About

Olivia Nuzzi is an American writer and journalist who went viral in 2024 for allegedly having a controversial affair with former independent presidential candidate of the 2024 U.S. election, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., during her time reporting on him as a correspondent for the New Yorker, an entanglement believed to be the reason for her being fired from the magazine. Nuzzi began her career in journalism in 2013 after landing a front-page story in the New York Daily News chronicling her time interning with disgraced New York politician Anthony Weiner as a junior at Fordham University.

Nuzzi then became a White House correspondent for the New Yorker in 2017 and began dating Ryan Lizza, who was also a Washington correspondent for the New Yorker before being fired for sexual misconduct. In September 2024, the New Yorker responded to inquiries from Status News about the relationship between the journalist and RFK Jr., issuing a statement confirming that the reporter had been placed on temporary leave after it learned about "a personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign." Nuzzi insisted that the affair was entirely emotional and took place over the phone, while RFK Jr. denied pursuing her entirely.

In 2025, Nuzzi began a position as a West Coast editor for Vanity Fair and is set to release her memoir, American Canto, on December 2nd. The book details her purported relationship with RFK Jr., which took place when she was still dating Ryan Lizza. In November, Ryan Lizza published the first of a series of journal entries titled "How I Found Out," detailing how he discovered Nuzzi cheating on him. The twist at the end of the post revealed that the infidelity Lizza was discussing was not RFK Jr., but former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, known for claiming to be hiking the Appalachian Trail when he was really visiting his mistress in Argentina. The article also detailed Nuzzi's unusual relationships with other notable men in media, including former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann.

History

Early Life

Olivia Nuzzi was born in New York City to John and Kelly Nuzzi in 1993. According to a February 15th, 2010, article on PopJustice,^[10] Olivia Nuzzi attempted a career as a pop star by the name "Livvy" in the year 2010 when she was 16 years old, releasing a song titled "Jailbait" that featured the lyrics, "Deny your attraction but I've got no shame / 16 will get you 20 / Don't even think about it because baby I'm / Not your girlfriend / Not the girl next door / Jailbait I'm jailbait."

Years later, in November 2025, X^[11] user @damintoell posted screenshots from the now-defunct MySpace page dedicated to Nuzzi's stint as the teen singer "Livvy" via an archived version^[12] of the blog (shown below).

The song "Jailbait" can be accessed via a Jumpshare^[13] file shared by X^[14] user @wkbdyb on November 18th, 2025. The song can also be accessed via a reupload to YouTube^[15] by user JAYBO on November 19th.

In the early 2010s, Nuzzi attended Fordham University in New York City, writing for the Daily Beast before landing a front-page story for the New York Daily News chronicling her time interning with disgraced New York politician Anthony Weiner.

According to a 2025 Slate^[16] article, Nuzzi then became a White House correspondent for the New Yorker in 2017 and began dating Ryan Lizza, who was also a Washington correspondent for the New Yorker before being fired for sexual misconduct.^[22]

Olivia Nuzzi RFK Jr. Alleged Cheating Scandal and Controversy

Olivia Nuzzi's profile of RFK Jr. was published in New York Magazine^[23] on November 22nd, 2023. Nuzzi had been a Washington correspondent for the magazine since 2017^[8] and has been covering politics for various publications since 2011, including the Daily Beast.^[5]

On September 19th, 2024, Status News^[1] published an article about Olivia Nuzzi being placed on leave after New York Magazine learned that she allegedly engaged in a romantic relationship with former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The news piece quoted New York Magazine's statement.

In a statement provided by Nuzzi, she claims that the relationship did not begin until after her November 2023 profile on the former candidate was published and that it was "never physical." A spokesperson for RFK Jr. issued a statement from his end, writing, "Mr. Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece."

CNN media analyst @brianstelter reposted the story to his X^[2] / Twitter account on September 19th, 2024, gathering over 9,000 likes in a day.

In November 2025, Olivia Nuzzi announced her memoir American Canto, described as "a mesmerizing firsthand account of the warping of American reality over the past decade as Donald Trump has risen to dominance—from a participatory witness who got so far inside the distortion field that it swallowed her whole."^[9] RFK Jr. is expected to be the subject of the memoir.

Ryan Lizza's 'How I Found Out' Post / Olivia Nuzzi Mark Sanford Controversy

On November 17th, 2025, Ryan Lizza, Olivia Nuzzi's ex-fiance, published the first in a series of journal entries to Telos News,^[17] talking about how he discovered her infidelity, not with RFK Jr., but with former South Caroline Governor and Republican politician Mark Sanford, known for claiming to be hiking the Appalachian Trail when he was really paying a visit to his Argentinian mistress.^[18] The article was titled, "Part 1 – How I Found Out."

The article also detailed Nuzzi's relationship with former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann, with Lizza describing how the media personality, 34 years Nuzzi's senior, had "paid for her to attend college, outfitted her in […] some $15,000 worth of Cartier jewelry [and] covered her rent and furnished her apartment in a doorman building in the West Village."

Keith Olbermann responded to being mentioned in Lizza's article on November 18th, writing on Bluesky,^[19] "Btw about this from Lizza's reply: Olivia and I lived together for 4+ years (4 b'days, 4 Xmases, 4 anniversaries). That's like $1250 of jewelry per celebration. And her apartment was a writing studio. And I made an f-ton then. What was I supposed to do? Get her a lot of Gift Certificates from Kmart?"

Online Presence

Olivia Nuzzi's online presence primarily spread in late 2024, surrounding the alleged cheating scandal with RFK Jr., which garnered considerable media coverage, online discourse, memes and other reactions.

For instance, the news about Olivia Nuzzi and RFK Jr.'s rumored affair was reposted to the subreddit /r/Fauxmoi^[6] by Redditor champdo on September 19th, 2024, where it gathered over 5,000 upvotes in a day.

Also on September 19th, Redditor Attorney_For_Me posted a Distracted Boyfriend meme to the subreddit /r/AdviceAnimals^[7] that gathered over 200 upvotes in a day.

Various internet users continued reacting to the news about Olivia Nuzzi claiming to have had a "digital" affair with RFK Jr. as the story went viral, with X^[3] user @JohnDiLillo posting an extract for Nuzzi's profile of RFK Jr. on September 19th in which she writes about how his dogs have chewed up the insides of his car, how the "death machine smells so bad" she thought she would pass out, and that RFK Jr. barked "shut up you idiots!" at his dogs while driving rashly.

Also on September 19th, 2024, X^[4] user @OliviaLittle posted a She Was His Queen meme using images of Nuzzi and RFK Jr., gathering over 5,000 likes in a day.

Memes and discussions about Olivia Nuzzi saw a resurgence in November 2025 following the release of Ryan Lizza's "How I Found Out" article.

On November 17th, 2025, X^[20] user @exjon tweeted, "Just saw a photo of that Nuzzi lady who’s apparently seduced half of Washington," alongside an Arrested Development GIF that showed the character Michael asking, "Her?" The post gathered over 4,000 likes in three days.

Also on November 17th, X^[21] user @magills_ posted a Kermit puppet showing holding his bottom open, gathering over 5,000 likes on a post captioned, "Olivia Nuzzi writing a profile piece."

Search Interest

External References