New York magazine’s former star Washington correspondent, Olivia Nuzzi, was told by her editors she could save her job if she wrote a piece about her emotional affair with Robert F. Kennedy Jr, according to a close friend who spoke at length with the controversial reporter.
The revelation appeared in a post on Sunday on House InHabit, the influential Substack newsletter of the writer Jessica Reed Kraus, in which she details a recent conversation with Ms. Nuzzi.
“Since it is of such consuming interest: Olivia rejected an offer by New York Mag to write a tell-all about RFK Jr. to keep her job,” Ms. Kraus writes. “She’s rejected every other offer to write a tell all. She hasn’t said a word about any of it, even as so many words have been said about her, even when her silence has been at the expense of her own reputation.”
New York magazine declined a request to confirm the allegations while Ms. Nuzzi did not immediately respond to separate request for comment. Mr. Kennedy has consistently refused to comment on the matter.
Ms. Nuzzi was placed on leave in September, then fired the following month, after New York magazine discovered she had engaged in an “inappropriate relationship” with Secretary Kennedy while she was covering his 2024 campaign for president. The emotional affair played a central role in Ms. Nuzzi’s very public and unpleasant breakup with her fiance, the Politico journalist Ryan Lizza, which played out in court with ugly accusations from both sides and was followed closely in Washington media and political circles.
Ms. Kraus, who recently went to the White House with other social media personalities, met President Trump in the Oval Office and took home files on Jeffrey Epstein, says she and Ms. Nuzzi are friends again after they had a brief estrangement over the RFJ affair. This weekend, Ms. Kraus sought to address various conspiracy theories swirling around Ms. Nuzzi and their friendship.
“Olivia’s involvement has the internet in a chokehold thanks to this wild framing. The truth is comparatively boring,” Ms. Kraus writes, referencing how she had reported last fall about the alleged relationship between Ms. Nuzzi and RFK Jr.
“Olivia and I were friends before the scandal with RFK. We are friends now, after it. I was redeemed by the fact that Olivia doesn’t hold grudges and she’s not vindictive. When I need advice about logistical editorial stuff and also understanding who is who in the political scene, she’s helpful. She’s been helpful with all of that since I’ve known her.”
News of the “personal relationship” between the political reporter and the current head of the Department of Health and Human Services, and former presidential candidate, was first reported in September by former CNN Media reporter Oliver Darcy in his nightly Status newsletter. The news immediately raised questions about Ms. Nuzzi’s reporting since she was engaged in the inappropriate relationship during an election year. People familiar with the matter confirmed to Mr. Darcy that it was the former third-party candidate with whom she had been involved.
“Recently, our Washington Correspondent Olivia Nuzzi acknowledged to the magazine’s editors that she had engaged in a personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign while she was reporting on the campaign, a violation of the magazine’s standards around conflicts of interest and disclosures,” a spokesman for New York magazine said in a statement to Status.
“Had the magazine been aware of this relationship, she would not have continued to cover the presidential campaign. An internal review of her published work found no inaccuracies or evidence of bias. 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.”
Ms. Nuzzi also confirmed the relationship in a statement to CNN at the time.
“Earlier this year, the nature of some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal,” she said. “I did not directly report on the subject nor use them as a source. 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 in New York.”
A month later, Ms. Nuzzi left her post at New York magazine after an independent investigation determined that none of her work for the publication had contained inaccuracies or evidence of bias.
“Nevertheless, the magazine and Nuzzi agreed that the best course forward is to part ways,” officials with the magazine said in a statement in October. “Nuzzi is a uniquely talented writer and we have been proud to publish her work over her nearly eight years as our Washington Correspondent. We wish her the best.”
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