Ruining your career over brain worms guy is certainly ... a choice
September 20, 2024 10:25 AM   Subscribe

New York magazine writer Olivia Nuzzi placed on leave after disclosing RFK relationship Nuzzi disclosed that she “had engaged in a personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign while she was reporting on the campaign.” While the magazine did not identify the subject, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told CNN that the relationship was with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who ran for president as an independent candidate and recently endorsed Donald Trump. The person said the relationship was emotional and digital in nature, not physical. A Kennedy spokesperson told CNN, “Mr. Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece.”

“Earlier this year, the nature of some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal. 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.”

Axios, NYT, WaPo, Celebitchy articles.

From the WaPo article: Her November 2023 cover story painted a vivid portrait of Kennedy as a controversial outsider with the ultimate insider name. Nuzzi went hiking with Kennedy, who ferried her in a decrepit Toyota minivan “dog car” that “smells so bad I thought I might pass out after about 15 seconds riding shotgun."

I'm completely baffled as to how this "turned personal" if they've only met (or "met?") once. They were just... email chatting? What IS this? Also, this is a career-ruiner and she did it over THAT guy?! As Celebitchy put it,"she was pillow-talking with the guy who loves to cut the heads off of dead whales? The guy who left a dead bear cub in Central Park? The guy who is missing part of his brain because of a worm?"
posted by jenfullmoon (86 comments total) 18 users marked this as a favorite
 
Nm
posted by torokunai at 10:29 AM on September 20, 2024


[tries nearly anything to get the sound image of Bobby's O-noises out of his head]

[fails]
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 10:33 AM on September 20, 2024 [1 favorite]




Nuzzi also is (was?) engaged to Ryan Lizza, who himself had been previously fired by the New Yorker in a #MeToo scandal. It's a really impressive amount of (likely) lasting damage to her life and career for... well, for what I hope meant a lot to her. That's not a bit, I really hope she got something out of this because it sure does look like she made a couple of choices that gained her little and cost her an awful lot.
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:36 AM on September 20, 2024 [9 favorites]


the heart wants what the heart wants

maybe she just didn't want to be Mrs Olivia Nuzzi-Lizza
posted by chavenet at 10:45 AM on September 20, 2024 [36 favorites]


Nuzzi has always had a star-fucker vibe, but what a weird star to choose.
posted by ssg at 10:46 AM on September 20, 2024 [17 favorites]


She's young, accomplished, connected, and physically attractive. Way more people know her name today than they did a few days ago. She'll get some kind of talking head TV job, or a podcast on Spotify.
posted by Kibbutz at 10:47 AM on September 20, 2024 [7 favorites]


Already working on the lurid tell-all memoir
posted by potrzebie at 10:50 AM on September 20, 2024 [1 favorite]


He's old, unaccomplished, connected, and I don't know. He'll still get star treatment.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 10:53 AM on September 20, 2024 [4 favorites]


Worms, Roxanne, Worms!
posted by zaixfeep at 10:56 AM on September 20, 2024 [3 favorites]


chavenet's got her number.
posted by Playdoughnails at 10:56 AM on September 20, 2024 [2 favorites]


Guys it was actually Biden and thats why he dropped out.
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 10:58 AM on September 20, 2024 [7 favorites]


Soooo just to recap:
- Nuzzi and RFKJr kept DMing (not great)
- But she didn't use him as a source or publish on him during that time (ok)
- She eventually told her editors (good if late)
- Her editors put her on leave, reviewed her work and found it without bias
- Sent it for outside review (good)
- Internet commentators discussed her attractiveness (bad)
posted by entropone at 10:59 AM on September 20, 2024 [29 favorites]


I think she’s a talented reporter but I couldn’t read anything she wrote without remembering that she’s a huge Ann Coulter fan. That felt like a pretty big window into her character.
posted by orange ball at 11:01 AM on September 20, 2024 [23 favorites]


Given that she didn't report on him during that time, this seems like it shouldn't be a career-ender?
posted by joannemerriam at 11:08 AM on September 20, 2024 [2 favorites]


Not that I get a vote, but I don't think this should (or will) end her career. She's an access journalist.

