Vanity Fair has hired Olivia Nuzzi as its next West Coast editor, the magazine announced on Thursday. The move came nearly a year to the day after New York magazine suspended the former Washington correspondent over her personal relationship with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during his 2024 presidential campaign.
The magazine said in an announcement that Nuzzi would focus on “editing stories across platforms and topic areas, with a focus on events, industries and culture of the Pacific region.” She will also write for the magazine.
Nuzzi’s hiring is one of 12 new roles the magazine unveiled Thursday, part of its newly installed global editorial director Mark Guiducci’s attempt to revamp the glitzy Hollywood and culture-focused publication. Semafor reported last month that Guiducci had spoken to Nuzzi about a role.
“The range of talent and expertise in this list is expansive,” Guiduicci said in a statement. “But what our new colleagues have in common is a love for Vanity Fair, an appreciation for its history, and an excitement for its future. Each of them will help lead us there.”
Nuzzi’s hiring represents a public return for one of Washington’s most prolific writers, one known as much for her incisive prose as her proximity to the subjects of her reporting.
Other hires include Mediaite editor-in-chief Aidan McLaughlin, who will join as a White House correspondent; Lindsey Underwood, who joins as a senior editor from the Washington Post’s features desk; Elise Taylor, who joins from Vogue as a senior staff writer; and other top roles in creative, including Jennifer Pastore as its global creative director.
“In interviews with candidates over the past two months, we have been seeking out a certain fearlessness — people with a point of view, able to express it in both substance and style,” Guiducci said. “I can say that every one of our new colleagues has that quality.”
Nuzzi was suspended from New York magazine in September 2024 after the journalist admitted to engaging in a “personal” relationship with “a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign.” Oliver Darcy’s Status reported that the subject was Kennedy. The Daily Beast later reported that Nuzzi had initially lied to editor David Haskell about the relationship, and a month later, Nuzzi and the magazine agreed to part ways.
Nuzzi later filed a temporary protective order in late September 2024 against her then-fiance, Politico reporter Ryan Lizza, accusing him of threatening her with violence and hacking her personal devices. After the two engaged in a fiery back-and-forth through public statements and legal filings, Nuzzi withdrew the filing in November. Lizza has since left Politico, and Puck reported in April that Nuzzi intended to write a book as part of a long-standing book deal.
