Who Is Olivia Nuzzi & What Happened with RFK Jr., Explained

Exactly who is Olivia Nuzzi and why is everyone talking about her right now?

Thursday, September 19, was a weird day in American politics. The most cartoonishly radical gubernatorial candidate in the nation refused to drop out of the race after his own party leaked his humiliating sex scandal.

That was not all. The notorious Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been a bizarre C-story throughout the 2024 election cycle, also came up. This time, it didn’t involve eating roadkill or his brainworm.

This time, it involved a well-known journalist who is now on leave from New York Magazine after her “personal” relationship.

Who is Olivia Nuzzi?

Olivia Nuzzi has been New York Magazine‘s premiere Washington correspondent for years.

Her career in journalism began back in 2011 (the year that she turned 20). Most of her career, with the exception of time writing for More Monmouth Musings, has been free of red flags. She’s written for The Daily Beast, Politico, GQ, Esquire, and more.

Much more recently, some of her posts have seemed downright weird. With new context, her bizarre defense of raw milk and other baffling takes start to almost make sense. Almost.

On Thursday, September 19, New York Magazine announced that Olivia Nuzzi was on leave.

“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,” New York Magazine shared.

The update detailed that she did so “while she was reporting on the campaign.” The announcement explained that she is on leave, and that the magazine was conducting a third-party review.

Olivia Nuzzi denies that anything was ‘physical’ with RFK Jr.

Though she admitted that the relationship “turned personal,” Olivia Nuzzi emphasized that things did not get “physical” with RFK Jr.

“Earlier this year, the nature of some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal,” she said in a statement on Thursday night. “During that time, I did not directly report on the subject nor use them as a source.”

Nuzzi insisted: “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 Mag.”

As for the timeline, Olivia Nuzzi published a profile on RFK Jr. in November of 2023. Allegedly, this non-physical entanglement did not begin until after the article’s publication. So, you know, at least there’s that.

Reportedly, RFK Jr. has “boasted” about their relationship in private. This is a man who blurts out horrifying stories about a baby bear carcass. His inability to not self-destruct has become a major point of parody.

In case you were wondering, Olivia Nuzzi has been engaged to fellow journalist Ryan Lizza since September of 2023. Meanwhile, RFK Jr. has been married to actress Cheryl Hines since 2014. (No, we have no idea why she’s with him or why she hasn’t left him. Not over this, just … in general)

Is 2024 even real?

Obviously, the responses to this have not been kind. People have pointed out how Olivia Nuzzi’s longtime fans have worried about or even unfollowed her over some of her recent stances. Someone suddenly having bad takes out of nowhere can sometimes happen when they’re having “communication” with someone who just spews brainrotten nonsense constantly.

In addition to Challengers jokes like this tweet, people have done some digging. In a 2015 tweet, Nuzzi asked: “Why does Hollywood think female reporters sleep with their sources?”

Oddly enough, that’s a fair critique of overused tropes in fiction! Unfortunately, Nuzzi is, in hindsight, perhaps not the best person to ask the question.