Also, I'm not sure I'd call RFK Jr. 'relevant' to the campaign. It might be giving him too much credit.
posted by box at 11:14 AM on September 20, 2024


RFK is absolutely 'relevant' to the campaign. He's on the ballot in some states! He gets headlines, he's joined the Trump team!
posted by braksandwich at 11:19 AM on September 20, 2024 [16 favorites]


Can’t decide if this is grosser and more inexplicable than the journalist who threw over her husband and career for Martin Shkreli
posted by Countess Elena at 11:20 AM on September 20, 2024 [21 favorites]


This actually encapsulates 99% of all political reporting by the mainstream media the last decade or so.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:29 AM on September 20, 2024 [7 favorites]


Pajiba thinks it was sexting. Ewwwwwww.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:30 AM on September 20, 2024 [1 favorite]


Not reporting on RFK Jr. does not mean it was ok because she was reporting on everyone else and that could be slanted because of the things RFK told her as well as hurting others indirectly would help RFK Jr. The only ethical option would be not to report on any candidates which she clearly didn't opt for.

If you think her reporting last few months wasn't biased, then I don't know what to tell you.
posted by samastur at 11:34 AM on September 20, 2024 [27 favorites]


I did Nuzzi that coming!
posted by Pitachu at 11:35 AM on September 20, 2024 [20 favorites]


Also, I'm not sure I'd call RFK Jr. 'relevant' to the campaign. It might be giving him too much credit.

His bid is being used, through legal proceedings, to attempt to disenfranchise absentee ballot and early voters in North Carolina. That's relevant.
posted by atbash at 11:38 AM on September 20, 2024 [29 favorites]


RFK Jr. is such an omnidirectional poison.
posted by doctornemo at 11:44 AM on September 20, 2024 [20 favorites]


Jokes aside, "not directly report[ing] on [RFK Jr.]" isn't enough-- it's arguable that her reporting on other candidates can represent a conflict of interest.

Plus, the review of her work was only for NY Mag-- she also wrote for other publications including the NYT as well. I hope they're doing a review as well.
posted by Pitachu at 11:45 AM on September 20, 2024 [21 favorites]


Plus, I find it interesting how RFK,Jr. responded to this, basically throwing her under the bus.

*Mariah Carey "I don't know her* gif.
posted by indianbadger1 at 11:56 AM on September 20, 2024 [6 favorites]


What I find amazing is that this is part and parcel of reality deciding to have Sex Scandals O'Clock, with in addition:

* NC gubinatorial candidate Mark Robinson being outed making comments about being a "black Nazi" on online porn forum Nude Africa, along with creepy stories about his sister and some vile transgender fetishism,

* Adultery online service Ashley Madison had yet another release of account info, in which several conservative figures were caught out, such as the aforementioned Robinson and ratfucker Chris Rufo, who was outed in the dumbest way possible when he responded to an email from a reporter sent to the address in the leak.

* Sworn depositions from the lawsuits over the Matt Gaetz underage sex party accusations are coming out, confirming that yes, the Representative attended drug fueled orgies with minors in attendance.

All of these stories came out in the past few days, because reality hates Ben Collins' liver.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:59 AM on September 20, 2024 [37 favorites]


"not directly report[ing] on [RFK Jr.]" isn't enough-- it's arguable that her reporting on other candidates can represent a conflict of interest.

Nuzzi was among those reporting the "Biden is Old" beat.
posted by Gelatin at 12:02 PM on September 20, 2024 [16 favorites]


I do feel bad for Cheryl Hines. I hope she figures out a way to walk away from this mess.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:57 PM on September 20, 2024 [1 favorite]


OMG do not feel bad for Cheryl Hines, she has enabled and defended this outrageous actual. monster, for decades. Yeah we liked on that show but she's absolutely complicit so if she feels sad about marital betrayal I am fine. I wish her much much worse.
posted by stevil at 1:04 PM on September 20, 2024 [26 favorites]


remembering that she’s a huge Ann Coulter fan

With trolls of today like Elon Musk, Laura Loomer and Chaya Raichik, Coulter almost feels quaintly old-fashioned.
posted by Slothrup at 1:04 PM on September 20, 2024 [4 favorites]


Plus, the review of her work was only for NY Mag-- she also wrote for other publications including the NYT as well. I hope they're doing a review as well.

