The scandal surrounding political journalist Olivia Nuzzi widened this week after her ex-boyfriend, former Politico reporter Ryan Lizza, published new allegations claiming she planned to “consummate” an affair with Robert F. Kennedy Jr at a Donald Trump rally.
In a lengthy installment of his personal blog series, Part 4: Means of Control, Lizza described what he said were Nuzzi’s preparations to meet Kennedy Jr, who is 39 years older than her, on August 23, 2024—the same night the former independent candidate publicly endorsed Trump. According to Lizza, Nuzzi told him the timing was ideal because Kennedy would no longer be under Secret Service protection after ending his bid for the presidency, and, as he put it, “presumably Cheryl wouldn’t be around.” Kennedy is married to actress Cheryl Hines.
Lizza claimed that Nuzzi had planned to bring Kennedy a 1943 edition of Brenda Starr, Girl Reporter, a vintage comic about a glamorous journalist—a gesture he interpreted as symbolic. He said the rendezvous was ultimately canceled only because he himself was assigned to cover the same Trump rally and discovered signs of her alleged affair days earlier.
According to Lizza, Nuzzi called off the meeting with Kennedy Jr, but the fallout spilled into the next day, when he said he confronted the future Secretary of Health and Human Services. Lizza described Kennedy as “disturbingly unrattled,” claiming that he denied any romantic involvement and ended the call with, “sorry if you’re having a bad time.”
Lizza’s blog goes further, alleging that the months that followed were defined by Kennedy’s “extreme paranoia” and Nuzzi’s “extreme fears about what Bobby might do” if the affair became public. He said he worried about the influence Kennedy Jr allegedly held over her.
To illustrate that control, Lizza claims Kennedy persuaded Nuzzi to delete an audio recording obtained from court artist Isabelle Brourman. According to Lizza, Brourman believed the recording captured a moment in which Trump said something that contradicted the official account of his ear injury during the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt. Lizza wrote that Nuzzi deleted the file after a call from Kennedy, who contacted her while in Baja. Nuzzi later told him she could not confirm Brourman’s claim.
Reports of what sources have called a “digital relationship” between the journalist and Kennedy have circulated for months. A source told The New York Post that Nuzzi was “obsessed,” sending Kennedy increasingly explicit photos and videos. Court documents filed by Nuzzi and obtained by CNN allege that Kennedy told her he wanted to “possess,” “control,” and “impregnate” her.
Nuzzi, however, has denied any physical relationship. A spokesperson for Kennedy—now serving in the Trump administration—told Vanity Fair that he had only met Nuzzi once in his life.
