diagnosed with autism in 2000.
Appearing on CNN in April, Robinson Peete told host Jake Tapper, “We were given a list of ‘nevers’ — he would never say ‘I love you,’ he would never mainstream in school, he would never play team sports … never do so many things, never have meaningful employment. And so we call that the ‘Never Day.'”
The “Holiday Heritage” actress appeared on the news network to refute remarks made by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said in a press conference on April 16 that “autism destroys families,” per People, and listed off things he thought kids on the spectrum would never accomplish, from paying taxes to having a meaningful job.
“When I heard (Kennedy’s) list of nevers, I was taken right back to that day,” she told Tapper. “I just thought it was such a wasteful and dangerous use of a platform to talk about these children — and adults, my son’s an adult — as if they’re just disposable, as if they are a blight on society, and it felt like institutionalized hopelessness.”
Although she’s thrilled for her own son’s accomplishments, Robinson Peete told EntertainmentNow that her advocacy is for all children and adults living with autism.
“This has never just been about RJ and his successes,” she said. “This has always been about all the families that we’ve worked with, hundreds of families over the years with our HollyRod Foundation, and a lot of these families have higher support needs than we did.”
“I think it’s really important that there not be a wedge driven between those who have higher support needs and those who have lower support needs,” she continued, noting that the autism community spans a spectrum of needs and that no matter a person’s skill level, “he’s still valuable, he deserves to be seen, deserves employment, deserves understanding and compassion and services.”
This is awesome. I have a nephew with autism and he is married has 2 beautiful sons and has worked for 10 years now in a factory. Cody is a high function autism man. M
My sister was told the very same things when her son was growing up. Somebody needs to uptake their information. Put nothing past these kids. They are strong-willed and will make a liar out of your information.
I get upset with someone like RFK, Jr who is neither a medical doctor nor a scientist makes those snake-oil-salesman statements. It is demeaning, it’s another mistruth from this administration, and it makes it harder to break down the barriers that are already there about this medical condition.
My friend has a sone who was diagnosed as hyperkinetic (today he would be on the more developed end of the autism scale). He took meds, was the nicest, most polite hard-working teenager. He went to work in a bank – long story shortened he got an associate degree (to see if he could do it) and then went on and got his B.S. in Math & Business and has been with the bank for 30 years. Married has children and always paid income taxes.
These children can do a lot just may need a little more help, but they are worthwhile human beings.
I have always admired and respected Holly Robinson Peete because when she said “this is never just about R.J. it is about all the children and their families” she means it. My friends had an autistic child born in 2003 and they and Holly worked really hard in the Philadelphia area for autistic children and help for families.
I am so glad to hear that R.J. is doing so well – he certainly has the right family who loves and cares about him so much.
I honestly think that one of the best movies Holly made was the one where she played the mother of an autistic son and she showed every emotion a mother felt. It was a wonderfully done movie and Holly was so great with the actor who played the autistic son.
Bobby Kennedy Jr.,sorry to say it is just an Ignorant fool who has no actual TRaining in either Medicine or Science,and who just sprouts Ignorant Nonesense about Vaccines when he doesn’t know what the Hell he’s talking about!Very sorry,but there’s just no nicer way to really describe him.Trump apparently only appointed him to be the Health Secretary just because he’s a Kennedy,not that he’s really smart or knowledgable about naything,friends.
My late cousin Cynthia,God bless her had Autism.However,the poor soul had a rather more severe form of Autism,so she was more disabled than Holly Robinson’s son,RJ.Cynthia was killed during Hurricane Katrina back in 2005,God bless her.