There's more of that here: I have fallen down the rabbithole of 'her remarks about RFK in the NYT's pundit round tables' and....!!!
posted by peeedro at 1:34 PM on September 20, 2024 [5 favorites]


The person said the relationship was emotional and digital in nature

Ew
👉👌
posted by chococat at 1:41 PM on September 20, 2024 [10 favorites]


Ew
👉👌


Oh, my. That's some double entendre you teased out, there.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 1:59 PM on September 20, 2024 [2 favorites]


I do feel bad for Cheryl Hines.

That was my first reaction too; tell her to DTMF and go back to Larry David! But thanks to the linked articles above I found this, so now I agree more with stevil.
posted by TedW at 2:18 PM on September 20, 2024 [2 favorites]


The person said the relationship was emotional and digital in nature

Yeah, I thought that was a weird word to use. Online, or texting-based? Epistolary even?
posted by smelendez at 2:29 PM on September 20, 2024 [3 favorites]


Coulter almost feels quaintly old-fashioned.

That “almost” is doing a lot of heavy lifting.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:16 PM on September 20, 2024 [9 favorites]


Whale meat again...don't know where, don't know when...
posted by gimonca at 3:20 PM on September 20, 2024 [19 favorites]


Also, I don’t think it excuses him, but RFK Jr. had a nightmarish childhood, with all the assassinations and being a Kennedy and all. It’s kind of amazing that he isn’t even weirder and showing poorer judgement. Not sure what explains Cheryl Hines and Olivia Nuzzi. It takes a very brave or very delusional person not to run from a literal forest of red flags.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:21 PM on September 20, 2024 [4 favorites]


All the Kennedy kids had that childhood. Only one is a monster.
posted by hydropsyche at 3:25 PM on September 20, 2024 [12 favorites]


Notpepsi eww
posted by symbioid at 4:03 PM on September 20, 2024


A few of Nuzzi's comments on RFKJr for the NYT while the affair was ongoing, screenshotted on Bluesky.
posted by Pallas Athena at 4:28 PM on September 20, 2024 [5 favorites]


Only one is a *public* monster. The Kennedys, like the Windsors, are a trauma factory.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:33 PM on September 20, 2024 [11 favorites]


Nuzzi is a fascist, she has been a fascist since GamerGate, and she's by no means a "talented reporter".
posted by adrienneleigh at 4:41 PM on September 20, 2024 [10 favorites]


Nuzzi's comments on RFKJr for the NYT

The fascist-curious who are smart enough to be embarrassed by Trumpism, can instead publicise the vote spoiler candidate and still hope to eat the Eloi while appearing to straddle the fence.
posted by CynicalKnight at 5:13 PM on September 20, 2024 [2 favorites]


LOL, she thought he was a reasonable candidate and it was a three man race.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:19 PM on September 20, 2024 [4 favorites]


"Responding to reports of the Olivia Nuzzi affair being left out of Politico’s Playbook, Ryan Lizza said in a statement to The New York Times on Friday, “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.”
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:23 PM on September 20, 2024


A few of Nuzzi's comments on RFKJr for the NYT while the affair was ongoing, screenshotted on Bluesky.

Does this contradict her or NYM's claims that her reporting was not influenced? Or is this an exception due to being an interview?
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 5:27 PM on September 20, 2024


A ways upthread, I said that RFK Jr.’s campaign isn’t relevant, and some folks, justifiably, pushed back against that. Here’s what I mean.

A relevant third-party candidate might, like Ross Perot, make the ballot in all 50 states—RFK Jr. has 21.

