The former Bloomberg journalist who left her husband in a failed attempt to woo ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli says criticizing Olivia Nuzzi for her affair with RFK Jr. is sexist.
Christie Smythe – who broke the internet with her 2020 essay ‘The Journalist and the Pharma Bro’ about her brief tryst with Shkreli that destroyed her marriage – is hitting out at those criticizing Nuzzi for being sexist.
‘So f-ing tired of women being scandalized for things that would be complete non-events if men did them’, Smythe tweeted.
‘Yes, she should have disclosed any conflict, but also, like maybe the magazine quietly encouraged this ‘conflict’ because it wanted scoops?’
Nuzzi, a star reporter at New York Magazine disclosed to editors that she had ‘engaged in a personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign’, the outlet confirmed.
The former Bloomberg journalist who left her husband in a failed attempt to woo ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli says criticizing Olivia Nuzzi for her affair with RFK Jr. is sexist
Both have denied anything physical happened, with a Kennedy advisor saying it was ’emotional and digital’ while Nuzzi called it ‘personal’, all while the internet has crudely mocked the pair.
Smythe retweeted others asking for sympathy for Nuzzi, including Caitlin Flanagan of The Atlantic and New York Magazine editor Andrew Rice.
Smythe is a veteran of drawing the internet’s ire for her involvement with Shkreli.
The ex-Bloomberg writer became a source of fascination after she revealed in December 2020 that she had left her job and her husband for the reviled businessman, who in 2015 bought an Aids drug and hiked the price from $13.50 per pill to $750.
He was arrested in December 2015 on securities fraud, connected to his work at a hedge fund, and in March 2018 was sentenced to seven years in prison for the financial crimes.
She continues to defend Shkreli, despite him dumping her after the 2020 article in Elle, via a statement issued to the magazine.
Smythe freely admitted that, by 2017, she was devoted to Shkreli – something which concerned her then-husband.
She said she had finally convinced her spouse of almost a decade, Devin Arcolo, a financier, to attend the counseling in November 2017.
Nuzzi disclosed to editors that she had ‘engaged in a personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign’, the outlet confirmed
‘So f-ing tired of women being scandalized for things that would be complete non-events if men did them’, Smythe tweeted about Nuzzi’s affair with Kennedy (pictured)
But the session clashed with the first visit to see Shkreli in jail, in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
She arrived 52 minutes late for the hour-long session.
‘I didn’t count the minutes — he did,’ Smythe said.
‘We still went to marriage counseling later and it was a disaster, of course. Nothing was counseled.’
The couple’s marriage irrevocably broke down.
And in July 2018, she resigned from Bloomberg – the news agency that had assigned her to report on Shkreli, in 2015.
‘I was feeling extremely frustrated by having to keep everything bottled up,’ she told the paper.
‘I was just, like, ‘Everyone is so worried about what? That I will fall in love with him?’
Christie Smythe – who broke the internet with her 2020 essay ‘The Journalist and the Pharma Bro’ about her brief tryst with Shkreli that destroyed her marriage – is hitting out at those criticizing Nuzzi for being sexist
Smythe seen in public in 2022 for the first time since an article was published detailing her relationship with Martin Shkreli
‘After that thought sunk in, I was like, ‘You know what, maybe I do love him — screw everyone.’ ‘
Smythe had first begun corresponding with Shkreli in 2015, in the early days of the controversy of the Aids drug, Daraprim.
His 5,000 percent increase in the cost of the life-saving treatment was reviled by everyone from Hillary Clinton to Bernie Sanders to Donald Trump.
In January 2016 the pair met in person for the first time, as his Manhattan office while he was on bail.
‘I don’t think I was attracted to him initially,’ she said. ‘Well, maybe. It was more of a curiosity. I was not thinking about him as a romantic subject.’
In February 2016 he was subpoenaed to testify before Congress about the price hike, but repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment – doing little to endear himself to his critics.
She began researching a book on the Brooklyn-born financier and entrepreneur, and covered his story extensively for Bloomberg, including his trial.
‘Even though he’s kind of shy, he’s like a lightning rod,’ she said.
The Brooklyn-born financier and entrepreneur became one of the most reviled men in America after he increased the price of the Aids drug by 5,000 percent
Shkreli is seen in December 2015, after he was arrested for securities fraud. He was sentenced to seven years in prison in March 2018
He was sentenced in March 2018 to seven years in prison.
After leaving Bloomberg, she confessed her feelings to him, and the pair had their first kiss – in prison.
Prison rules barred them from having sex, but on their visits she said they would have hours-long conversations about ‘books, science, pharmaceuticals, crypto, family, hopes and dreams’.
