New York magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi had a large following in the journalism sphere but gained national attention when her alleged “personal relationship” with former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. came to light.
The magazine’s Washington correspondent, who is 31, was placed on leave in September 2024 after she told the publication’s editors of her “personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign,” per a press release. A person with direct knowledge of the situation reportedly told CNN that the subject was Kennedy, 70, who dropped out of the presidential campaign in August and offered his endorsement for former President Donald Trump.
“Earlier this year, the nature of some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal,” Nuzzi said in a statement to PEOPLE. “During that time, I did not directly report on the subject nor use them as a source.”
Meanwhile, a representative for Kennedy, who is married to actress Cheryl Hines, told CNN that the politician had only met Nuzzi once for an article, her November 2023 story, “The Mind-Bending Politics of RFK Jr.’s Spoiler Campaign.”
“Mr. Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece,” the representative said
So who is Olivia Nuzzi? Here’s everything to know about the journalist who allegedly had a relationship with Kennedy.
Nuzzi grew up in New Jersey
Olivia Nuzzi attends Vox Media’s 2022 Code Conference – Day 2 on September 07, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California.
Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for Vox Media
Nuzzi was born on Jan. 6, 1993, in New York City and grew up in Middletown Township, N.J. She graduated from Middletown High School South, per Two River Times, and attended Fordham University after.
However, Nuzzi dropped out of Fordham after she got a full time offer to write for The Daily Beast in May 2014.
She started her career as an intern for Anthony Weiner’s mayoral campaign
Olivia Nuzzi attends Pivot MIA at 1 Hotel South Beach on February 16, 2022 in Miami, Florida.
Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for Vox Media)
When she was 20 years old, Nuzzi interned for former New York Rep. Anthony Weiner’s N.Y.C. mayoral campaign. While she was there, she was hired as a staff writer for NSFWcorp where she wrote about her experiences working with Weiner in a July 2013 blog post.
In the post, she wrote that he called her “Monica” and alleged that his campaign manager had quit after he lied to her, just one in a “series of staffers who have fled the campaign.”
Nuzzi has been a Washington, D.C. correspondent for New Yorkmagazine
Olivia Nuzzi in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur in July 2021.
Olivia Nuzzi/Instagram
The journalist grew her career after she was hired by The Daily Beast in 2014 where she covered the presidential campaigns of Rand Paul and Chris Christie, as well as Trump’s ascent into politics. In 2016, Politico named her one of the “16 Breakout Media Stars” and in 2018, Forbes included her on their “30 Under 30” list.
In February 2017, she was hired as a Washington correspondent for New Yorkmagazine, where she worked leading up to her being placed “on leave” in September 2024. She’s also written for outlets like GQ, Esquire and The Washington Post.
At New York, Nuzzi covered politics, writing about the candidates in the 2024 presidential election. In addition to her November 2023 profile of Kennedy, Nuzzi also wrote other features, including a look into Trump’s personal life.
She is the host of the Bloomberg original series Working Capital with Olivia Nuzzi
Olivia Nuzzi reports on Joe Biden’s inauguration as the 46th president of the United States in January 2021.
Olivia Nuzzi/Instagram
In July 2024, Nuzzi launched a new series in collaboration with Bloomberg called Working Capital with Olivia Nuzzi. Airing on Bloomberg Television and on Bloomberg Originals platforms, the series followed Nuzzi as she interviewed politicians and business leaders to see their humanity.
Nuzzi spoke with New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, Rep. Ilhan Omar, New York Mayor Eric Adams and billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, among others.
She was engaged to another Washington correspondent
Olivia Nuzzi and Ryan Lizza attend the CBS News White House Correspondents’ Dinner After Party on April 29, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for CBS News
In 2022, Nuzzi became engaged to Politico‘s chief Washington correspondent Ryan Lizza. Lizza, 50, first gained fame as a journalist for The New Yorker, whose interview with then-White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci allegedly led to his removal in 2017.
However, later that year, Lizza was accused of sexual misconduct in the wake of the Me Too movement. He was fired from The New Yorker after an internal review, per The New York Times, though other media organizations declined to terminate or bar him from employment after their own investigations.
He was previously married for over 10 years before divorcing in 2015 and shares two children with his ex-wife.
Following Nuzzi’s alleged relationship with Kennedy, Lizza wrote in his Politico newsletter that he would no longer be covering anything related to Kennedy, calling Nuzzi his “ex-fiancée.”
“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,” he wrote at the end of his newsletter.
Nuzzi was put on leave from her job for an alleged relationship with Kennedy
Olivia Nuzzi attends Vox Media’s 2022 Code Conference – Day 2 on September 07, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California ; Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the World Values Network’s Presidential candidate series at the Glasshouse on July 25, 2023.
Randy Shropshire/Getty; Michael M. Santiago/Getty
In September 2024, New York magazine announced it was putting Nuzzi on leave after discovering she had an alleged relationship with ”a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign while she was reporting on the campaign.”
“Had the magazine been aware of this relationship, she would not have continued to cover the presidential campaign,” the magazine’s statement read. They added that an internal review “found no inaccuracies nor evidence of bias” in her published work.
A source told CNN that the alleged relationship was “digital” in nature rather than physical. In her own statement, Nuzzi further elaborated on the details without naming Kennedy.
“The relationship was never physical but should have been disclosed to prevent the appearance of a conflict,” she said. “I deeply regret not doing so immediately and apologize to those I’ve disappointed, especially my colleagues at New York.”
