(NewsNation) — Former New York Magazine journalist Olivia Nuzzi, who allegedly had a nonphysical affair with then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., denies he had a worm in his brain.
Kennedy himself has claimed doctors found a dead parasitic worm in his brain and that it “ate a portion of it and then died,” he said in a 2012 deposition. They also discovered he had high levels of mercury that he said caused brain fog and memory problems. During his 2024 presidential campaign, he referenced the worm on X and in interviews.
Nuzzi, who had been covering his campaign, appeared to have a digital affair with Kennedy during that period — a revelation that led to her firing from New York Magazine and a contentious and litigious public break up from her then-fiance Ryan Lizza, a fellow political journalist.
In her new book, “American Canto,” which will be released on Dec. 2, Nuzzi writes about someone she refers to only as the “Politician,” who is widely believed to be Kennedy.
Reporter Olivia Nuzzi arrives for the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC, April 29, 2023. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images) 
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrives before President-elect Trump speaks during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Nov. 14, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla.
In an excerpt of her book published by Vanity Fair, Nuzzi claims the “Politician” told her he did not actually have a worm in his brain.
“I loved his brain,” she wrote. “I hated the idea of an intruder therein.” Nuzzi also wrote that he made her laugh but when he made light of the “worm,” it would make her “wince.”
“Baby, don’t worry,” she claims he said. “It’s not a worm.”
She went on to explain that Kennedy told her he had a doctor he trusted review the scans of his brain obtained by the New York Times and that they concluded that the shadowy figure in his brain was not a parasite after all.
Nuzzi claims RFK Jr. felt it was too late to “interfere with what had already vaulted from the sphere of meme to the sphere of screwy legend,” and added that “at least I did not have to worry about the worm that was not a worm in his brain.”
Olivia Nuzzi and RFK Jr’s ‘digital’ affair
Last year, Nuzzi, who was the Washington correspondent for New York Magazine, was fired by the publication after reports came out that she and Kennedy had an undisclosed relationship while she was covering the 2024 presidential election.
Nuzzi had written a profile about Kennedy in November 2023.
In September 2024, she acknowledged that “the nature of some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal” earlier that year. She added the relationship was “never physical but should have been disclosed to prevent the appearance of a conflict.”
Cheryl Hines doesn’t acknowledge affair allegations
Actress Cheryl Hines, who is married to Kennedy, did not write about rumors that her husband had an affair in her new memoir, “Unscripted,” according to NewsNation’s Paula Froelich.
Hines does reportedly delve into the fallout of her Hollywood relationships due to Kennedy’s political stances, saying Larry David and the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” cast won’t talk to her.