New York Magazine staffer Olivia Nuzzi’s ex-fiancé apparently did not take her “digital relationship” with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lightly.
Journalist Ryan Lizza, who popped the question to Nuzzi in 2022, had a “heated” call with the failed presidential candidate after uncovering the affair, according to Vanity Fair.
Lizza, 50, and Nuzzi, 31, had been dating since sometime around 2018, however Nuzzi’s sexting with Kennedy, 70, reportedly quickly blew their relationship apart.
Lizza, the co-author of Politico Playbook, is believed to have broken things off with Nuzzi before the Democratic National Convention. And after he found out about Kennedy, he had a phone call that was described as “at times heated,” reported Vanity Fair.
Although camps for Nuzzi and Kennedy have both insisted that their relationship was always flirty and never “physical,” Nuzzi has borne the brunt of public scrutiny for jeopardizing her relationship and career.
The Kennedy scion’s friends have alleged that Nuzzi was the one who pursued the relationship and “set him up” by sending him nude photos, according to the New York Post.
However, other reports paint a different story, claiming that Kennedy bragged about receiving nude photos of Nuzzi, which led to her being disciplined by New York magazine.
Vanity Fair also reported the aging politico made the first move when he tried to grab her hand on a hike chronicled in her profile of him for a November 2023 issue of New York magazine. His romantic advance was not mentioned in the piece, though she reportedly later recounted that his behavior was “creepy.”
“She was not stalking him. She did not bombard him with images,” a friend of Nuzzi’s told Vanity Fair.
RFK Jr. has been accused of sexual assault and having numerous affairs throughout his marriages. He married Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines in 2014.