Cuomo mounted an unsuccessful bid for governor in 2002, but didn’t make it past the state convention. Kennedy demanded a divorce as soon as he dropped out of the race.

Shnayerson wrote that for six months, Cuomo refused to leave their house or respond to her lawyers.

“On more than one night during that period, Kerry slept in a locked bathroom, according to a source close to the family, who recounted instances of physical abuse. ‘I’ve been a human rights activist, and for women who have abusive husbands,’ Kerry told a friend, ‘and here I am enduring this abuse’,” Schnayerson recalled.

The bullying behavior continued in multiple ways, like making it difficult to plan holidays for their daughters, he wrote, quoting a source saying, “There’s a million ways for a single parent to make the other parent’s life miserable, and he played that game.”