Not even two full weeks ago, New York magazine journalist Olivia Nuzzi was put on leave after her boss discovered that Nuzzi had been engaged in some kind of affair with Robert Kennedy. We heard that Nuzzi bombarded Kennedy with “demure” nude photos, and recently, there was a story about Nuzzi and Kennedy having “incredible” sex on FaceTime, after which they confessed their love for one another. Yiiikes. Well, it was scandalous for both Nuzzi and Kennedy. Kennedy is married to Cheryl Hines, and Olivia was (at the time) engaged to Politico’s Ryan Lizza. In fact, Lizza reportedly learned of Olivia’s affair in August and he had some kind of “heated call” with Kennedy. There were rumors that Lizza had something to do with Nuzzi being outed to her bosses, although the evidence for that had been pretty thin… up until now. On Tuesday, Nuzzi petitioned a DC court for a no-contact restraining order on Lizza after (she alleges) he threatened to blackmail her, harassed her and more:
New York magazine writer Olivia Nuzzi is publicly accusing her ex-fiancé Ryan Lizza, a prominent political journalist with Politico, of orchestrating a harassment and blackmail campaign against her after their split and while Nuzzi had a personal relationship with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
The accusations — which Nuzzi made in a filing and before a judge in Washington, DC’s Superior Court this week and which he denies — are the latest explosive twist to emerge from the fallout of her previously undisclosed relationship with Kennedy, the former independent presidential candidate, and as the national political press has turned the saga into a discussion of journalism ethics.
Nuzzi wrote in a court filing that in mid-August, Lizza “explicitly threatened to make public personal information about me to destroy my life, career, and reputation—a threat he has since carried out.”
Lizza, Politico’s chief Washington correspondent and Playbook co-author, wasn’t in attendance at a court hearing Tuesday where Nuzzi was granted a temporary no-contact order against him. Requests like Nuzzi’s are typically the first actions in domestic disputes in court, and granted quickly by judges, often without the opposing party even knowing.
Lizza hasn’t responded to the allegations in court, but he did provide a statement to CNN after being informed about the court action.
“I am saddened that my ex-fiancée would resort to making a series of false accusations against me as a way to divert attention from her own personal and professional failings. I emphatically deny these allegations and I will defend myself against them vigorously and successfully,” Lizza said. The court has set the next hearing for October 15, when Lizza will have a chance to appear before the judge and respond.
Nuzzi said she believes Lizza began his alleged harassment at the beginning of July, as a way to blackmail her back into a relationship with him and punish her when she wouldn’t acquiesce. She said by the next month, Lizza had stolen a personal electronic device from her, was hacking her devices, then anonymously shopping information about her to the media. Some of the information may have been “doctored” to hurt her more, Nuzzi alleged, and she believes Lizza impersonated “an anonymous campaign operative” to give a political campaign information that would hurt her further, according to the court records.
Nuzzi also accused Lizza, potentially “through a third party or anonymous channel,” of tipping off her employer last month about what she calls “the matter.” RFK Jr. is not referred to by name in the court record.
In her court filing, Nuzzi said Lizza also threatened her with violence “to assume his share of financial responsibility” for a joint book contract they had, according to the court records.
In a court proceeding, which took place Tuesday morning, a judge granted Nuzzi’s request to temporarily bar Lizza from contacting her and to keep him away from her and her workplace, according to the public court records. The judge signed off on her request to have police accompany her when she attempts to get her possessions back from Lizza. The couple had lived together within the last year, the court filing said.
Damn. I’m not going to pick sides here – I think it’s very likely that Lizza did some or all of what Nuzzi has accused him of. I also think it’s possible that Nuzzi is desperately trying to push the blame for her own catastrophic decisions onto someone else. The one thing that has a real ring of truth for me is that Lizza was using his insider knowledge of how media companies function to get the story about Nuzzi’s affair out there, especially to Nuzzi’s bosses. We’ve known that a couple of outlets and journalists got tips, including Semafor’s editor. We also know that Nuzzi’s New York editor felt like what he heard wasn’t just some random gossip, that he believed Nuzzi was having an affair and might even have proof of the affair. Also: hours after the restraining order was ordered by the court, Lizza and Politico “mutually agreed” that he would take a “leave of absence.”
Photos courtesy of Lizza’s IG and Nuzzi’s IG.