New York magazine has muzzled its usually chatty journalists over the “sexting” scandal involving star reporter Olivia Nuzzi and former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., according to a report.
Vox Media, which bought the magazine in 2019, warned workers not to send any correspondence concerning the bizarre incident — or to reach out to Nuzzi, Business Insider reported, citing a letter sent to employees Tuesday by general counsel Brian Leung.
David Haskell – who took the helm as the magazine’s editor-in-chief in 2019 – also doesn’t want anyone bad-mouthing Nuzzi in public, according to BI.
“You have to wonder if more is coming out,” a source in the newsroom told Business Insider.
Vox declined to comment.
Nuzzi and Kennedy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Nuzzi was put on leave last week after she admitted to engaging in a “personal relationship” with “a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign while she was reporting on the campaign” as the magazine’s Washington correspondent.
Former CNN reporter Oliver Darcy’s Status newsletter reported the subject was Kennedy.
Employees will have to wait to question Haskell about his decision because his monthly staff meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, was called off due to a conflict. The postponement is not out of the ordinary, sources told Business Insider.
The magazine’s newsroom has been rocked by the scandal, three New York employees told Business Insider.
Some employees are up in arms that Nuzzi was not immediately fired – since she violated the magazine’s ethics standards – while others have expressed sympathy for her situation, the sources said.
The magazine said it is conducting a “more thorough third-party review” of Nuzzi’s published work after an internal investigation found no evidence of bias.
“We regret this violation of our readers’ trust,” New York said in a statement last week.
The 31-year-old reporter profiled Kennedy in November 2023 and continued to report on the election despite their relationship – which Nuzzi said was not physical in a statement to The New York Times.
Most recently, she reported on former president Donald Trump in an article published Sept. 9.
Nuzzi drew scorn even before being sidelined for penning a controversial expose titled “The Conspiracy of Silence to Protect Joe Biden,” which was published a week after the president’s disastrous debate performance against Trump.
Liberals took to X to bash the reporter and complained about the cover art paired with the story, which showed a cartoon Biden wearing his signature shades with his mouth hanging open.