New York
CNN
—

One of America’s most acclaimed magazine writers, New York Magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi, has been suspended while a “third-party review” is conducted after Nuzzi revealed she had “a personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign while covering 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 spokesman for Kennedy told CNN: “Mr. Kennedy met Olivia Nuzzi only once in his life for an interview she requested, which resulted in a damning article.”

The alleged relationship was first reported by Oliver Darcy on Status on Thursday night.

In a statement to CNN, Nuzzi said her relationship with a journalist had become “personal” and she regretted not reporting it to the publication.

“Earlier this year, the nature of communications between me and a former reporter became personal. At the time, I did not report on the topic directly or use them as a source,” she said. “The relationship was never physical, but should have been made public to avoid the appearance of a conflict. I deeply regret not doing so immediately and apologize to those I let down, especially my colleagues in New York.”

In a note to readers, New York magazine said Nuzzi “is currently on leave” and that the publication is “conducting a more thorough third-party investigation.”

Nuzzi wrote a profile of Kennedy last November and has since written numerous other articles about Trump and the 2024 campaign.

According to the magazine, Nuzzi “recently” acknowledged that he had a relationship with a journalist, which was a “violation of the magazine’s standards around conflicts of interest and disclosure.”

“If the magazine had known about this relationship, she would not have covered the presidential campaign,” New York magazine said in a statement.

The magazine also said that “an internal review of her published work found no inaccuracies or evidence of bias.” Still, the magazine said, “we regret this violation of our readers’ trust.”