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Ryan Lizza claimed that he confronted RFK Jr over Nuzzi and Kennedy’s affair, but felt that the future Secretary of Health and Human Services was ‘disturbingly unrattled’
Owen ScottTuesday 02 December 2025 12:48 GMTComments
CloseCheryl Hines Shocked by Olivia Nuzzi’s Memoir That Also ‘Blindsided’ RFK Jr.
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Olivia Nuzzi’s ex has claimed that the scandal-hit journalist planned to "consummate" her alleged affair with Robert F Kennedy Jr, 39 years her senior, at a Trump rally.
Ryan Lizza, a former Politico reporter and Nuzzi’s ex-boyfriend, also claimed that his former partner planned to gift Kennedy Jr with a 1940s cartoon about a glamorous, metropolitan reporter when they met.
Lizza made the claims in a blistering post, entitled Part 4: Means of Control, on his website, Telos News.
His blog post suggested that Nuzzi and RFK Jr were planning their alleged rendezvous at Trump’s August 23, 2024, rally, which was the same evening that the Kennedy scion pledged his support for the now-president.
“The timing was perfect,” Lizza wrote. “Bobby would no longer be a presidential candidate himself, so the media glare would dim, and, more importantly, Olivia later told me, he would no longer have the Secret Service protection that complicated an encounter. (And presumably Cheryl wouldn’t be around, either.)”
open image in galleryRyan Lizza, the ex-boyfriend of Olivia Nuzzi, claimed that his former partner planned to ‘consummate’ her relationship with RFK Jr at a Trump rally in August 2024 (Getty Images)Robert F Kennedy Jr is married to Cheryl Hines, whom Lizza appears to be referencing here.
Lizza has claimed that RFK Jr and Nuzzi’s rendezvous plans were thwarted when he was assigned to cover the same Trump rally. He also discovered his girlfriend’s alleged affair shortly before the event.
According to him, Nuzzi was the one to cancel her meeting with RFK Jr, whom she had planned to gift a 1943 edition of Brenda Starr, Girl Reporter.
A day after RFK and Nuzzi’s alleged meet-up was set to take place, Lizza says that he confronted the future Secretary of Health and Human Services, but felt that Kennedy Jr was “disturbingly unrattled” by the conversation.
Lizza also claimed that RFK Jr calmly denied any relationship with Nuzzi during their argument, which took place over the phone. According to Lizza, the call ended with Kennedy Jr saying that he was “sorry if you’re having a bad time.”
open image in galleryLizza claimed that he confronted RFK Jr over the alleged affair (Getty Images for CBS News)The former Politico writer later claimed in his article that the following months were marked by “Bobby’s extreme paranoia about what I know and Olivia’s extreme fears about what Bobby might do to her if I tell anyone.”
Lizza wrote that he was concerned about the level of control that RFK Jr allegedly had over Nuzzi. He claimed that the Kennedy scion had persuaded her to delete an audio clip she had obtained from court artist Isabelle Brourman, which was recorded at Mar-a-Lago.
He alleges that Brourman thought that the recording included a moment where “Trump said something that cast doubt on the official story behind Trump’s bloody ear.” The now-president’s ear was injured during an assassination attempt on July 13, 2024.
open image in galleryNuzzi allegedly ‘bombarded’ RFK Jr with ‘increasingly pornographic photos and videos,’ according to a source (Getty Images)However, Nuzzi allegedly erased the recording after RFK Jr contacted her from Baja. She later told Lizza that she could not corroborate Brourman’s recollection.
The details of Nuzzi’s alleged “digital relationship” with Kennedy Jr have been widely reported, with a source telling The New York Post that the reporter was “obsessed” with RFK and that “she bombarded him with increasingly pornographic photos and videos that he found difficult to resist.”
Meanwhile, court documents, filed by Nuzzi and obtained by CNN, also claimed that RFJ Jr told the journalist that he wanted to “possess,” “control,” and “impregnate” her.
However, Nuzzi has denied ever having a physical relationship with RFK Jr, while a spokesperson for the Secretary of Health and Human Services told Vanity Fair that “Mr. Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life.”
The Independent has contacted the Department of Health and Human Services for further comment.
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