The RFK JR. Affair Explained

The sex scandal we didn't ask for - it just gets weirder…..

New York Mag

The juiciest story this weekend was about the alleged affair that RFK Jr. may have been having with NY Magazine star political reporter Olivia Nuzzi. RFK Jr. conducted this e-affair whilst he claimed to be a legitimate candidate for president - not someone who's in it merely for fame/attention/to spoil for Trump.

Here’s the TLDR, the connection to House in Habit, and what else RFK Jr. has been up to this week. 

So, late Thursday night, it dropped that New York magazine put Washington correspondent Olivia Nuzzi on leave after finding out she allegedly had a thing with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The magazine said if they’d known about this relationship, she wouldn’t have been able to cover the campaign. They only referred to him as “a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign.” Intrigue abounded, Oliver Darcy broke the story in his newsletter, Status, reporting that it was RFK Jr., and other outlets backed it up.

The whole thing has been a strange affair. First of all Olivia is 31. Robert, the very married Robert (to Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Cheryl Hines) is 70. 

Olivia has made a statement about the relationship, which she doesn’t deny and claims that it wasn’t physical. Is this better or worse? She said:

“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. 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.”

According to CNN the relationship was “digital” in nature.  According to New York Magazine's editor-in-chief David Haskell, the relationship between Nuzzi and RFK Jr. lasted nearly 9 months, from December 2023 to late August 2024.

They also only met ONE time. Nuzzi wrote a profile of Kennedy last November where she went hiking with him. It must have been quite a hike. Endorphins do strange things to people.

The RFK campaign has been trying to do damage control, first they said:  “Mr. Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece.” Now the NY Post is reporting news from RJK Jr.’s former social media director (and former Olivia Nuzzi friend/fawning biographer and current Trump propagandress) House in Habit: 

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is investigating a possible lawsuit against sexting New York magazine writer Olivia Nuzzi — who allegedly “bombarded him with increasingly pornographic photos and videos” while tricking him into unblocking her numbers”

And for the actual question…why does anyone care?

First off we are human beings and we love gossip and scandal. It’s probably somewhere in our DNA. But this is also an incredibly unethical situation for a journalist to put themself in. RFK Jr. was a major spoiler on the campaign trail until very recently and his endorsement of Donald Trump could sway undecided voters in Trump’s direction. Any journalist covering politics at all right now should not be carrying on any kind of personal relationship with a potential source during these campaigns. This matters. We live in a time when facts are so lightly tethered to online news. When personal opinions and entanglements (real and imagined!) create false narratives and bias.  At a time when fact-based news is evermore necessary, this undermines people’s belief in a fair political media. The public actually does deserve to know if Olivia Nuzzi had a personal connection to someone with power in this highly contentious race. So while we can write it off as gossip, it is also news. 

Second, the news was broken by a newsletter run by media reporter, Oliver Darcy. He’s a well known and respected figure in the biz. Now the Post is citing House in Habit, a well known, exceptionally biased and not respected figure in the biz. As the mainstream media’s economic foundation is crumbling, newsletters are going to begin to fill an interesting void.  This dramedy has featured the two main pathways for these - shoe leather reporters who are not getting their financial due writing for the man, and a propaganda outlet masquerading as journalism. 

Lastly, RFK Jr. held himself out as a serious candidate. Despite the math not mathing, every four years third party grifters pop into our national consciousness to derail the path of democracy. This year it was RFK. But as the affair shows, he was never really serious about actually running. If he was he wouldn’t have carried on an affair (no matter how digital) with a reporter. 

The emperor has no clothes, indeed.

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