Olivia Nuzzi answers your questions.
"If I was elected president in a write-in campaign I would not return to Washington."
Good afternoon everyone.
and I are hosting a holiday party for our readers in New York next week. You can RSVP here. Yes, there will be an open bar.Today’s letter includes: An interview with Olivia Nuzzi about her book American Canto (out today), an exclusive cover reveal of Allie Rowbottom’s new book, The New Yorker joined Substack, and Chris Black’s new clothing line.
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I first met Olivia Nuzzi when I was 21. I was sitting at my cubicle at New York Magazine and she came up to my desk and asked if I smoked. I didn’t, but I wanted to make a new friend in the office. We stood outside in our winter coats on Varick Street, and I was sort of half-smoking one of her cigarettes as she told me about a story she was working on. Maybe it was a profile of Kellyanne Conway.
Because of our personal relationship, I have felt conflicted writing about the media blowup involving her, RFK Jr and Ryan Lizza, and therefore have avoided it.
However, yesterday morning, I was finishing up my newsletter and my phone lit up. I was given the opportunity to let my readers ask Olivia anything they wanted about her book, which I had started reading over the weekend. Below are her answers, which have been published without edits. She also provided a piece she wrote called Signs Your Book Rollout Has Gone Awry.
In some answers, Olivia addresses her ex
, who is currently publishing essays about their relationship on Substack in which he accuses her of ethical breaches. In September 2024, Nuzzi filed an application for an order of protection against Lizza. Lizza denied her claims and accused her of defamation, and Nuzzi withdrew the petition that November. “Olivia shamelessly used litigation with false and defamatory allegations as a public relations strategy,” Lizza said in a response at the time. Reached for comment today about Nuzzi’s interview with Feed Me, Lizza said “telling the truth is not harassment.”Per Nuzzi’s lawyer, Ari Wilkenfeld, “Ms. Nuzzi sought the intervention of the DC Superior Court in 2024 amid a harassment campaign that is still ongoing and has now lasted more than sixteen months. That legal process was then weaponized and used to escalate the harassment against her and to humiliate her.”
Editor’s Note: The following interview contains Olivia Nuzzi’s personal perspective on her recent work and the public controversy surrounding it. The characterizations of relationships and events described below reflect her own views and experiences.
Olivia Nuzzi answers your questions.
Do you feel like the rise of substack has had any impact on the memoir genre? - Gutes
I like when people write and I like when people read and I am not overly precious about where or how or why or when they do those things.
Why did you write this book on your phone? What were the benefits of this? - Tamzin
I always write on my phone. It is an extension of the cloud of my consciousness. I find that sitting down to write is an impediment, because sitting still is often an impediment for me, and it’s easier to work with my idiosyncrasies instead of against them. I like to write while hiking in the day or pacing around my house at night; I notice a lot around me and I can record it fluidly in real time.
Was the excerpt in Vanity Fair directly lifted from your book or was it put together from multiple passages? - Olive
Vanity Fair’s Editor in Chief Mark Guiducci and Deputy Editor Claire Howorth stitched the excerpt together from near but separate passages in the book for our 32nd annual Hollywood Issue—which, incidentally, arrives in print today along with American Canto. Also check out Ottessa Moshfegh on the modern male movie star, Cazzie David on the ensemble of fawns who are taking over her life and the Los Angeles ecosystem, Vera Papisova on blood lust among the biohackers, Juli Weiner on her bicoastal hoteleisure-turned-eveningwear, and Tom Dotan on the lies Hollywood abides about AI.
This is a boring one I suppose but… what are your reporting tips? - Elijah
Show up, be present, have empathy, and pull the real estate documents.
What kind of car do you drive? Whats been the most exciting “room” for you in LA so far? How late can you and Maureen Dowd keep tower bar open for ? - Patrick
Mustang. If Jeff Klein did not oversee the installation of the lightbulbs I will not be visiting the room—unless Maureen is in it, since she would have dimmed or outright unscrewed any offensive light source.
In anticipation of your book your ex has written a series of substack posts, and he alleges you know certain things about the attempt on Trump’s life that would alter our current understanding of the event—is this true, and if so, what do you know? - Frances Bridges