The reported “relationship” between RFK Jr. and Olivia Nuzzi raises new scrutiny for all journalists

Although he has dropped out of the race for the White House in 2024, the headlines about Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. keep coming. The latest scandal involving whale heads, bear dumping and Trump support by RFK Jr. is an alleged inappropriate relationship with new York The magazine's correspondent in Washington, DC Olivia Nuzzi, This kept Kennedy in the news after the alleged sex offender ended his presidential campaign (although he remains on some state ballots, including Wisconsin).

The new reports released Thursday night are just the latest in the shocking headlines surrounding Kennedy, along with his aggressive emu roommate, Kennedy's ongoing attacks on life-saving vaccines and the infamous brain worm. According to Vanity Fair When it was reported that a former babysitter had accused Kennedy of sexually harassing her, Kennedy responded, “I'm not a church boy.”

The reports about Nuzzi – which Kennedy has neither confirmed nor denied – come at a dangerous time for the mainstream media, whose credibility has come under increasing pressure in recent years. It doesn't help that pop culture's portrayal of real journalists suggests that unprofessional relationships are commonplace.

According to status Oliver Darcy, new York The magazine placed 31-year-old political reporter Nuzzi on leave after she “allegedly entered into an inappropriate relationship with a reporter.” Although neither new York nor Nuzzi named this person, unnamed sources told Darcy – which the New York Times confirmed – that it was Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., whom Nuzzi portrayed last November (before the reported start of the relationship). Nuzzi, who did not respond Vanity FairWhen asked for comment, Darcy said in a statement that “earlier this year, the nature of some communications” she had with “a former reporting subject” had taken on a personal character.

Puck News reports that Nuzzi sent nude photos of herself to Kennedy, who has been married since 2014 to Curb your enthusiasm Actor Cheryl HinesUntil recently, Nuzzi was married to the journalist Ryan Lizza, now at Politico, the The New Yorker 2017 for alleged sexual misconduct. (Lizza contradicted the publication’s perception of the situation and said The New York Times in an email: “I am dismayed that The New Yorker decided to label a respectful relationship with a woman I dated as somehow inappropriate. The New Yorker could not identify any company policy that was violated.”)

As for Nuzzi, Kennedy “bragged” about the pictures to friends, the Daily Beast reports. The boast allegedly reached David Haskell, new YorkEditor in Chief. In a meeting on September 13, Haskell confronted Nuzzi, who eventually fessed up, a source told the Daily Beast. According to Nuzzi, “the relationship was never physical, but should have been disclosed to avoid the appearance of a conflict.” She neither reported on the issue nor used it as a source, she says, but she nevertheless apologized “to those I have disappointed, especially my colleagues at new York.”

In a statement, a spokesman for Kennedy said: “Mr. Kennedy met Olivia Nuzzi only once in his life for an interview she requested, which resulted in a defamatory article.” According to a spokesman for new York“The magazine is currently conducting a more thorough third-party review of Nuzzi's reporting,” although an initial “internal review of her published work has found no inaccuracies or evidence of bias.”

“We regret this breach of trust by our readers,” new York Explanation ends.

Nuzzi, a widely respected reporter who has always been a magnet for attacks on social media, is facing a reputation crisis. Journalists are usually very scrupulous when there is even the appearance of a conflict of interest. It's a truth often ignored in Hollywood, where romantic comedies like The bride who doesn't dare And 27 dresses suggest that reporter/subject relationships are the rule rather than the exception.

But the outcry over the 2019 Clint Eastwood film Richard Jewell illustrates how problematic this cliché is when it is transferred from fiction to reality. In the film, which is based on the bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Reporter Kathy Scruggs – played in the film by Olivia Wilde– has a sexual relationship with the lead agent of the investigation. In the film, this is presented as a natural part of the business, but the reaction of the journalistic community was not long in coming.

Scruggs, who died in 2001, was “degraded to a sex trafficking object” in the film, AJC he said at the time of the film's release. “Such a portrayal creates the impression that the AJC sexually exploited its staff and/or that it facilitated or condoned the sexual gratification of sources in exchange for stories. This is completely false and malicious, and it is extremely defamatory and damaging.”

Although Warner Brothers, the studio behind Richard Jewell, were behind the film, news agencies, including the Washington Postaccused the film of having invented the relationship. Scruggs would never even consider such a break, which AJC wrote at the time that she was too proud of her reputation and ethics to commit such a misstep.

As the American media faces a whole new level of distrust and attack, it is of utmost importance to clearly draw the ethical line between journalist and subject.