Catching up on this since my last newsletter. New York magazine announced high-profile Washington reporter Olivia Nuzzi is on leave after she disclosed having a personal — although apparently not physical — relationship with one of the people she has covered. That person? Former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The story was broken by former CNN reporter Oliver Darcy in his Status media newsletter.
New York magazine issued a statement saying, “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 wrote a major piece about Kennedy last November. Kennedy has since dropped out of the race and endorsed Donald Trump. Nuzzi recently wrote about Trump, as well.
Nuzzi told The New York Times’ Katie Robertson in a statement that “some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal.” Nuzzi added, “During that time, I did not directly report on the subject nor use them as a source.”
Nuzzi also told Robertson, “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.”
The Kennedy camp said in a statement, “Mr. Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece.”
New York magazine editor David Haskell told his staff in a note late last week that he learned about the personal relationship between Nuzzi and Kennedy only days earlier. He said editors had not found any bias in the article she wrote about Kennedy at the time, but added, “I made clear to Olivia, she had created at the very least the appearance of a conflict, and, by choosing not to disclose this to her editors, had violated our policies and potentially damaged our readers’ trust.”
Puck’s Dylan Byers wrote that it was a “digital affair,” which included texting and photos.
Kennedy, 70, is married to actress Cheryl Hines. Nuzzi, 31, is the ex-fiancee of Politico reporter Ryan Lizza, who helps write the Politico Playbook newsletter. In last Friday’s Playbook, Lizza wrote, “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.”
So, you might ask: What’s the big deal? A reporter wrote about someone and then, if you believe everyone involved, there was nothing personal going on until after the story was published. Why, then, is that a problem?
First, as Haskell wrote in his note, even the appearance of a conflict raises questions. Knowing what we know now, one can’t help but wonder if Nuzzi’s reporting and story — not just on Kennedy, but all political stories — were impacted by her feelings or relationship with Kennedy, regardless of when those feelings became public.
Aside from her profile of Kennedy, Nuzzi has written about Kennedy’s political rivals and colleagues. As The Washington Post’s Will Sommer notes, “Nuzzi has also written critically and robustly about Kennedy’s former presidential rivals. In July, she skewered Biden’s mental state in a lengthy profile, arguing that the state of the president’s health had been covered up in a ‘conspiracy of silence.’ For years Nuzzi has had access to Trump, with the former president inviting her to inspect the wound on his ear from his assassination attempt for a piece reported at Mar-a-Lago that ran earlier this month in New York magazine.”
Nuzzi is highly regarded in Washington political/journalism circles, but this scandal might be a little hard to shake off.
Yay or nay on another debate?
Vice President Kamala Harris says she’s up for another debate against Donald Trump. In fact, Harris said over the weekend that she accepted CNN’s invitation for another debate next month.
But Trump says it’s “too late” for another debate because early voting has already begun in some states.
Harris dominated the first debate against Trump earlier this month, but it still isn’t clear if she got much of a bump in polling because of it. For that reason, one could see why Trump wouldn’t want to tangle with her again.
Meanwhile, seeing as how well the first debate went for her, Harris would welcome another chance to show the contrast between her and Trump, who was easily unraveled and baited into losing his cool by Harris’ jabs.
Don’t be surprised if Harris continues to pressure Trump into another debate, hoping that his ego won’t allow him to turn down her repeated dares.
Speaking of Trump …
