Media coverage of the alleged “sexting” between New York magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi and former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is tainted with “sexism,” says commentator Dan Abrams.
Abrams, Founder of the news site “Mediaite” Kennedy, who is also a primetime talk show host on NewsNation, said he found it difficult to believe Ms Kennedy's claims that Nuzzi, 31, had sent her numerous lewd photos of herself against her will.
He told SiriusXM viewers on Tuesday that while Nuzzi has been placed on administrative leave by the magazine, Kennedy has escaped largely unscathed, as evidenced by her continued public appearances and speeches urging voters to support former President Donald Trump.
“It's not a good look for her, but it's not a good look for him,” Abrams said on SiriusXM, noting that Kennedy, 70, is married to actress Cheryl Hines, who starred in “Crazy Love.”
Nuzzi was previously engaged to Politico reporter Ryan Lizza before the pair split, and she has also been rumored to have been linked to former MSNBC and ESPN host Keith Olbermann.
News of Nuzzi's relationship with Kennedy was first reported by former CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy. In his status newsletter.
“He's married, he's 70, she's 31, and I think some of the reactions to her and to him are sexist,” Abrams said.
A mutual friend told The Post earlier this week that Kennedy was considering legal action against Nuzzi, alleging that he had been “sending increasingly lewd photos and videos” to her in an attempt to get her number unblocked.
Jessica Reid Krauss, who knows both Mr Kennedy and Mr Nuzzi, said the political scion had hired security expert Gavin de Becker to investigate the affair.
But Abrams said she wasn't convinced.
“She reportedly sent him 'demure' nude photos of herself, and now he's trying to claim they were unsolicited,” Abrams said of Kennedy, who is reportedly a habitual cheater.
“There's no way she'd send him nude photos without him making it clear that this was a two-way street, that he wanted it or whatever.”
Abrams said Nuzzi is currently “on the sidelines waiting to see what New York magazine does to her for violating journalistic ethics,” while Kennedy is “sitting outside making speeches” even though “nobody has really asked him much about it.”
He said that if a 70-year-old female politician were embroiled in a similar scandal in which a younger male reporter “sent what appeared to be nude photos of herself”, “it is impossible that the press wouldn't pursue her to find out what happened to that 70-year-old woman”.
Abrams said the 31-year-old reporter was “totally” to blame in the Kennedy-Nuzzi scandal.
“It's a combination of journalists being held to a higher standard than politicians, women being held to a higher standard than men, and that's it,” he said.
The Washington Post has reached out to Nuzzi, Kennedy and New York magazine's parent company, Vox Media, for comment.