A relevant third-party candidate might win a single electoral vote—looks vanishingly unlikely.

A relevant third-party candidate who endorsed a major-party candidate might produce a notable bump in that candidate’s polling—as yet unseen.

What we have seen is a fringe vanity candidate receive a lot of unearned media based largely on his money and his name and partly on the unusually large number of people who don’t like Trump and didn’t like Biden.

RFK Jr. isn’t Ralph Nader or Ross Perot or John Anderson, his ceiling is a lot lower. He’s more like Vermin Supreme with media training.
posted by box at 5:44 PM on September 20, 2024 [7 favorites]


Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.
posted by Melismata at 6:15 PM on September 20, 2024 [3 favorites]


A few of Nuzzi's comments on RFKJr for the NYT while the affair was ongoing, screenshotted on Bluesky.

Wherein one Bluesky comment read...

This reads like a high school paper (sorry high schools.)
posted by y2karl at 6:41 PM on September 20, 2024 [4 favorites]


a fringe vanity candidate receive a lot of unearned media based largely on his money and his name

To be fair, a guy with brain worms that drives around with a dead bear in the back and a whale's head strapped on top will probably attract a lot of attention, regardless.
posted by SPrintF at 6:47 PM on September 20, 2024 [12 favorites]


Has anyone ever asked RFK Jr if he's lashed a dead body to his car's roof? I'm not saying he's killed anyone, but if he happened across a corpse, it seems like the kind of thing he might do.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 7:45 PM on September 20, 2024 [9 favorites]


For later consumption? Eeeyew!
posted by y2karl at 7:52 PM on September 20, 2024


I expect cannibalism from him at some point.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:50 PM on September 20, 2024 [4 favorites]


Coulter almost feels quaintly old-fashioned.

Like something from way back in, I dunno, 1933.
posted by non canadian guy at 12:15 AM on September 21, 2024 [11 favorites]


Oliver Willis (@owillis1977) on Threads:
I love it when a news event justifies my multi-decade commitment to not being involved with these fucking people, not being their pals, not being in their world. They’re bad people.
posted by non canadian guy at 12:30 AM on September 21, 2024 [10 favorites]


I think it is obviously a dumb thing for Nuzzi to have done, mainly because the woman in a situation like this will always be the focus of derision and scandal. We will scour her tweets and articles and ridicule her hypocrisy and daftitude.

The politician in this and other situations like it, who is many years older and far less physically attractive, usually gets a bump in approval for being unfaithful with a much younger woman.

And like Trump, the older man with a younger, attractive wife being cheated upon is showing voters just how he sees women. Women suffering humiliation in their marriages and careers is catnip for patriarchy. [look at the article Nuzzi wrote about that car ride with RFK - it is riddled with humiliation of her, in one instance she can’t be sure if she or the dogs are being called ‘stupid’] There is right now, some dude saying to another dude at a BBQ ‘ol RFK still got it dawg’ and laughing.

Now if Melania was outed in infidelity or was flying around in a private plane with a neo-nazi that she may or may not be fucking, or if Hines was fucking the pool boy, different story.

I remember in Australia in the lead up to the 2007 federal election, the Labor leader had a story leak about being a happy customer at a stripper party in NY some years before. His coyness and laughter about it all in interviews, and the hyped up ‘scandal’ seemed to me obviously calculated to take the shine off his chief detractor to voters: nerdy wonkness. And yep, his approval went up.
posted by honey-barbara at 2:12 AM on September 21, 2024 [10 favorites]


Rereading down this thread has been a sure fire pick me up. And Pitachu's I did Nuzzi that coming made me actually LOL
posted by y2karl at 3:56 AM on September 21, 2024 [1 favorite]


RFK Jr. isn’t Ralph Nader or Ross Perot or John Anderson

More your Connor Roy.
posted by flabdablet at 5:05 AM on September 21, 2024 [3 favorites]


the Labor leader had a story leak about being a happy customer at a stripper party in NY some years before. His coyness and laughter about it all in interviews, and the hyped up ‘scandal’ seemed to me obviously calculated to take the shine off his chief detractor to voters: nerdy wonkness. And yep, his approval went up.

