New York Magazine put Washington correspondent Olivia Nuzzi on leave after learning she allegedly engaged in a romantic relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a source told The Hollywood Reporter.
The magazine shared in a statement with THR on Thursday, “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.”
“Had the magazine been aware of this relationship, she would not have continued to cover the presidential campaign,” the statement continued. “An internal review of her published work has found no inaccuracies nor 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.”
New York Magazine didn’t name Kennedy, but people familiar with the matter told Status‘ Oliver Darcy that Nuzzi did not proactively disclose her alleged relationship with Kennedy and that the magazine only recently learned of it. Darcy reported that the alleged relationship started around the new year, after Nuzzi’s November 2023 profile on the former presidential candidate.
“Earlier this year, the nature of some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal,” Nuzzi said in a statement. “During that time, 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 at New York.”
Nuzzi is something of a political reporting wunderkind, having dropped out of Fordham University to cover politics for The Daily Beast. (One year earlier, in 2013, Nuzzi also made the news when she wrote tell-alls of her time as an intern in the Anthony Weiner mayoral campaign that inspired expletive-laden quotes from the campaign’s communications director to Talking Points Memo.) Nuzzi rose to prominence during Donald Trump’s presidency for her feature writing and her sourcing in the Trump White House. In the aftermath of the assassination attempt against Trump in July, Trump let Nuzzi inspect his injured ear, which became the lede of a feature story she penned for New York Magazine.
Last month, Kennedy halted his third-party bid for president and endorsed Trump. He has been married to actress Cheryl Hines since 2014.
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Nuzzi and Kennedy for comments.