Last week, news broke that New York magazine Washington correspondent Olivia Nuzzi was in a sexting relationship with her source, former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. while writing about him, and aggressively sending him nude pictures of herself. But instead of decrying Nuzzi for doing a disservice to female reporters everywhere by engaging in the type of unethical actively she once insisted didn’t really happen, most of the liberal ladies of ABC’s The View defended her on Monday’s show and blamed all men for the scandal.
The ridiculous spin started with the show’s opening tease for the segment, where the announcer huffed: “Breaking nudes? RFK Jr. ignites a scandal for reportedly bragging about being sent nude photos from a prominent journalist Olivia Nuzzi. But is most of the fallout landing on her?”
Coming back from their first commercial break, moderator Whoopi Goldberg suggested that Kennedy should be getting all the flack because he cheated on his wife, while ignoring the fact that Nuzzi was cheating on her fiancé, Ryan Lizza of Politico (who left his family to be with Nuzzi). She didn’t understand why Nuzzi had to live up to journalistic ethics:
Now, she's been suspended by the magazine, and she issued a statement saying that their relationship was never physical, that she's sorry she didn't disclose it to her colleagues earlier. Now, he's been married to Cheryl Hines for a decade. And the question really is, why is all the fallout hitting her and not him? And why did -- if it was -- what was she supposed to disclose that she didn't disclose?
Staunchly racist and anti-Semitic co-host Sunny Hostin (the descendant of slave owners) defended Nuzzi’s sexing by repeatedly insisting that she was sending “demure nudes.” “I also don't understand why it's all falling on her,” Hostin whined. “She's 31 years old. She's a young reporter. From what I understand is she's, you know, a fantastic reporter.”
Faux conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin admitted she considered Nuzzi a personal friend of hers because “She was really there for me in a part of my life when she didn't need to be.” She proclaimed Nuzzi was a “world-class journalist” and “considered one of the best profile writers.” “That piece she wrote of RFK was scathing of him, she didn’t pull punches,” she boasted.
Farah Griffin tried to downplay what happened by suggested Nuzzi simply “blurred ethical lines.” She had a meltdown over people calling it an “Olivia Nuzzi Scandal” and demanded people call it an “RFK scandal.”
She proceeded to cry “sexism” about the whole incident – which Nuzzi willing took an aggressive part in – and demanded that all men be blamed for it:
But it goes back to just the sexism that we fall into. The reality is this: people want to make money in this business. If you put up a picture of Olivia, more people are clicking than if you put up a picture of this man. I think men need to bare a little more responsibility in this. It’s just – It's so predictable.
Surprisingly, the only cast member to bring any semblance of sense to the table was Ana Navarro. After taking some shots at Kennedy, by calling him “a dog and a ho,” she pointed out that the scandal boiled down to it being a major conflict of interest for Nuzzi, who “had more to lose”:
The issue here is conflict of interest. That she was covering the presidential campaign while writing pieces. And the question is, because she was having this relationship, is there a conflict of interest? If not for that, listen, you can be freaky. You can send pictures. You can do whatever you want. Just not -- not if there's a conflict of interest in your job.
For her part, pretend moderate Sara Haines didn’t address the scandal, nor push back on the nonsense defense of Nuzzi. Instead she warned against sending nudes to begin with and cautioned about the rise of A.I.-generated porn images based on those nude photos. “But I would also encourage anyone online to really watch what you're putting online ever because these clouds can be hacked into,” she added.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
September 23, 2024
11:14:53 a.m. EasternWHOOPI GOLDBERG: So, former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has reportedly been bragging about being sent some nude photographs from prominent journalist Olivia Nuzzi, who did a recent profile on him for New York magazine.
Now, she's been suspended by the magazine, and she issued a statement saying that their relationship was never physical, that she's sorry she didn't disclose it to her colleagues earlier.
Now, he's been married to Cheryl Hines for a decade. And the question really is, why is all the fallout hitting her and not him?
ALYSSA AFARH GRIFFIN: That’s the question.
GOLDBERG: And why did -- if it was -- what was she supposed to disclose that she didn't disclose?
(…)
11:16:01 a.m. Eastern
SUNNY HOSTIN: It’s called Puck News. It’s an industry magazine, reported Friday night that Nuzzi allegedly sent demure nudes of herself to RFK Jr. During their sexing affair. So, I think that's what she had to disclose. She was also allegedly engaged to another person as well. And so, you have a married man and you have someone that's engaged.
I also don't understand why it's all falling on her. She's 31 years old. She's a young reporter. From what I understand is she's, you know, a fantastic reporter.
GOLDBERG: Well, you know her.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: If I can jump in because I actually consider her a friend. She was really there for me in a part of my life when she didn't need to be. I’d also say she's considered a world-class journalist. She's young but she's considered one of the best profile writers. That piece she wrote of RFK was scathing of him, she didn’t pull punches.
Now, I agree, it blurred ethical lines. I don't agree with what she did. I think she will acknowledge it and take responsibility. But I am – every time I see a headline that says ‘Olivia Nuzzi scandal’, no, RFK scandal! A former presidential candidate who’s married – for I want to say the third time – who engaged in this, who’s now a top surrogate to the Republican nominee for president.
But it goes back to just the sexism that we fall into. The reality is this: people want to make money in this business. If you put up a picture of Olivia, more people are clicking than if you put up a picture of this man. I think men need to bare a little more responsibility in this. It’s just – It's so predictable.
And finally, I don't believe in cancel culture. I think she is a person who has cut her teeth in this industry. She unquestionably made a mistake. But I think if she takes responsibility, she should absolutely should have a path back.
ANA NAVARRO: Well look, I think the reason that she’s paying more consequences is because RFK – I kind of think everybody knows by now that he’s a dog and a ho and there’s no consequences. Right? It's kind of like with Donald Trump. Right? It's baked in. He's had a long, long record of philandering for many decades. His wife knows it and seems to be okay with it. So, like, what are the consequences for him?
The truth is, Olivia, who I also know and think is extremely talented, had a lot more to lose in this. And she is losing it. You know, the magazine right now is conducting a review and an investigation of the situation. It was unethical, and it, kind of, now puts all her writings in a different perspective. And they're going through them with a fine-tooth comb to see if they see any conflict of interest.
That's the issue, that she was covering – The issue here is conflict of interest. That she was covering the presidential campaign while writing pieces. And the question is, because she was having this relationship, is there a conflict of interest? If not for that, listen, you can be freaky. You can send pictures. You can do whatever you want. Just not -- not if there's a conflict of interest in your job.
SARA HAINES: I feel like they couldn't put the scandal on RFK because he has so many they don't really have room anymore.
[Laughter]
HOSTIN: There’s a lot.
HAINES: Cause the headlines are like – there's a little, kind of imbalanced.
But I get the optics problem. This was her beat and she did this. But I can’t – not in regard to her, but to everyone out there, we have an A.I. problem coming up that's going to put us all in nude pictures that are going to circulate. We've had it already happen. There have been incidents where people have been crushed by this.
But I would also encourage anyone online to really watch what you're putting online ever because these clouds can be hacked into. There's so much stuff. So, I always say, don't take nudeys. Like, just don't do it ever! Because, like, we know too much. Like, you can't do this.
[Laughter as Goldberg makes a face]
Okay, wait. If you’re going to take nudey, do it on a Polaroid.
HOSTIN: These were very demure nudes though. They were demure.
NAVARRO: Yes, but where they mindful?
[Laughter]
(…)
