Former Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s scandal involving New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi seems to have came to an end.
Nuzzi and her employer, New York Magazine, have parted ways following revelations of her personal relationship with RFK, Jr., whom she profiled for the magazine.
Kennedy’s wife, actress Cheryl Hines, also made her first public comments about the controversy Monday, laughing off the would-be scandal.
“Listen, I’m feeling good,” Hines told People magazine at the Groundlings’ 50th anniversary celebration in Los Angeles.
“There’s, like, a connection that you look at your husband or your partner and all the crazy going on around you,” she said. “Or you look and you check in and it’s like, ‘OK. It’s going to be OK. We’re going to move through this moment.'”
“And, you know, a lot of times it’s funny and you can lean over and say, ‘This is crazy balls,’ and have a moment together and then hold your head up high and go to the next thing.”
She told People that despite it all, she was having “a lot of fun with [her] family,” and “if I had a boring family it would be tough.”
“And I think just trying to embrace the unknown and instead of fighting against it, is sort of trying to embrace it and just say yes to whatever comes your way,” she said.
“Just to let it flow and to find the little moments and not take anything too seriously. Even though I find myself in very serious situations!”
Despite mainstream media reports that Hines had considered divorce over Kennedy’s endorsement of former President Donald Trump, the couple has maintained a united public front, appearing together at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner and at funeral services for Kennedy’s mother, Ethel.
New York Magazine announced Nuzzi’s departure Monday, following a third-party review by law firm Davis Wright Tremaine of her work. Editor-in-chief David Haskell noted that while her reporting was sound, Nuzzi’s “action created at the very least the appearance of a conflict and violated policies we have in place to protect our readers’ trust and a culture of honesty and respect in our newsroom.”
The scandal has expanded to include legal drama between Nuzzi and her ex-fiancé, Politico reporter Ryan Lizza.
Nuzzi filed for an order of protection against Lizza in Washington, D.C. Superior Court, alleging attempted blackmail over the affair.
Lizza has strongly denied the allegations, stating, “These allegations are disgraceful lies that Ms. Nuzzi has used to harass me for weeks in a coordinated defamation campaign.”
Hines, meanwhile, has hinted at addressing the situation in her own way, telling reporters, “Lots of emotions with rumors! But, it will all be in my book. I’m writing a book. I’ve been taking notes — serious notes!”
The actress appears focused on the approaching end of the election season, saying, “The end is near. And I feel very peaceful about it. 17 days, actually. But yeah, let’s say it’s 16. Every day, I Google it. You think I could remember from the day before. Every day, the countdown.”
Kennedy’s campaign has maintained that he and Nuzzi only met in person once during the interview, though their relationship reportedly continued via phone afterward.
The longtime Democratic Party insider turned Republican has spent his recent weeks on the campaign trail supporting Trump against Vice President Kamala Harris.