Worked for Kevin. For Malcolm, not so much.
posted by flabdablet at 5:09 AM on September 21, 2024 [1 favorite]



- Nuzzi and RFKJr kept DMing (not great)
- But she didn't use him as a source or publish on him during that time (ok)
- She eventually told her editors (good if late)
- Her editors put her on leave, reviewed her work and found it without bias
- Sent it for outside review (good)


This was Nuzzi's spin on it, with some ass-covering and minimizing by New York thrown in for their own institutional reasons. A day later it appears:

1. Nuzzi was sexting with RFK.
2. She commented on RFK directly in the NYT. She reported negatively on RFK's opponents.
3. She lied to her editors about it, eventually backtracking and admitting to the existence of the sexts.
4. Given (2) and (3), I'm not sure how they can say the work was "without bias."

I'm curious if the "They only met once" and "It wasn't physical" is true, though curious without being sure sure I really want more details.

But the claim they only met once seems to come from RFK, who was reportedly also bragging he was in an romantic relationship with her. And on Nuzzi's part, the move from denying everything, to denying everything that people can't prove anyway, makes me question the usefulness of her testimony.

Regardless a huge journalistic violation.
posted by mark k at 9:09 AM on September 21, 2024 [15 favorites]


RFK Jr. isn’t Ralph Nader or Ross Perot or John Anderson

Hmm... About that first name after isn't:

Ralph Nader Still Refuses to Admit He Elected Bush
posted by y2karl at 4:20 PM on September 21, 2024 [2 favorites]


Nuzzi was sexting with RFK.

The Daily Beast is reporting that this included her sending him "demure nudes" and that RFK Jr bragged to friends that he had them which is what broke the story.
posted by soundguy99 at 4:58 PM on September 21, 2024 [7 favorites]


How did I slip into the stupidverse?
posted by Reverend John at 5:25 PM on September 21, 2024 [3 favorites]


We've all been wondering that for years.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:21 PM on September 21, 2024 [5 favorites]


I expect cannibalism from him at some point.

The repeated animal abuse gives me creepy vibes, frankly. Something is really off with this particular individual, like flies buzzing on and off of Pence's face during a debate, Stephen King villain vibes. These people are not right in the head.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 7:31 PM on September 21, 2024 [3 favorites]


I expect cannibalism from him at some point. … These people are not right in the head.
posted by They sucked his brains out!


(is there a better example, a purer instance of that hallowed catch-phrase?)
posted by From Bklyn at 2:28 AM on September 22, 2024 [7 favorites]


“Want to see my brainworm young lady…?”
posted by Windopaene at 5:10 PM on September 22, 2024 [3 favorites]


How did I slip into the stupidverse?

To paraphrase Bob Dylan,

He not being born is busy stupid.

posted by y2karl at 7:17 PM on September 22, 2024 [1 favorite]


I think it is obviously a dumb thing for Nuzzi to have done, mainly because the woman in a situation like this will always be the focus of derision and scandal.

"Don't have an inappropriate relationship with your sources" is a gender-neutral standard. Nuzzi being a woman doesn't excuse what she did.
posted by Gelatin at 3:52 AM on September 23, 2024 [3 favorites]


Nuzzi being a woman doesn't excuse what she did.

Doesn't excuse it, at all, but does almost guarantee that she'll catch more... disapproval... than a male reporter would.
posted by From Bklyn at 6:44 AM on September 23, 2024 [1 favorite]


Well, maybe, but the solution is to see that male reporters catch the appropriate amount of disapproval, not that Nizzi gets less.

Bringing up sexism, whether intended or not, can be perceived as an implicit defense of Nuzzi, but what she did was categorically wrong, full stop. She deserves every bit of criticism and to be shunned from the profession no matter what a hypothetical male (who would absolutely deserve the same) might get.

