Olivia Nuzzi, a New York Magazine reporter who covered Robert Kennedy Jr. in his presidential campaign, has been placed on leave after admitting a personal relationship with a former subject.
The magazine’s statement:
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. 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.
- Nuzzi, in a statement to The New York Times on Thursday, said that “some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal” earlier this year.
- “During that time, I did not directly report on the subject nor use them as a source,” she said.
- “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.”
- An undisclosed source to The Times confirmed the subject was Robert Kennedy Jr.
A Kennedy spox, Stefanie Spear, said the candidate barely knew her met the reporter once.
“Mr. Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece.”
