Political scribe Ryan Lizza is taking a leave of absence from Politico after he was accused of mounting a harassment and blackmail campaign against his former fiancée, star New York Magazine writer Olivia Nuzzi, his employer said Tuesday night.
Lizza, who co-authors the outlet’s popular Playbook, and Politico bosses agreed that he should step away from the job while an investigation is conducted into the allegations that first came to light in a court filing Tuesday.
“POLITICO and Ryan Lizza have mutually agreed that it is in everyone’s best interest for him to step back and take a leave of absence while an investigation is conducted,” the outlet told The Post in an email.
Nuzzi, 31, claims Lizza, 50, harassed her following the couple’s breakup — and amid her tryst with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., according to CNN, which cited court docs.
Ryan Lizza, the ex-fiancée of New York Magazine writer Olivia Nuzzi, is taking a leave of absence from Politico. Getty Images for CBS NewsLizza denied all allegations in a statement to The Post earlier on Tuesday.
He did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday night about the leave.
Nuzzi was placed on leave by her employers last month after the dalliance between her and Kennedy, 70, came to light.
The two reportedly sexted each other during the fling, and sometime earlier this year, Nuzzi and Lizza broke off their engagement.
Nuzzi, pictured on vacation with then-fiancé Ryan Lizza, was placed on leave last month. Instagram / @olivianuzzixSources told Page Six last week Nuzzi and Kennedy had “incredible” FaceTime sex after they had talked over text.
Nuzzi wrote a profile about the Democratic dynasty scion last November.
Nuzzi, in a bombshell court filing revealed Tuesday, alleged Lizza “explicitly threatened to make public personal information about me to destroy my life, career, and reputation — a threat he has since carried out,” CNN reported on Tuesday.
Nuzzi claimed Lizza started the harassment at the start of July to force her back into a relationship with him, and by the next month, he allegedly stole a personal electronic device and hacked her devices, according to the filing.
He also allegedly anonymously shopped information about her to the media, with some of that intel possibly “doctored,” to hurt her, the filing states.
Lizza was accused of creating a harassment and blackmail campaign against Nuzzi. Olivia Nuzzi / FacebookNuzzi appeared to insinuate that Lizza exposed her tryst with RFK, according to the court filing.
She accused him of potentially, “through a third party or anonymous channel,” tipping off New York Magazine last month about what she only referred to as “the matter.”
Lizza told The Post earlier Tuesday that he is “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.”
“I emphatically deny these allegations and I will defend myself against them vigorously and successfully,” he said.
A no-contact order was reportedly granted by a judge on Tuesday that orders Lizza to stay away from Nuzzi — a common step in domestic disputes, CNN reported.
According to CNN, court docs reveal Olivia Nuzzi claims that Lizza harassed her following their split, due in part to her relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Getty ImagesLizza was ousted from the New Yorker in 2017 over what the publication called “improper sexual contact,” though Lizza at the time pushed back against that assertion.
“I am dismayed that The New Yorker has decided to characterize a respectful relationship with a woman I dated as somehow inappropriate,” he said at the time, though the woman’s lawyer dismissed that claim as nonsense.
Nuzzi’s legal fight with Lizza in court comes as her magazine conducts a “more thorough third-party review” of Nuzzi’s work after an internal probe found no evidence of bias.
