Olivia Nuzzi, the former New York Magazine political reporter who concealed a romantic relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. while covering his presidential campaign, on Tuesday withdrew her protective order against her ex-fiancé Ryan Lizza. The Washington Post first reported the story.
Nuzzi had accused Lisa, who is no longer with Politico, of organizing a campaign of blackmail and harassment against her after learning of her secret relationship with Kennedy.
Lisa, in a joint statement with Semafor, ripped into her former love on Tuesday, saying she lied to everyone around her about the secret affair and that her withdrawal of the protective order application is proof of that.
“Olivia blatantly used litigation with false and defamatory accusations as a public relations strategy. When asked to do so, he refused to defend his claims in court last month. Lisa said: “She then tried to hide my response to her allegations from the public, in an attempt to shut down the process she had started.”
“Now, on the eve of the hearing where he knew his lies would be exposed, he took the only available route and withdrew his fabricated allegations. Olivia lied to me for almost a year. He lied to his editors. He lied to his readers. He lied to his colleagues. She lied to journalists. And she lied to the judge in this case. I have said that I will vigorously and successfully defend myself against your lies and I am fully prepared to do so. But for now, I am happy that this matter is closed.”
In a separate statement, Nuzzi’s lawyer said: “Ms. Nuzzi has no interest in a public relations battle. To better understand his decision, you can refer to the statements in his motion.
Nuzzi claimed in a lawsuit last month that Lisa stole and hacked his devices in August and began spreading the word among his peers about her digital romance with Kennedy, which the Washington D.C. reporter profiled in 2023. He claimed the allegations were false in his letter. Private complaint.
The show took place after a statewide news announcement in September that Nuzzi had entered into a “personal relationship” with Kennedy, which she profiled for the magazine in November 2023. Nuzzi, in a statement shared with the state, said the relationship between her and a “former reporter” had “broken down. Personal” earlier this year.
“During that time, I did not directly report on the case or use her as a source,” Nuzzi said. “The relationship was never physical, but it had to be disclosed to avoid the appearance of conflict.”
News of Nuzzi and Kennedy’s relationship quickly became a huge media story, with outlets like the New York Post reporting that the couple had “amazing” FaceTime sex. (Both parties denied that the relationship was physical at all.)
One day after the Statos report, Lisa said she would stop writing about Kennedy for Politico because of her relationship with Nuzzi.
According to Lisa, she found out about Nuzzi and Kennedy’s relationship on August 17 and asked her to leave shortly after. He said that Nuzzi “later begged me to consider returning to the relationship, telling me that it wasn’t real and that I didn’t want to give up on our relationship.”
Lisa said Nuzzi told her that Kennedy, who is married to “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Cheryl Hines, wanted to “own” her, “control” her and “impregnate” her.
