Journalist Ryan Lizza Claims His Ex, Olivia Nuzzi, Had an Affair With Mark Sanford

Unfortunately for disgraced political reporter Olivia Nuzzi, her name is quickly becoming synonymous with affairs. She was thrust into the public eye in September 2024 when Nuzzi admitted to engaging in a "personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 [presidential] campaign," per New York Magazine. Nuzzi was placed on leave. It was later revealed that the person in question was Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been married to his third wife since 2014.

In September 2025, Nuzzi joined Vanity Fair as their West Coast Editor, where she focuses on events, industries, and culture of the Pacific region. Between these gigs, she wrote a book that, among many things, will go into detail about her affair with RFK Jr. Ahead of the book's release in December 2025, Nuzzi's ex-fiancé, Ryan Lizza, came forward with accusations about an affair with former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford. Here's what we know.

In a shocking post to his Telos News Substack, Lizza wrote about the moment he realized Nuzzi was having an affair. He teased out the reveal, leaving readers to believe he was referring to RFK Jr., before ending it with two shocking sentences. "We have a big problem,” wrote Lizza. “Olivia is sleeping with Mark Sanford."

This was shared in a phone call Lizza made to his agent. At the time, he and Nuzzi were in the process of writing a book about the 2020 presidential campaign. She had been spending quite a lot of time down in South Carolina interviewing Sanford. The former South Carolina governor was running for president.

Lizza said he made the discovery in early March 2020. He and Nuzzi were living together in Georgetown, an affluent neighborhood of Washington, D.C. He was tidying up when he noticed a note scrawled on a Kimpton Hotel notepad. "If I swallowed every drop of water from the tower above your house," wrote Nuzzi, "I would still thirst for you." Turning the page, he saw an unfinished love letter that "confirmed a physical relationship" with Sanford.

In the same Substack post, Lizza went into detail about a relationship Nuzzi had with political commentator Keith Olbermann when she was 21 and he was 55. According to Lizza, it all started when Nuzzi messaged Olbermann "out of the blue." The two began chatting, which led to Nuzzi fleeing her home in New Jersey in order to move in with Olbermann in Manhattan.

Lizza alleges that Olbermann paid for Nuzzi's college, bought her $15,000 worth of Cartier jewelry, and spruced up her wardrobe with expensive clothing. He framed the end of Nuzzi's relationship with Olbermann as an escape. In September 2024, Olbermann posted about Nuzzi on X (formerly Twitter). The former MSNBC host described their relationship as wholesome.

Olbermann took to X again in November 2025 to address Lizza's Substack. "Olivia and I lived together for 4+ years (4 b'days 4 Xmases 4 anniversaries)," he wrote. "That's like $1,250 of jewelry per celebration. And her apartment was a studio. And I made an f-ton then."