Last Thursday night, former CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy dropped a bombshell report in his newsletter, Status: New York Magazine had placed political reporter Olivia Nuzzi on leave after her editors became aware of an inappropriate romantic relationship between her and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The revelation triggered an ethics crisis that rippled throughout much of Washington, DC, media. Nuzzi — who had been engaged to Political correspondent Ryan Lizza — is one of New York's most prominent writers and the face of its political coverage. She had profiled RFK Jr. in November 2023, and continued covering the presidential race for the magazine over the last year — including with a recent profile of former President Donald Trump, whom Kennedy endorsed after dropping out of the race last month.
Darcy's report detonated like a bomb in a cash safe, and additional details about the high-profile tryst have emerged in the days since. Industry navel-gazers have been obsessing over the proverbial lint — and ensuring everyone knows exactly what they see — but in a time where trust in legacy media is at an all-time low, salaciousness can mask the real damage done by a flagrant breach of journalistic ethics.
There's a lot to unpack, so here's everything you need to know.
Who is Olivia Nuzzi?
Olivia Nuzzi, 31, is the Washington, DC, correspondent for New York magazine, a role she has held since 2017. Nuzzi first exploded into the Washington media scene after detailing her experience interning for Anthony Weiner's 2013 mayoral campaign — which was rocked by its own digital sex scandal — for the New York Daily News. As a campaign reporter for The Daily Beast between 2014-2017, Nuzzi covered the rise of Trump in the 2016 election cycle.
An establishment media darling, Nuzzi developed a reputation for deep insider access to some of the most prominent figures in American politics. Just this month, Nuzzi profiled Trump in the aftermath of the assassination attempt against him in Pennsylvania, meeting him at his Mar-a-Lago resort and taking a close look at the former president's ear. In 2022, Nuzzi announced her engagement to Political's Chief Washington correspondent Ryan Lizza — a relationship which has now ended.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 70, is the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and son of former US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
Kennedy rose to prominence as an environmental lawyer turned vaccine conspiracy theorist who promoted all manner of misinformation regarding immunizations. In 2023, Kennedy announced he would be running for president as a Democratic challenge to President Joe Biden, and later switched to an independent party affiliation. Kennedy's bizarre campaign came to a soft end in August when he announced he would be selectively removing his name from the ballot in some states, and throwing his weight behind Trump.
Nuzzi profiled Kennedy, who has been married to his third wife Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines since 2014, for New York in November 2023. The piece, titled “The Mind-Bending Politics of RFK Jr.'s Spoiler Campaign” was cutting. Nuzzi described Kennedy as a “Frankencandidate” riddled with paranoia and provided a detailed account of the four-wheeled ruin that was Kennedy's “dog car.” According to Kennedy's staff, their meeting him at his Brentwood home was supposedly the only time the pair ever interacted in person.
What happened between Nuzzi and RFK Jr.?
Darcy broke the news of an “inappropriate” relationship between Nuzzi and Kennedy, nearly 40 years her senior, last Thursday. In a statement responding to the report, Nuzzi said that “some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal.”
“During that time, I did not directly report on the subject nor use them as a source,” she added. “The relationship was never physical but should have been disclosed to prevent the appearance of a conflict.”
On Friday, Puck News reported that Nuzzi had sent nude photos — described as “demure” by a source — to Kennedy. Over the weekend, The Daily Beast reported that the digital affair had come to the attention of Nuzzi's editors after Kennedy had bragged about receiving explicit photos from her. A source also told the Daily Beast that the pair had met in person on more than one occasion.
What's the fallout?
A lot of online mockery, rubbernecking, and condemnation, which is to be expected when two high-profile political figures are caught in dalliance that practically violates every established norm of journalistic ethics.
New York magazine placed Nuzzi on leave pending an internal review of her work. In a statement to Status, the magazine said that if they “had been aware of this relationship, she would not have continued to cover the presidential campaign.”
“An internal review of her published work has found no inaccuracies nor evidence of bias,” New York added. “She is currently on leave from the magazine, and the magazine is conducting a more thorough third-party review. We regret this violation of our readers' trust.”
Lizza, author of Politician's daily “Playbook” newsletter — a staple of the DC political class's daily news habits — has voluntarily recused himself from coverage of RFK Jr.'s campaign, and confirmed that his romantic relationship with Nuzzi has ended.
How did Team Kennedy react?
Despite his half-assed exit from the presidential race, Kennedy remains a prominent figure within Trump's campaign apparatus, and appears to be in line for a role in government should Trump win in November. With all this in mind, team Kennedy has gone on the offensive.
A source “close to Kennedy's camp” told the New York Post on Saturday that Nuzzi had pursued Kennedy “aggressively.”
“She targeted him pretty hard. Bobby was blocking her continually. It was a little scary. She was obsessed with him. I think she still is,” they added. The source claimed that Kennedy had repeatedly blocked and unblocked Nuzzi only to be bombarded with increasingly pornographic photos and videos that he found difficult to resist.”
According to the Posts, Kennedy is exploring legal action against Nuzzi, but no criminal or civil complaint has been filed.
Is it OK to be in a romantic relationship with a source if you're a reporter?
On Monday, Semafor Editor in Chief Ben Smith revealed in a blog post that the outlet had been tipped off regarding the then-alleged affair between Nuzzi and Kennedy, but declined to pursue the story.
Smith described the reaction to the news as the “full fury of American media prurience and self-righteousness” and offered a “contrarian view.”
“Reporters have all sorts of compromising relationships with sources,” Smith claimed. “That's the real coin of this realm. Sex barely rates.”
The editor claimed that in Great Britain, an attitude prevailed that if one isn't “sleeping with someone in a position of power, how are you even a journalist?” Smith added that “advice writer Heather Havrilesky texted me Saturday that 'the world would be much more exciting with more Nuzzis around, but alas the world is inhabited by anonymously emailing moralists instead!'”
Smith added a disclaimer to his post, noting that it is Semafor's policy that if a reporter is having a romantic entanglement with a source, “for the love of God tell your editor.”
Few journalists agree with Smith that it may be all right for a reporter to be involved with a source.
Fucking around with a source compromises the integrity of the reporter and their report, full stop. It also severely damages the credibility of any outlet that allows it to take place, which is why New York placed Nuzzi on leave and is hiring a third party to investigate.
