The scandal surrounding journalist Olivia Nuzzi was reignited this week, and at this point, “The View” host Sunny Hostin doesn’t see a professional path forward for her. According to the ABC host, the scandal “undermines” Nuzzi’s work at large — but especially her new position at Vanity Fair.
This week, Nuzzi was the focus of a New York Times profile, and gave her new employer an exclusive book excerpt, sparking renewed interest in her alleged affair with RFK Jr. But shortly thereafter, Nuzzi’s former fiancé Ryan Lizza claimed Nuzzi also had a sexual relationship with former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford.
For the hosts of “The View,” the allegations hint at a shocking pattern, which would make it worse in their eyes. Nonetheless, even a one-off was unacceptable for Hostin.
“For me, it’s akin to an attorney sleeping with her client. It’s akin to a prosecutor sleeping with a witness,” she said. “A doctor sleeping with a patient, it’s just, it’s unethical. It’s beneath the professional standards.”
Host Joy Behar added that scandals tend to “minimize” a person’s actual work, which Hostin readily agreed with. The host then pointed out that Nuzzi is now the West Coast Editor for Vanity Fair, a position she received after the allegations broke, and Hostin is baffled by it.
“That, to me, undermines that position,” she said. “I can’t — I don’t know how you trust her as a journalist.”
Indeed, Nuzzi reportedly engaged in these affairs while actively writing stories about the men, marking a massive conflict of interest and ethical violation. That’s why readers were particularly stunned not only by her hiring at Vanity Fair, but by her profile this week.
Before eventually moving on, host Sara Haines then chimed in, joking that Nuzzi’s taste in men is also called into question with these claims.
