Olivia Nuzzi accuses ex-fiance of orchestrating blackmail campaign amid RFK relationship

By Katelyn Polantz, CNN

Washington (CNN) — 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.”

Nuzzi was placed on leave last month by New York magazine while it conducts a “third-party review” after she acknowledged that she “had engaged in a personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign while she was reporting on the campaign.” A person with direct knowledge of the matter told CNN that the relationship was with RFK Jr., whom she had penned a feature about late last year while he was running for president.

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 provided 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.

On Tuesday night, Politico said Lizza was taking a leave of absence from the publication while it conducts an investigation into the matter.

“POLITICO and Ryan Lizza have mutually agreed that it is in everyone’s best interest for him to step back and take a leave of absence while an investigation is conducted,” a spokesperson 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.

The circumstances of their breakup have already impacted Nuzzi and Lizza’s relationships with their news outlets.

In a note to readers on September 19, New York magazine said it had placed Nuzzi on leave after she “acknowledged to the magazine’s editors that she had engaged in a personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign while she was reporting on the campaign, a violation of the magazine’s standards around conflicts of interest and disclosures.”

Lizza previously announced that because of his relationship with Nuzzi, he and his editors agreed he would no longer write about Kennedy for Politico.

A Kennedy spokesperson told CNN, “Mr. Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece.”

A spokesperson for Nuzzi declined to comment further. New York magazine declined to comment.

CNN’s Hadas Gold contributed reporting.

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