Olivia Nuzzi: My Ex-Fiance Leaked News of RFK Jr. Relationship

Politico journalist denies his ex's allegations that he blackmailed, harassed her
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 2, 2024 2:00 AM CDT
Olivia Nuzzi: My Ex-Fiance Leaked News of RFK Jr. Relationship
New York magazine’s Washington correspondent Olivia Nuzzi poses for photographers as she arrives at the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington, Saturday, April 29, 2023.   (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

The journalist who says things got "personal" between her and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. while she worked on a profile of the then-presidential candidate has accused her ex-fiance of playing a role in leaking the relationship, which Kennedy denies, to her employer. Olivia Nuzzi, who is currently on a leave of absence from New York magazine following her RFK Jr. admission, says in court documents obtained by CNN that Ryan Lizza, the Politico reporter to whom she was previously engaged, carried out a blackmail and harassment campaign in an attempt to push her back into a relationship with him.

The filing was made as part of Nuzzi's request for a temporary no-contact order against Lizza, which a judge granted at a Tuesday hearing. (CNN notes such requests "are typically the first actions in domestic disputes in court, and granted quickly by judges, often without the opposing party even knowing.") Nuzzi claims Lizza stole a personal device from her, hacked her devices, and "explicitly threatened to make public personal information about me to destroy my life, career, and reputation—a threat he has since carried out." She accuses Lizza of using a "third party or anonymous channel" to alert her employer about her relationship with Kennedy, Page Six and People report.

She also believes he leaked "doctored" materials to the media, the New York Times reports. Lizza was not present at the court hearing, but on Tuesday night, Politico announced Lizza and the publication had mutually agreed he would take a leave of absence pending an investigation. Lizza denied Nuzzi's allegations, and said in a statement, "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." (More Olivia Nuzzi stories.)

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