Vanity Fair Bids Farewell to Olivia Nuzzi: ‘Mutually Agreed’ to ‘Let Her Contract Expire’

AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

Vanity Fair will let Olivia Nuzzi’s contract expire at the end of the year without renewal after a series of scandalous accusations and a bumpy book launch.

The magazine and Nuzzi “have agreed to part ways,” The Wall Street Journal’s Isabella Simonetti reported Friday, citing “people with knowledge of the decision.”

Nuzzi’s interview and profile with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. led to her exit from New York magazine after it was revealed that she had had an undisclosed affair with him. New York hired the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine to review her work and their investigation found “​​no inaccuracies nor evidence of bias,” but the concerns about her apparent conflict of interest remained — especially in light of her other coverage of President Donald Trump and an explosive exposé on President Joe Biden’s mental acuity. She and New York parted ways at the end of last year and she moved to California.

In her new book, American Canto, Nuzzi writes about her relationship with Kennedy, which she says was only over the phone and messages, describing him only as The Politician. The memoir was absolutely excoriated by reviewers, who tore apart both her writing style and revelations (or lack thereof).

The disastrous book rollout was already viewed as a black eye for Vanity Fair, since the magazine had heavily promoted an exclusive excerpt of the memoir.

And then, hell hath no fury like an ex-fiancé and former book contract partner scorned.

Nuzzi’s ex, Ryan Lizza, has been attempting to nuke her personally and professionally with a series of Substack posts that have spilled the tea about her past relationship with Keith Olbermann, alleged that she also had an affair with another presidential candidate, former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, disclosed her private correspondence and conversations, and — the more damning accusations — that she actively conspired to help Kennedy “catch and kill” negative stories and advised his campaign, acting more like an aggressive public relations flak than a journalist.

One of Lizza’s particularly notable accusations was that Nuzzi had secretly conspired to hide a recording device in the bag of a portrait artist she arranged to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, and that she captured some sort of conversation or admission from the president about the assassination attempt in Butler. However, Lizza’s next post reported that Nuzzi had said she deleted the recording and offered no further details.

Lizza is facing criticism himself, from eye-rolling at his extensive use of a metaphor about bamboo to reactions ranging from unease to disgust at his furious airing of his ex’s dirty laundry. Self-publishing on his Substack without any apparent editor as a safety net has led some to view his series as a kamikaze mission to take down Nuzzi, but it does appear that he did have an impact.

Nuzzi was hired earlier this year as Vanity Fair’s West Coast editor under a short-term contract set to expire at the end of the year, and after backlash from the book launch flop and Lizza’s Substack posts, there were reports that the magazine was considering just letting her contract lapse as the simplest exit from the mess.

Vanity Fair and Nuzzi confirmed the Journal’s report, releasing a joint statement reported by Puck’s Dylan Byers.

“Vanity Fair and Olivia Nuzzi have mutually agreed, in the best interest of the magazine, to let her contract expire at the end of the year,” the statement read.

Vanity Fair global editorial director Mark Guiducci sent a memo to staff Friday afternoon about Nuzzi’s departure, as reported by Natalie Korach at Status.

The memo read:

I’m writing to share that Olivia and I have agreed that it is in the magazine’s best interest for her not to continue as West Coast Editor after her contract expires at the end of the year.

There’s so much good journalism underway here and we have so much momentum—oh, and a big party to plan—and I don’t want anything to distract us from all of that. Thank you for your patience over these last couple of weeks.

I’m incredibly proud of what we’re building together here at Vanity Fair, and grateful for all of you.

Mediaite reached out to Nuzzi and Lizza for comment and will update this article if we receive a response.

This is a breaking news story and has been updated.