Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly grabbed reporter Olivia Nuzzi’s hand while she was interviewing him last year before they began their alleged sexting exchange, according to another journalist who called the ex-presidential candidate’s move “creepy.”
Kennedy, 70, and Nuzzi, 31, were on a hike during the interview for her November 2023 profile of the candidate for New York Magazine when he allegedly grabbed her hand, according to multiple sources who recounted the incident to Vanity Fair.
Nuzzi later spilled the details about what happened to a colleague who claimed to have had a similar “creepy” encounter with the Kennedy scion, the outlet reported.
Nuzzi declined to comment on the incident. Kennedy did not immediately respond when reached for comment.
But the alleged incident raises questions over Kennedy’s allegations that Nuzzi was the instigator and aggressor in their scandalous online romance.
The politician is said to be considering a lawsuit against Nuzzi, with a mutual friend claiming she allegedly “bombarded” him with nude pictures over the course of several months.
The pair reportedly began speaking sometime after Nuzzi’s feature of the then-Independent presidential candidate ran in New York Magazine.
The political reporter has since been placed on leave from the publication and the magazine has apologized in a statement after the editors were made aware of their relationship last Thursday.
Nuzzi has claimed that “the relationship was never physical” and Kennedy’s team said the two had only met in person once — for last fall’s story.
Kennedy has since hired security expert Gavin de Becker to investigate the saga with a potential civil or criminal lawsuit forthcoming, according to pal Jessica Reed Kraus, who knows them both.
Kraus said that Kennedy tried several times to block Nuzzi’s number, only for her to continue to send him racy photos when he would periodically unblock her when she said they had to have “urgent discussions about an imminent hit piece.”
“This had nothing to do with romance,” de Becker said. “He was being chased by porn.”
A person familiar with the situation told The Post that Nuzzi was “the aggressor” but said “both parties were aware of how high-pressure and high-risk the circumstances were and for that reason, their communication was very on and off.”
Kennedy — the son of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy who endorsed Republican former President Donald Trump after dropping his longshot independent White House run — is married to “Curb Your Enthusiasm” actress Cheryl Hines.
He was notably still wearing his wedding band during a recent interview, whereas Hines, his third wife whom he married in 2014, has been spotted in public with no ring on her finger.
Nuzzi and her former fiancé, political reporter Ryan Lizza, called off their wedding after her alleged sexts to the 70-year-old politician came to light.
