Vanity Fair and Olivia Nuzzi have mutually agreed to end her contract at the end of the year, following controversy over her relationship with US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and allegations of ethical breaches. Publisher Condé Nast confirmed the decision in a statement on Friday, describing it as being in the best interest of the magazine.
Nuzzi, who had briefly served as Vanity Fair's west coast editor, faced scrutiny after her former fiancé, journalist Ryan Lizza, published a series of personal exposés in November. Lizza claimed Nuzzi's connection to Kennedy's presidential campaign was more extensive than she had admitted, and accused her of another relationship with a person she was covering.
The magazine initially remained silent on Lizza's claims for four days before issuing a brief statement saying it was looking at all the facts. Staff reportedly received little information about the internal review, according to the Guardian.
Nuzzi's memoir, American Canto, was released on Tuesday to largely negative critical response. The book does not name Kennedy but addresses her entanglement with him. In a recent interview, Nuzzi acknowledged her mistake, saying, 'I think shame is really important and I had fucked up. I did something wrong. Those ethics rules exist for a reason – they’re really good rules. And I had violated that.'
