A judge on Tuesday granted protection to political writer Olivia Nuzzi, who was disbarred over her ties to close presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy after she accused her ex-fiancé of stalking and blackmailing her.
Washington Correspondent of New York Magazine was released after admitting last month that he had a “personal relationship” with Kennedy during his brief White House tenure. “The relationship was never physical, but had to be disclosed to avoid conflict,” Nuzzi said said in the statement Kennedy’s spokesman wrote at the time that he had “only met Olivia Nuzzi for a once-in-a-lifetime interview at her request, which resulted in a hit piece.”
Nuzzi accused her ex-boyfriend, Ryan Lizza, himself a prominent political journalist at Politico, of orchestrating a campaign of harassment and blackmail against her, culminating in a career-threatening revelation last month.
Judge Robert Hildum routinely granted Nuzzi’s request that Lizza have no contact with him and stay at least 100 meters away until the Oct. 15 hearing.
Nuzzi filed for a protective order on Monday, accusing Lizza of defaming him after their relationship broke up.
Lizza “threatened to publicly release personal information about me in order to destroy my life, career and reputation — a threat she has since carried out,” Nuzzi said in a filing Monday in Washington, D.C. Superior Court.
Nuzzi alleged that Lizza “hacked my devices in order to stalk and stalk me and collect material to post as blackmail to intimidate and intimidate me into re-engaging, and for public ridicule and humiliation if I do not return, as well as punitive professional damages. to the relationship.”
Although Kennedy was not named in the petition, Nuzzi attributes the statement to Lizza. “Respondent contacted my manager to initiate a conversation about the matter,” she wrote.
The magazine writer also accused her ex-flame of making threats of “physical violence to force me to accept his share of financial responsibility” over a joint book deal the two had with a publisher. Nuzzi, once a Washington reporter, did not elaborate on this alleged deal with Lizza. Fired by The New Yorker over allegations of sexual abuse. (Lizza protested the magazine’s decision at the time, calling it a “terrible mistake” to fire her for “having a respectful relationship with a woman I met.”)
Lizza and Nuzzi could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. Lisa wrote Statement to CNN Tuesday: “I regret that my ex-fiancé made a series of false accusations against me to distract from his personal and professional failures. I categorically deny these accusations and will vigorously and successfully defend myself against them.”
Nuzzi last November wrote a long work About Kennedy’s long-running proposal to the White House called “The Mind-Bending Politics of RFK Jr.’s Spoiler Campaign.” The subhead added: “He’s a conservative. He is a liberal. He can overturn the presidential race.”
Kennedy, the son of former attorney general Robert F. Kennedy, is best known as an anti-vaccine advocate and conspiracy theorist.
He left the race in late August and endorsed Donald Trump there is also a a long history of spreading lies and dangerous, baseless claims.
Donna Mendell contributed.