A New York magazine reporter has been placed on leave for allegedly engaging in a “personal” relationship with Robert F. Kennedy. 

Star political journalist Olivia Nuzzi, who has been the Washington correspondent for the publication since 2017, was recently placed on leave for disclosing an alleged relationship with a former independent 2024 presidential candidate. Though Olivia didn’t name the politician by name, NBC News, citing the New York Times and CNN, report it to be RFK, who is married to Cheryl Hines. 

“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 Sept. 19 statement by New York magazine detailed. “A violation of the magazine’s standards around conflicts of interest and disclosures.”

The magazine noted that an internal review of the work produced by the 31-year-old—who is engaged to Politico’s Chief Washington Correspondent Ryan Lizza—throughout the 2024 presidential campaign thus far had 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,” the statement concluded. “We regret this violation of our readers’ trust.”

Nuzzi later shared a statement of her own regarding the relationship to several publications, including the New York Times. 

“Some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal,” Nuzzi shared in a statement. “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.”

Nuzzi nor the publication have publicly addressed whether the subject was, indeed, RFK, but sources familiar with the matter confirmed as such to CNN, the New York Times and Status, a political newsletter by Oliver Darcy, who was the first to break the news. 

Regarding the allegations, a rep for the 70-year-old responded with a statement, noting a profile the reporter had produced in November 2023. 

“Mr. Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested,” the statement to the New York Times disclosed. “Which yielded a hit piece.” 

In the aforementioned profile, Nuzzi wrote of going for a hike with RFK in late October of 2023, during which the pair discussed his leaving of the Democratic Party to run for the 2024 presidential campaign independently (RFK dropped out of the race last month).

In the profile, Nuzzi described, “Kennedy’s chill disposition is now the rest of the political world’s simmering panic attack.”

The journalist has continued to report on the 2024 presidential campaign since, but has not covered RFK in as much detail. Her last story published to the magazine was an interview with republican candidate Donald Trump earlier this month at his Mar-A-Lago home. 

E! News has reached out to reps for Nuzzi and RFK as well as New York magazine for comment, but has not yet heard back. 

(E! News and NBC News are both part of NBCUniversal.)

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