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.”
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Holly Robinson Peete Shares Huge Milestone for Son With Autism: ‘It Was So Daunting’ (EXCLUSIVE)