Where does the Olivia Nuzzi and RFK Jr. fallout end?

On a Tuesday morning at the end of last October, star new York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi met with then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at his home in Brentwood for a play that would change the course of her life. Like many of the breakout stories that have made Nuzzi a young star of national political reporting, this article was based on access. She was originally scheduled to interview the independent candidate for a question-and-answer session, which could have been conducted over the phone. But sources told me editors at new York wanted it to be a longer feature. Nuzzi drove from San Francisco to Los Angeles to interview Kennedy in person.

“Bobby, as he is known to his friends, came through the French doors dressed for his morning hike in blue jeans, a black hoodie, Keens and an unfriendly expression on his face,” Nuzzi wrote in the story, published Nov. 22. Broadly speaking, it was like this , a sharp but perceptive portrait of the scion of America's most revered political family dynasty, whose campaign, born in the fringes of the anti-vaccination movement, was polling incredibly well at the time.

Naturally, after the magazine hit newsstands, Kennedy called it a “hit piece,” expressing another core theme of his campaign: a deep distrust of the media. The reporter and her subject argued about the story. He didn't like the accompanying art, which showed a teary-eyed Kennedy speeding along in his “dog car.” An update was added after publication that included Kennedy's response to how he was involved in vaccine safety on behalf of the Trump administration.

For all intents and purposes, the couple's communication would then potentially be over. Nuzzi moved on to other stories. RFK Jr. was busy making false claims during the campaign. Multiple sources described an incident on the hike in which Kennedy grabbed Nuzzi's hand. Nuzzi had a conversation with another reporter who had a similar experience and described what happened as “scary.” (Kennedy, New York, and Nuzzi declined to comment for this story.)

Towards the end of November, the two had reconciled their differences and a “flirting” via text message began, which would only become more intense over time. The so-called “digital relationship” between a married 70-year-old and an engaged 31-year-old lasted several months and lasted until the end of August. Like all relationships – even, or perhaps especially, those conducted over the telephone – it was layered and complicated, sometimes intense, sometimes dormant. Both parties only seem to agree on one point: there were never any physical altercations.

Everyone within the blast radius of a New York media group chat now knows what happened next. Oliver Darcy's “Status” broke the news of the relationship on Thursday night, sending X and DMs into a frenzy. And why not? Something like this – one of them committing one of the cardinal sins of the trade with a Kennedy – has been known to send journalists into a frenzy.

Just a few weeks before a historic election, Nuzzi's job as new YorkThe Washington correspondent is on the phone now. new York The parent company, Vox Media, conducts third-party verification of its work. She is on leave and under a sky-high online heap. Meanwhile, Kennedy's camp has been working to frame the story with Nuzzi as the aggressor: an obsessed woman who stalked him with nude photos, sources said New York Post. This from a man who has been accused of sexual assault and who has a long and well-documented history of allegedly pursuing women during his marriage.

“She didn’t pursue him. She didn’t bombard him with pictures,” a friend of Nuzzi’s told me.

When I reported this week, I spoke with new York Staffers and campaign insiders to get a sense of how the scandal played out behind closed doors — and how everyone involved might move forward from here.

One of the main reasons this story caused such a stir is Nuzzi himself. The 31-year-old has had a meteoric rise. A front page 2013 New York Daily News Story about working as an intern on Anthony WeinerShe became known through her campaign. A year later, she previously covered the presidential campaign and Trump's rise for The Daily Beast new York poached her in 2017. Nuzzi's reporting on the Trump and Biden administrations and campaigns has brought her criticism at times. When new York published an article on July 4th titled “The Conspiracy of Silence to Protect.” Joe Biden“It was condemned by some Democrats. Critics say her recent Trump post after the first attempt on his life “humanized” him. She's signed to major talent agency CAA and has a satirical AMC drama about a young journalist in the works in Washington. This summer she hosted a Bloomberg TV show and interviewed personalities like Mark Cuban, Eric Adams, and Senator Lisa Murkowski.

Nuzzi had also been with him in recent years New Yorker Author and current co-author of the Politico Playbook Ryan Lizza. The two became fixtures in the DC Power set and got engaged two years ago. But sources told me that Lizza broke off his engagement to Nuzzi in mid-August, before the Democratic National Convention, when she found out about her relationship with Kennedy. After he found out, Lizza and Kennedy had what I described as a “sometimes heated” phone conversation. Lizza declined to comment.

When the September 9th issue came out new York Hit newsstands, the cover was split between a Kamala Harris piece by piece Rebecca Traister and a Nuzzi story headlined “Peering Into Donald Trump's ear and soul. The matter seemed to be behind her. But word got around new York editor David Haskell, who called Nuzzi to a meeting at the magazine's downtown offices late on Friday, September 13th. (The Daily Beast would first report this meeting.)

Sources said Haskell confronted Nuzzi and said he had heard about her and RFK Jr. (Haskell later told a colleague that the person who told him was a woman.) Embarrassed by her boss, the reporter repeatedly denied it. Haskell issued an ultimatum. Be calm and there was a way out of the mess. Continued denials could lead to companies becoming involved. Nuzzi confirmed that she did indeed have a relationship with Kennedy, but stated that it was digital communication and never physical. She insisted that this had no impact on her reporting. Haskell arranged for a review of her work to be conducted by an editor at New York. (Haskell declined to comment.)

On Tuesday, September 17, Darcy had contacted Vox and Nuzzi. A representative from Vox and Nuzzi initially did not get involved. Both had apparently hoped that they could starve the story and prevent publication, confident that the review would clear Nuzzi of any bias in her work. (Haskell later told employees that an internal review “did not identify any inaccuracies or evidence of bias.”) On Wednesday, Nuzzi was seen in the new York Meeting of the office with the editor-in-chief Genevieve Smith, Vox President Pam Wasserstein, and head of communications Lauren Starke. Haskell was in Milan for Fashion Week but attended the meeting via Zoom, as did Nuzzi's editor. Jeb Reed, as the group discussed the review, which was nearing completion. Around this time, Semafor received an anonymous email with a “news tip” about Nuzzi and Kennedy, its editor Ben Smith wrote later.

On Thursday, the magazine's planned response changed several times throughout the day. In the first case, Nuzzi was placed on leave, her work was disclosed and the magazine issued a statement. Someone else would have seen her request for “sick leave” and there would have been no explanation or disclosure. Darcy kept calling. He made it abundantly clear that he knew the story and wanted to publish it. Until Thursday evening, new York gave in and issued a statement. Nuzzi was placed on leave. Darcy posted on Thursday evening. “Recently, our Washington correspondent Olivia Nuzzi admitted to the magazine's editors that, during her campaign coverage, she had entered into a personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign, in violation of the magazine's standards regarding on conflicts of interest and disclosure.” ” new YorkRead 's statement.