Olivia Nuzzi had a fling with former MSNBC and ESPN star Keith Olbermann over a decade before her ’emotional and digital’ affair with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Olbermann admitted to their relationship on social media Tuesday after he claimed a reporter was set to publish details of their affair after Nuzzi was placed on leave for her tryst with Kennedy.
‘We didn’t do much to keep it quiet,’ Olbermann said of the relationship, which took place when the ex-SportsCenter anchor was 55 and Nuzzi just 21.
‘I just assumed nobody cared. Certainly it has nothing to do with the RFK stuff. I also assumed it had been covered online somewhere,’ he added.
Olbermann then promised that the ‘pretty boring’ relationship ‘was really nice and (god help me) wholesome.’
He then claimed that she was with him when he first adopted a dog, a cause Olbermann now regularly promotes on Twitter.
‘In fact it was she with whom I got my first dog and for that I’ll always be grateful to her.’
The former Countdown star said that he would plan to tell more details on his podcast Tuesday morning.
The New York Post contacted Olbermann for comment about the affair and he said that he had not spoken to Nuzzi in a decade but again, assumed everyone already knew.
‘That’s online. It’s public knowledge, I keep my personal relationships close to the vest,’ Olbermann said.
The dalliance with Olbermann would have taken place while Nuzzi was interning with now-disgraced New York Congressman Anthony Weiner.
The never-married Olbermann – who has previously dated Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Fox News host Laura Ingraham and MSNBC star Katy Tur – criticized both Nuzzi and RFK Jr. on social media when the affair broke.
He claimed Kennedy’s attempts to investigate Nuzzi are reprehensible, though he made no bones about how he felt what she did was wrong.
‘This psychopath and serial woman chaser @RobertKennedyJr is talking about having @Olivianuzzi ARRESTED? I excuse none of her conduct but the dynamic just changed here.’
Olbermann continued: ‘F*** him. He’s an utterly irresponsible pile of s***. You participate in these sexts and they become a problem, you call her boss. Faster than 10 months later.’
He said the scandal has now evolved from dealing with Nuzzi’s actions to figuring out ‘how RFK Jr. needs to be controlled and punished.’
On Monday, Kennedy appeared at an event on Capitol Hill and posed for photos with prominent Republican lawmakers.
Ahead of the Monday event, GOP Rep. Thomas Massie shared a picture with Kennedy, noting that they had dined together Sunday night.
Fellow Republicans, Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Chip Roy, also shared snaps with Kennedy, while Sen. Ron Johnson had him appear on a panel discussion entitled: ‘American Health and Nutrition: A Second Opinion.’
The tour of Washington comes as Kennedy is reportedly considering suing Nuzzi over the pornographic content she sent to him.
Jessica Read Kraus, who writes the popular House Inhabit Substack, wrote Saturday that Kennedy is exploring his legal options after Nuzzi allegedly ‘bombarded him with increasingly pornographic photos and videos.’
Kraus, who has generally covered Kennedy in a positive manner, wrote that Nuzzi would prod her for information about the now-former presidential candidate.
‘There was an undercurrent of fascination that went beyond journalistic intrigue, bordering on obsession,’ she wrote.
Nuzzi’s ‘constant desire for updates, coupled with the tone of her inquiries, made it clear she wasn’t merely reporting: She was weaving some kind of fantasy.’
‘I could sense her emotional investment growing. In that shift, the gossip centered less on politics and more on tracking and dissecting his every move,’ Kraus said.
She reported that those in Kennedy’s orbit believe Nuzzi was trying to ‘set him up.’
Nuzzi, Kraus reported, made a ‘flirtatious remark during a phone conversation,’ which led the independent candidate to block the prominent journalist.
In turn, Nuzzi reached out to Kennedy via email to have him unblock her number ‘but later that night, she sent him a provocative picture, prompting him to block her again,’ Kraus’ account said.
Security expert Gavin de Becker is investigating the situation to see if Kennedy can file a civil suit against Nuzzi, Kraus reported.
‘This has nothing to do with romance,’ de Becker told Kraus. ‘He was being chased by porn.’
The Daily Beast reported Sunday that the sexting scandal came to light due to Kennedy boasting to friends that he had intimate photos of Nuzzi – and word made it back to New York’s editor-in-chief David Haskell.
Nuzzi hasn’t responded to outreach from DailyMail.com.
Sources close to Nuzzi, however, while not denying the tension between the two, told the New York Post she was not trying to hunt him down.
‘It’s absolutely untrue that she was the aggressor, but both parties were aware of how high pressure and high risk the circumstances were and for that reason their communication was very on and off,’ the source said.
Nuzzi’s editor-in-chief David Haskell then confronted Nuzzi about the affair 5:30pm on September 13 at the magazine’s office in Manhattan, insiders told The Daily Beast, adding how Haskell had also told Nuzzi that he had been informed by a source about Kennedy bragging about his ‘romantic’ relationship with her as well.
He mentioned the nude photos specifically, the source said, citing how Nuzzi had initially denied the relationship to her boss.
But after being confronted, she allegedly came clean, the source said – as it’s been revealed her engagement to Politico reporter Ryan Lizza has been called off.
Kennedy’s alleged bragging came as he remains married to Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines. He announced a suspension to his campaign August 23, and on Thursday denied ever meeting Nuzzi – aside from for a November profile piece.
‘Mr. Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece,’ a Kennedy spokesperson told CNN Thursday, as reports of the pair’s alleged relationship swirled.
A source familiar with the matter told the Beast Saturday that the two had met multiple times, but also maintained the pair’s relationship never got physical.
Haskell, meanwhile, put the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 alum on leave, with his magazine issuing a statement online Thursday acknowledging the situation.
Acknowledging the relationship as well, it read: ‘Recently our Washington Correspondent Olivia Nuzzi acknowledged to the magazine’s editors that she had engaged in a personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign.’
The statement asserted the relationship was occurring ‘while [Nuzzi] was reporting on the campaign, a violation of the magazine’s standards around conflicts of interest and disclosures.
‘Had the magazine been aware of this relationship, she would not have continued to cover the presidential campaign,’ it continued. ‘An internal review of her published work has found no inaccuracies nor evidence of bias.’
The bulletin, issued just before reports of the sexts began to circulate, concluded with the revelation the staffer who has had stints at both the Daily Beast and the Daily News was currently on leave from the magazine.
‘[T]he magazine is conducting a more thorough third-party review,’ it added. ‘We regret this violation of our readers’ trust.’
As indicated, Nuzzi reportedly met Kennedy Jr – the son of slain Attorney General Robert F Kennedy Sr – when doing a profile on him for a New York magazine piece published this past November.