In a shocking court filing by journalist Olivia Nuzzi's former partner, Ryan Lizza, Nuzzi alleged that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expressed desires to "possess," "control," and "impregnate" her during their scandalous sexting affair. Nuzzi's legal team described the court documents as "full of salacious and irrelevant claims."
These documents were submitted in response to a no-contact order Nuzzi filed against Lizza last month, in which she accused him of harassing and blackmailing her regarding the affair and of hacking into her devices. However, in a recent filing, Lizza, 50, claims he never hacked into any of Nuzzi's devices. Instead, he claims she told him about the relationship and its details.
Shocking Claims and Allegations
In the documents submitted to Washington, DC's Superior Court last week, Lizza portrayed Nuzzi—New York Magazine's prominent Washington correspondent—as a forlorn and heartbroken partner who desperately sought to salvage their engagement after he ended the relationship.
Lizza also claimed that this was not the first time Nuzzi cheated on him, citing a previous affair in 2020 that ruined a joint book deal.
He said that he confronted Nuzzi, 31, and ended their engagement on August 17 after finding out that she had been involved with RFK Jr., who is nearly 40 years her senior, for almost a year.
The filing did not specify how he found out about her affair with John F. Kennedy's nephew, but sources previously told The New York Post that the couple was not particularly discreet about their relationship.
Lizza, who is Politico's chief Washington correspondent and currently on leave from the influential Playbook publication, denied leaking information about the relationship to her editor or the press.
He also refuted her accusations of hacking, claiming that all he learned about her affair with Kennedy—who is married to actress Cheryl Hines—came from Nuzzi's own tearful confessions as she attempted to win him back.
According to Lizza, Nuzzi described RFK Jr., who has six children, as a "70-year-old 'sex addict'" who expressed desires to "possess," "control," and "impregnate" her. She described the affair as "toxic, unhealthy, stupid, psychotic, crazy, indefensible" and claimed that RFK Jr. had manipulated her because of the "huge power disparity."
As Dirty as It Gets
The court documents claim that Nuzzi pleaded with Lizza multiple times to rekindle their relationship after their breakup, sending desperate texts in which she expressed feelings of being "so lonely," "lost," and "heartbroken."
According to Lizza, the couple spent several weekends together after the separation, with Nuzzi sobbing and professing her love while fearing that Lizza would never reach out to her again. He also noted that Nuzzi "resisted any effort to formally end our relationship and she repeatedly asked for more time to consider our future."
He also denied allegations that he threatened Nuzzi with physical harm or disclosed her affair with Kennedy to her editors at New York Magazine.
Instead, he claimed that Nuzzi said he "saved her job" by advising her not to disclose the information RFK Jr. shared with her during their affair.
He claimed that he repeatedly encouraged her to tell her editor about the affair, but she declined to do so, according to the filing.
In her court filing against Lizza earlier this month, Nuzzi claimed that he was behind her fall at the prestigious magazine, alleging that he alerted her employer, possibly "through a third party or an anonymous channel."
Since the news emerged in September, Nuzzi has been on leave from New York Magazine.
The Kennedy heir said that he and Nuzzi only met once and told the Wall Street Journal that Lizza's portrayal of their relationship was not accurate.
Nuzzi's lawyers also responded to Lizza's court filing.
"We reiterate what Ms. Nuzzi said in her request for a protective order: That Mr. Lizza's intent is to harass and humiliate Ms. Nuzzi and that he is utilizing the press to do so — some of the very issues that drove Ms. Nuzzi to file for a protective order in the DC Superior Court," the lawyers said.
"Filings such as this, full of salacious and irrelevant claims that we will not dignify with a response, further his efforts, as described in her initial filing for the protective order. Her only objective in seeking intervention from law enforcement and the court is to ensure her safety and be left alone."
Nuzzi allegedly began sexting with Kennedy soon after she highlighted the independent presidential candidate in New York Magazine.
According to a source who spoke to Page Six, she sent him "demure nudes," and the two even had "incredible" sexual encounters over FaceTime, with Nuzzi indicating that Kennedy's sexual stamina was quite impressive.
