The mainstream media loves to protect its own, circling the wagons whenever one of their golden children stumbles. But here’s the thing about playing with fire—eventually, you get burned. Sometimes, no amount of elite connections or sympathetic coverage can save a journalist who’s violated the most basic ethical principles of their profession. Sometimes, the reading public delivers its own verdict—swift, decisive, and utterly devastating.

One such journalist recently learned this lesson the hard way. After admitting to an improper relationship with a subject she was supposedly objectively covering, her attempt at a comeback through a highly promoted new book has crashed and burned in spectacular fashion. The numbers don’t lie, and neither does karma. But here’s where it gets good…

From ‘Fox News’:

The new book from the political journalist who was allegedly intimately involved with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has registered dismal sales.

“American Canto,” authored by high-profile reporter Olivia Nuzzi, sold just 1,165 copies in its first week on shelves, according to Circana BookScan. Her book was pummeled by critics.

While “American Canto” isn’t considered a memoir, it sheds some light on her inappropriate relationship with Kennedy, who is referred to in the book as “the politician.”

Those words belong to Olivia Nuzzi, the disgraced political journalist whose “American Canto” sold a pathetic 1,165 copies in its first week on shelves—a catastrophic failure for a book that publishing insiders expected to move at least 5,000 copies. The woman who tried to take down Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with her unethical conduct has instead taken down her own career and credibility.

Target on Trump’s Team

The timing of Nuzzi’s downfall couldn’t be more delicious. The very man she engaged in a “digital relationship” with while supposedly profiling him objectively now serves as President Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services. Her improper conduct wasn’t just a breach of journalistic ethics—it was an attempt to compromise someone who would become a key member of Trump’s administration. Kennedy, who is married to actress Cheryl Hines, maintains he only met Nuzzi once and denies any physical relationship occurred.

But Nuzzi’s book reveals she exchanged “I love yous” with Kennedy, with him apparently saying it first. She refers to him only as “the politician” throughout her failed tome, perhaps hoping readers wouldn’t connect the dots to her ethical transgressions.

Elite Media’s Failed Rescue

Speaking of protection rackets, the establishment media tried desperately to rehabilitate Nuzzi’s image. The New York Times gave her a soft-focus profile, treating her like a victim rather than someone who violated fundamental professional boundaries. Vanity Fair swooped in to hire her as their “West Coast editor” in September, and even ran excerpts from her book. The message was clear: the media elite would protect one of their own, ethics be damned. (Are we surprised? Not even a little.)

But readers weren’t buying it—literally. A publishing insider told Politico that “there’s a broad understanding her credibility has been shredded and the idea of her as a reliable narrator in telling any story, even hers, not many readers are going to believe that.” The insider added that “heads should roll over the disaster” and called it “a disaster from start to finish.”

A Pattern Emerges

This wasn’t even Nuzzi’s first rodeo when it comes to unethical relationships with her subjects. Her ex-fiancé, Ryan Lizza, has accused her of having an affair with former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford after profiling him during the 2020 presidential campaign—allegations she denies. Lizza has also claimed on his Substack that Nuzzi acted as a “political operative” for Kennedy, scheming ways to help him get ahead of unflattering stories.

The pattern is clear: a journalist who repeatedly crossed ethical lines, using her position to pursue personal relationships with the powerful men she was supposed to be covering objectively. Even her attempt to downplay the Kennedy situation in her book falls flat, with passages like describing him as “insatiable in all ways, as if he would swallow up the whole world just to know it better if he could.”

When the truth finally came out, Nuzzi was forced to leave New York Magazine. By December, even Vanity Fair had seen enough, “mutually agreeing” to let her contract expire at year’s end. The woman who thought she could have it all—professional acclaim and personal dalliances with her subjects—ended up with nothing.

The spectacular failure of “American Canto” proves that readers still value integrity over insider access and salacious gossip. No amount of media spin could convince Americans to reward someone who so brazenly violated the public trust. In trying to compromise one of President Trump’s key officials, Nuzzi only succeeded in destroying herself. The market has spoken, and its verdict is clear: when journalists abandon ethics for personal gratification, they deserve exactly what Nuzzi got—complete and utter rejection. Talk about instant karma.

Key Takeaways

• Nuzzi’s book sold just 1,165 copies after ethics scandal
• Media elites couldn’t save journalist who targeted RFK Jr.
• Pattern of inappropriate relationships destroyed her credibility permanently
• Readers delivered verdict: ethics violations have real consequences

Sources: Fox News, New York Post