Olivia Nuzzi’s ex-fiance confirms broken engagement after RFK Jr sexting scandal

The partner of a young political journalist has revealed their engagement is off amid her alleged sexting scandal with Robert F Kennedy Jr.

New York magazine politics reporter Olivia Nuzzi’s partner has confirmed the pair has called off their engagement amid ongoing scandal about her alleged relationship with Robert F Kennedy Jr.

Politico’s Ryan Lizza, 50, who was engaged to Nuzzi, addressed the rumours about his ex-fiancee’s supposed tryst with the former presidential candidate in a statement published in Politico PM on Friday afternoon.

Olivia Nuzzi and her former fiance Ryan Lizza. Picture: @olivianuzzix

Lizza confirmed that he and Nuzzi called off their engagement. Picture: @olivianuzzix

“Because of my connection to this story through my ex-fiancee, my editors and I have agreed that I won’t be involved in any coverage of Kennedy in Playbook or elsewhere at POLITICO,” the comment read.

Lizza and Nuzzi became engaged in Italy in September 2022, according to their social media.

It was not clear how long the couple dated, but they were pictured together on Nuzzi’s Instagram as early as January 2018 — just one month after Lizza was ousted from the New Yorker over allegations of sexual misconduct.

Former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr is believed to be the subject Nuzzi developed a ‘personal relationship’ with. Picture: Mario Tama / Getty Images via AFP

Lizza and Nuzzi became engaged in Italy in September 2022. Picture: @olivianuzzix

Nuzzi, 31, was placed on leave after she confessed “she had engaged in a personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign while she was reporting on the campaign, a violation of the magazine’s standards around conflicts of interest and disclosures,” New York magazine announced yesterday.

The subject in question was subsequently named as RFK Jr., with sources telling The New York Post that the pair was sexting around the new year.

Nuzzi at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in 2023. Picture: Stefani Reynolds / AFP

Kennedy and his wife, actor Cheryl Hines, as he announced his now-abandoned candidacy for president in 2023. Picture: Scott Eisen /Getty Images via AFP

Nuzzi did not name the Kennedy scion in her own statement, in which she admitted that “the nature of some communications between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal” earlier this year.

The relationship was never physical, she maintained.

A spokesperson for Kennedy denied the rumours, saying the father-of-six, who is married to Curb Your Enthusiasm actor Cheryl Hines, only met Nuzzi “once in his life,” when she profiled him for New York magazine last year.

“Mr Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece,” the spokesperson said.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Olivia Nuzzi’s ex-fiance confirms broken engagement after RFK Jr sexting scandal