New York magazine Political correspondent Olivia Nuzzi is on leave after revealing a relationship with a former journalist, reportedly with then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images/Stefan Jeremiah/AP

A star New York magazine political reporter has been suspended after admitting a personal relationship with a person reportedly identified as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The magazine said in a statement on Thursday that Washington correspondent Olivia Nuzzi violated conflict of interest and disclosure standards by engaging with a “former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign” during her election reporting.

“If the magazine had known about this relationship, she would not have covered the presidential campaign,” it said.

New York magazine Editor-in-chief David Haskell said in a letter to staff Friday morning that editors learned of the relationship “a few days ago” and immediately “pulled her off the 2024 campaign.”

He said an internal review of Nuzzi’s published work since December found “no inaccuracies or evidence of bias” that would require corrections. The magazine is hiring an unnamed independent third party to more thoroughly review its 2024 stories, which Haskell said “will influence our final disciplinary decision.”

“As I made clear to Olivia, she created at least the appearance of a conflict of interest, and by choosing not to disclose this to her editors, she violated our policies and potentially damaged the trust of our readers,” Haskell wrote.

Nuzzi, 31, has been writing about political figures and presidential campaigns since 2017.

She is known for her in-depth reporting, sometimes making herself part of the story – such as a 2019 story about texting with Rudy Giuliani and a Incident from 2018 where she entered the office of former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski without permission.

Her recent stories include a July piece about a Democratic “conspiracy of silence to protect” then-presidential candidate Biden and a conversation with former president donald trump that was one of the magazines cover stories last week. These have now been updated with a link to the magazine’s Thursday Note at the top of the page.

Nuzzi also wrote an extensive profile of Kennedy in November 2023 — when he was running for president as an independent — in which she recounts accompanying him on a walk with his dogs, riding with his dogs in a beat-up minivan (“the machine of death stinks so bad I thought I was going to pass out after about 15 seconds of being a passenger”).

Oliver Darcy’s Media Newsletter Standswhich first reported Thursday’s Nuzzi News, citing an anonymous source, said the alleged relationship didn’t begin until after that profile was published. Nuzzi told the magazine that the relationship began in December 2023 — “after we published her November profile” — and ended toward the end of August, Haskell wrote in his internal email.

Nuzzi said in a statement shared with several media outlets, including CNN and the New York Timesthat “earlier this year the nature of communications between me and a former reporter became personal.”

She said she did not report directly on the topic or use its sources at the time.

“The relationship was never physical, but should have been made public to avoid the appearance of a conflict,” Nuzzi added. “I deeply regret not doing so immediately and apologize to those I have disappointed, especially my colleagues at New York.”

She didn’t name the source, but there are several sources, including Stands, named Kennedy.

Kennedy, 70, did not immediately respond to the reports. But a spokesman for the politician, who is married to actor Cheryl Hines, told CNN and NBC News that he “met Olivia Nuzzi only once in his life for an interview that she requested, which resulted in a hit story.”

Kennedy dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Trump in August. Shortly thereafter, Trump appointed Kennedy as his presidential transition team.

Kennedy, who rose to prominence as an environmental advocate and anti-vaccine activist, ran a third-party campaign dominated by a series of stunning personal revelations: a worm has eaten part of his brain; he was the person who a dead bear dumped in Central Park 10 years ago; he didn’t eat dog as the reports suggested, but rather a goat.

Recently, Kennedy said onstage during his Trump campaign in Arizona last week that a federal law enforcement agency is investigating him for reportedly taking home the head of a dead whale twenty years ago. Kennedy’s daughter Kick recounted the incident in a 2012 book City & Country interview that have resurfaced in recent weeks.

According to AP, Kennedy declined to provide details when reporters at the event asked about the investigation, saying the mainstream media only wants to talk to him about “gossipy nonsense.”