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New York Magazine’s Washington correspondent Olivia Nuzzi sent “demure” nude photos to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. which he later bragged about, two new reports claim.
The publication announced Thursday that Nuzzi, 31, had been placed on leave after disclosing a “personal relationship” with “a former subject” relevant to the election. Soon afterwards, media reporter Oliver Darcy revealed that subject to be 70-year-old RFK Jr, who is married to the actor Cheryl Hines.
Nuzzi apparently sent nude photos to the former independent presidential candidate, Puck News reported on Friday. Kennedy then bragged to his friends about receiving intimate photos of Nuzzi, The Daily Beast reported Saturday. These boasts ultimately made their way back to her boss, New York Magazine editor David Haskell.
The Independent has contacted both Kennedy and Nuzzi for comment.
Haskell confronted Nuzzi on September 13 about the photos, telling her that he had heard about Kennedy’s boasts from a source, according toThe Daily Beast. Nuzzi repeatedly denied the relationship before coming clean, according to the outlet.
On Friday, Nuzzi’s partner Ryan Lizza, a reporter at Politico, released a statement which referred to Nuzzi as his “ex-finacée,” indicating the pair have broken up. It is not clear when the couple parted ways.
“Because of my connection to this story through my ex-fiancée, my editors and I have agreed that I won’t be involved in any coverage of Kennedy in Playbook or elsewhere at POLITICO,” Lizza said.
Nuzzi and Lizza got engaged in September 2022, according to social media posts.
After New York Magazine’s announcement, Nuzzi released a statement denying the relationship with RFK Jr was physical.
“Earlier this year, the nature of some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal,” she said. “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. I deeply regret not doing so immediately and apologize to those I’ve disappointed, especially my colleagues at New York.”
A Kennedy spokesperson told The New York Times that he had met Nuzzi “once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece.”
The spokesperson appeared to be referring to Nuzzi’s widely-read profile of Kennedy, published in November 2023. She wrote about accompanying him on a hike with his dogs and driving in a dilapidated minivan. Her “personal relationship” with Kennedy spanned from December 2023 through August, she later disclosed to New York Magazine.
Over the last nine months, Nuzzi also published a piece on the Democrats’ “conspiracy of silence to protect” surrounding then-candidate President Joe Biden and an interview with former president Donald Trump, which was a New York Magazinecover story earlier this month.
Each of these stories has since been updated with an editor’s note indicating that all of Nuzzi’s 2024 reporting is under review. Haskell told magazine staff on Friday that the publication planned on using an “independent third-party” to review Nuzzi’s stories before they make a final decision on her employment status.
Nuzzi is one of New York Magazine’s star reporters. The 31-year-old was included on Forbes’s “30 Under 30 – Media” list in 2018 and is known for her profiles on candidates and in-depth campaign stories.
This isn’t the first time Nuzzi has become the story, either. In 2018, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski claimed that she entered his home office without permission but the reporter denied this, saying that she briefly entered the hallway of his house during an attempt to interview him.
A year later, her story about texting with former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani went viral.
Nuzzi also had a cameo in the Showtime drama Billions in 2022 and recently released a documentary series called “Working Capital” with Bloomberg.