Smythe said that he took her writing career seriously, adding: ‘That, of course, is very flattering.’
She added: ‘We were never at a loss for anything to say. We were always making each other laugh.’
They discussed marriage, prenups, and children, and Smythe froze her eggs, on his encouragement.
But when the pandemic hit, and she could no longer visit him, things started to go wrong.
In December 2020 she spoke to Elle magazine about the relationship, which angered him.
Smythe had previously said she was eagerly waiting for him with open arms after he was released from prison almost two years early, on May 18. She now says she has a new boyfriend – although she still defends Shkreli, and says they plan to meet up
Smythe is pictured with her former husband, Devin Arcoleo. He was concerned about her closeness to Shkreli, and the couple began counseling in November 2017: by July 2018, the marriage was over
He gave the magazine a statement: ‘Mr Shkreli wishes Ms Smythe the best of luck in her future.’.
She said it was ‘hurtful’, but not truly surprising that he reacted badly, and told The New York Times that she would wait for him.
He was released from prison and the romance fizzled.
She said that, if she had ‘thrown Shkreli under the bus’ and portrayed herself as a victim, and ‘played along with the arch-villain narrative’, she would have been offered a more traditional book deal.
‘If I just gave up everything I actually thought and went along with what [the publishers] thought would sell, I’d have published a book. But I can’t do that,’ she said.
She said the editor she now works with told her she was ‘an unlikeable heroine’.
‘When I realized that was where I fit, it became so much easier to write and to deal with the negative reactions,’ she said.
Meanwhile, the internet continues to erupt with brutal memes in the wake of the Nuzzi-RFK sexting scandal.
The affair allegedly began in 2023, when the star political reporter visited Kennedy’s $7 million California home to write a feature article for New York Magazine.
Nuzzi and RFK have denied anything physical happened, with a Kennedy advisor saying it was ’emotional and digital’ while Nuzzi called it ‘personal’
In a 2023 profile, Nuzzi described meeting the former presidential candidate at the $7 million California home he shares with his wife
At the time, the 31-year-old was engaged to Politico’s chief Washington correspondent, Ryan Lizza, 50.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Nuzzi admitted that ‘the nature of some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal.’
Meanwhile, her editors confirmed that the other party was a ‘former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign.’
Users on social media aren’t going easy on the journalist and former presidential hopeful.
The son of the late Robert F. Kennedy is married to actress Cheryl Hines, best known for her role as Larry David’s wife on the sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm who is often the butt of jokes.
Her editors confirmed that the other party was a ‘former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign’. Status reports that the affair was with the former presidential hopeful, who is married to actress Cheryl Hines.
RFK Jr., 70, has insisted he only met the political journalist once when she did a profile on him last year.
‘Mr. Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece,’ his spokesman told CNN. A source added that the nature of the relationship was ’emotional and digital in nature, not physical’.
Nuzzi reportedly met RFK Jr when doing a profile on him for New York magazine
RFK Jr.’s spokesman said he met Nuzzi on one occasion only which resulted in a ‘hit piece’
But insiders told the New York Post the pair had engaged in ‘sexting’ despite RFK Jr. being married and Nuzzi being engaged at the time.
‘Earlier this year, the nature of some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal,’ Nuzzi said.
‘During that time, I did not directly report on the subject nor use them as a source,’ she said.
‘The relationship was never physical but should have been disclosed to prevent the appearance of a conflict. I deeply regret not doing so immediately and apologize to those I’ve disappointed, especially my colleagues at New York.’
New York magazine acknowledged an inappropriate relationship in a statement about Nuzzi’s hiatus, deeming it ‘a violation of the magazine’s standards around conflicts of interest and disclosures’.
‘Had the magazine been aware of this relationship, she would not have continued to cover the presidential campaign,’ the statement read. ‘An internal review of her published work has found no inaccuracies nor evidence of bias.
‘She is currently on leave from the magazine, and the magazine is conducting a more thorough third-party review. We regret this violation of our readers’ trust.’
Nuzzi, 31, has been engaged to Politico’s chief Washington correspondent Ryan Lizza, 50, since 2022.
However, the couple have since called off their nuptials, with the New York Post reporting this was in the last few weeks.
Nuzzi is understood to have met father-of-six RFK for a hiking trip last year as part of a profile that she wrote for New York magazine.
A source close to Nuzzi told Status that the relationship did not begin until the new year, after the profile was published in November 2023.
People close to the matter said she did not proactively disclose the affair and New York magazine only recently learned of it.
