The View hosts leave fans bitterly divided after fierce debate over Olivia Nuzzi and RFK Jr. 'affair'

The View hosts left fans divided on Monday as they debated the 'conflict of interest' surrounding the alleged affair between Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and New York magazine journalist Olivia Nuzzi.

Washington correspondent Nuzzi, 31, recently admitted that 'the nature of some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal,' in a statement to DailyMail.com, and has recently been placed on leave.

Alyssa Farah Griffin fiercely defended her 'friend' Nuzzi and said that although she doesn't agree with what the reporter did, she thinks she will 'acknowledge it and take responsibility.'

Griffin's cohost Ana Navarro branded RFK Jr., 70, a 'dog and a h**' but claimed that Nuzzi's behavior was 'unethical' and stressed that the issue is the 'conflict of interest'  because she was 'covering the presidential campaign while writing pieces.'

Both Whoopi Goldberg and Sunny Hostin questioned why the backlash was 'falling' on just Nuzzi, and not both of them - but their comments left viewers at home divided as they took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their thoughts.

Addressing Griffin, 35, directly, one person commented: 'Sorry, Alyssa, I disagree (shocker right?). RFK is a known cheater. And Olivia Nuzzi was unethical in covering the campaign.'

Another person posted: 'Waking up to AFG caping for Olivia Nuzzi doesn't surprise me one bit, but calling her a "world-class journalist" is a REACH reach, wouldn't you say, Lyss?'

A third person argued: 'F—RFK and Olivia Nuzzi. They both knew better,' and a fourth added: 'The amount of hate for men at this table is astonishing. I don't think RFK Jr. is a victim, but neither is Nuzzi.'

Someone else fumed: 'Nuzzi is supposed to be a journalist. That's why she is being held to a higher standard. She is 31! She's GROWN AF. Why are [white circle emoji] women allowed to be infantilized until menopause? She wrote hit pieces on Biden while engaging in this behavior with RFK, Jr.'

A different user on X argued: 'If you send unsolicited thirst trap pictures/videos to a married man, you are as much to blame as he is for accepting them and not blocking you. It takes two to tango.'

Goldberg, 68, began the discussion during Monday's show and said: 'The question really is, why is all the fallout hitting her and not him?' as Hostin, 55, explained that it had been reported that Nuzzi 'allegedly sent demure nudes of herself to RFK Jr. during their sexting affair.'

'I also don't understand why it's all falling on her. She's 31-years-old, she's a young reporter - from what I understand, she's a fantastic reporter,' Hostin added.

Griffin was quick to speak up and said: 'I actually consider her a friend, she was really there for me in a part of my life when she didn't need to be. I'd also say she's a world class journalist, she's young but she's considered one of the best profile writers.

'That piece she wrote on RFK was scathing. I don't agree with what she did [and] I think she will acknowledge it and take responsibility.'

The former White House aide continued: 'But every time I see a headline that says, "Olivia Nuzzi scandal," no, "RFK scandal." A former presidential candidate who is married for, I wanna say, the third time, who engaged in this, who's now a top surrogate to the Republican nominee for President, but it goes back to just this sexism that we fall into.

'The reality is this, people want to make money in this business. If you put up a picture of Olivia, more people are clicking than if you put up a picture of this man. I think that men need to bear a little more responsibility in this, it's so predictable.

'And finally, I don't believe in cancel culture. I think she is a person who has cut her teeth in this industry. She unquestionably made a mistake, but I think if she takes responsibility, she should absolutely have a comeback.' 

Navarro then chimed in and said: 'Look, I think the reason she's paying more consequences is because RFK, I think everybody knows by now, is a dog and a h**. It's kind of like with Donald Trump, it's baked in.

'He's had a long, long record of philandering for many decades, his wife knows it and seems to be okay with it, so like, what are the consequences for him? The truth is, Olivia - who I also know and think is extremely talented - had a lot more to lose in this, and she is losing it.'

She continued: 'The magazine right now is conducting a review and an investigation of the situation. It was unethical and it kind of now puts all her writings in a different perspective and they're going through them with a fine tooth comb to see if they see any conflict of interest.

'The issue here is the conflict of interest. That she was covering the presidential campaign while writing pieces and the question is, because she was having this relationship, is there a conflict of interest? If not for that, listen, you can be freaky, you can send pictures, you can do whatever you want - just not if there's a conflict of interest in your job.'

Last week it was revealed that New York magazine had placed Nuzzi on leave following her alleged affair with RFK Jr. that reportedly began when she visited his $7 million California home to write a feature article.

While Nuzzi confirmed that 'the nature of some communication' had 'turned personal,' she said that the relationship was never physical.

Her editors confirmed that the other party was a 'former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign.'

Status reported that the affair was with the former presidential hopeful, who is married to actress Cheryl Hines.

RFK Jr. 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.'