So while we're criticizing unjust power structures -- and we should! -- let's also consider those in the press corps in-group who are defending her despite a clear and unambiguous violation of ethics. (Which, of course, signals that their own ethics are, ah, perhaps more flexible than they should be.)
posted by Gelatin at 7:47 AM on September 23, 2024 [2 favorites]


Celebitchy roundup of news:

"Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s brags to friends that star reporter Olivia Nuzzi had sent him intimate photos was what led the scandal to explode into the open, the Daily Beast can reveal. The 70-year-old scion’s boasts became known to the 31-year-old New York magazine correspondent’s boss—who confronted her over the photos.
Nuzzi repeatedly denied an affair to David Haskell, New York’s editor in chief, but eventually came clean.
A source familiar with the matter said the two had met multiple times, though they cautioned those meetings included public functions and maintained Nuzzi and Kennedy’s relationship was never physical.

New York magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi was “obsessed” with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after interviewing him in California, and pursued him via text to the point where he had to repeatedly block her, a source close to Kennedy’s camp told The Post."

"Friends of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are claiming that star reporter Olivia Nuzzi “set him up” by repeatedly sending him seductive photographs even after her number had been blocked, according to new reports. The New York Magazine writer was “obsessed” with him and Kennedy allegedly intends to file a civil suit against the journalist,"


So, now going for the "crazy lady stalker" defense.

DC Journalists Defending Olivia Nuzzi Draw Ridicule From Peers: It’s ‘Journalism Malpractice Full Stop’
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:52 AM on September 23, 2024 [6 favorites]


If anyone remembers Kennedy's diary from I believe his divorce proceedings, these accusations will seem familiar. He characterizes his affairs with women as the result of aggressive pursuit by them.
posted by Selena777 at 8:24 AM on September 23, 2024 [6 favorites]


Doesn't excuse it, at all, but does almost guarantee that she'll catch more... disapproval... than a male reporter would.

If you'd like to despise a male equally as much as Nuzzi, well here's what her editor said:

Editor of Semafore Ben Smith

His response: it's fine. it's exciting! We sat on it because we like her.

Great group of kids there.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:27 AM on September 23, 2024 [3 favorites]


New York Mag’s employees are ‘confused’ why Olivia Nuzzi hasn’t been fired. They're not allowed to talk about it, either.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:28 AM on September 26, 2024 [6 favorites]


If anyone remembers Kennedy's diary from I believe his divorce proceedings, these accusations will seem familiar. He characterizes his affairs with women as the result of aggressive pursuit by them.

So did JFK.
posted by box at 8:48 AM on September 26, 2024 [1 favorite]




you know, I found 'this' whole thing (being Nuzzi's ...relation/ship/thing... with Kennedy) incomprehensible. Until this moment. Reading about Lizza's alleged behavior - it would not surprise me to find out that Lizza has been behind the whole revealing of it, whatever the reality of the relation/ship/thing was. Pretty fucking reprehensible on Lizza's part, should these allegations prove true. (my money is on yes, they are true.)
posted by From Bklyn at 6:07 AM on October 3, 2024 [1 favorite]


Yeah, sounds likely. Here's today's news: Olivia Nuzzi filed a complaint with the FBI against her ex-fiance Ryan Lizza
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:57 AM on October 3, 2024 [1 favorite]


For those still following, Ryan Lizza's response in a court filing.
posted by mark k at 11:40 PM on October 16, 2024 [1 favorite]


The "ethics in political journalism" side of this was interesting in the beginning, but now it just seems to be two bad people mutually abusing each other in the press. And as always RFK Jr somehow gets off scott-free.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:37 AM on October 17, 2024 [1 favorite]


For of those to whom everything is given, nothing is required.
posted by box at 5:59 AM on October 17, 2024 [1 favorite]


RFK Jr. is a wacky conspiracy theorist, a fringe political extremist, and a serial adulterer. His public image (outside of the his own fellow travelling fringe) is that he is . . . all of those things. Despite his famous name, he was polling at around 5% before he dropped out. I don't get the assertions he's some teflon man.
posted by mark k at 7:35 AM on October 17, 2024 [1 favorite]




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