Olivia Nuzzi: New York magazine writer put on leave after revealing relationship with RFK

new York
CNN
—

One of America's most renowned magazine writers, Olivia Nuzzi of New York Magazine, has been placed on leave while a “third-party review” is conducted. The magazine said Nuzzi revealed that she “had a personal relationship with a previous issue relevant to the 2024 campaign during her coverage of the 2024 campaign.”

While the magazine did not identify the person by name, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told CNN that it was a relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who ran as an independent presidential candidate and recently endorsed Donald Trump. The person said the relationship was emotional and digital in nature, not physical.

A spokesman for Kennedy told CNN: “Mr. Kennedy met Olivia Nuzzi only once in his life for an interview she requested that resulted in a defamatory article.”

The alleged relationship was first reported on Thursday evening by Oliver Darcy in Status.

In a statement to CNN, Nuzzi said her relationship with a subject of the report had “become personal” and she regretted not telling the newspaper about it.

“Earlier this year, communications between me and a former reporting officer became personal. During that time, I did not report directly on the individual or use him or her as a source,” she said. “The relationship was never physical, but should have been disclosed to avoid the appearance of a conflict. I deeply regret not doing so immediately and apologize to those I disappointed, especially my colleagues in New York.”

In a note to readers, New York Magazine said Nuzzi was “currently on leave” and the magazine was conducting “a more thorough third-party review.”

Nuzzi wrote a profile of Kennedy last November, in which she went hiking with the then-candidate, and has since written numerous other articles about Trump and the 2024 campaign.

Kennedy has been married to actress Cheryl Hines since 2014. A spokesman for Hines declined to comment on his relationship with Nuzzi on Friday. Hines had supported her husband's presidential bid and appeared at campaign events, but she has not commented on Kennedy's decision to support Trump.

According to the magazine, Nuzzi “recently” admitted to having had a relationship with a person he reported on, which was a “violation of the magazine's standards regarding conflicts of interest and disclosures.”

“Had the magazine known about this relationship, it would not have continued to cover the presidential campaign,” New York Magazine's statement continued.

The magazine also said that “an internal review of their published work has found no inaccuracies or evidence of bias.” Nevertheless, the magazine said, “we regret this breach of trust from our readers.”

In a note to staff seen by CNN on Friday, New York Magazine editor David Haskell said editors learned of Nuzzi's relationship with Kennedy “a few days ago” and were told it began in December, after her profile of Kennedy was published, and ended in August.

Haskell said that while editors found no evidence of bias in her reporting during that period, “I made it clear to Olivia that she had created at least the appearance of a conflict of interest and that by choosing not to disclose this to her editors, she had violated our policies and potentially damaged the trust of our readers.”

“I am so incredibly proud of the work we do together and I am sorry that this has cast a cloud of distraction over us,” he added.

Nuzzi was engaged to Ryan Lizza, Politico's chief Washington correspondent and co-author of “Playbook.”

In a message to readers of the Playbook PM newsletter on Friday, Lizza wrote: “Because of my connection to this story through my ex-fiancée, my editors and I have agreed that I will not participate in any coverage of Kennedy in the Playbook or elsewhere at POLITICO.”