Journalist Olivia Nuzzi, reporter in the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Sexting scandal, has withdrawn her petition for a protective order against her former fiancé, journalist Ryan Lizza.
The former reporter for New York Magazine initially filed the petition on September 30, accusing Lizza of accessing her private information without permission and attempting to blackmail her after their engagement ended.
However, Lizza refuted Nuzzi’s accusations of blackmail and hacking as “defamatory lies.”
According to the court documents, Nuzzi alleged that Lizza stole and hacked into her personal data and threatened her to coerce her back into a relationship. She claimed the conflict escalated after Lizza learned of her “personal relationship” with RFK Jr., which Nuzzi says Lizza later leaked to the press.
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Nuzzi ends legal battle with Lizza
On Friday, November 8, Nuzzi officially filed to withdraw her petition. Her attorney, Ari Wilkenfeld, told People in a statement, “Ms. Nuzzi has no interest in fighting a public relations battle.” Nuzzi also included her reasoning in a statement with her motion to withdraw, describing her original request for a protective order as a “last resort” to free herself from what she described as “a controlling and abusive relationship.”
{{/usCountry}}On Friday, November 8, Nuzzi officially filed to withdraw her petition. Her attorney, Ari Wilkenfeld, told People in a statement, “Ms. Nuzzi has no interest in fighting a public relations battle.” Nuzzi also included her reasoning in a statement with her motion to withdraw, describing her original request for a protective order as a “last resort” to free herself from what she described as “a controlling and abusive relationship.”
{{/usCountry}}She said she initially hoped the order would prevent Lizza from “harassing and harming her through defamatory publicity and circulation of hacked, stolen, and or doctored materials” related to her.
Nuzzi further stated that she wanted Lizza to be legally restrained from committing or threatening harmful actions against her. She alleged that Lizza’s “harassment campaign has intensified” since filing for the protective order. She has now decided to “disengage from this process” and requested that her claims be dismissed.
Lizza has since responded to People, “Olivia shamelessly used litigation with false and defamatory allegations as a public relations strategy. When required to do so, she refused to defend her claims in court last month.”
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“On the eve of a hearing at which she knew her lies would be exposed, she has taken the only course available to her and withdrawn her fabricated claims.”
Lizza also blames Nuzzi for his alleged relationship with Kennedy, which he said had been ongoing for nearly a year before he discovered it.
Reports of Nuzzi’s alleged relationship with Kennedy surfaced in September, nearly a year after Nuzzi conducted a 2023 profile interview with him.