Noelle Dunphy (left) during a May 2023 interview on her allegations (Inside Edition/screengrab) , (right) former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani and girlfriend Maria Ryan attend the 9/11 Memorial Service in 2022 (Photo by Gabriele Holtermann/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)
Rudy Giuliani, while ranting over the weekend that his WABC radio show was canceled for using the platform to repeat 2020 election conspiracy theories despite warnings from higher-ups, noticeably encouraged Dr. Maria Ryan, his ousted “Uncovering the Truth” co-host and girlfriend, to sue the station over a “hostile work environment” for women. There’s just one problem: Giuliani is himself facing a hostile work environment lawsuit brought by his former director of business development.
During a late Friday livestream on YouTube, Giuliani blasted WABC for not only showing him the door, but also doing the same for co-host Ryan. While doing so, Giuliani accused WABC of fostering a “hostile work environment” for women and stated that Ryan had a case.
“Unfortunately, she’s also been fired. But she’s also been treated horribly as a woman, treated horribly as a person, treated horribly as a professional. And I don’t know that she wasn’t going to leave anyway because Chad Lopez, the president of the station, creates a very hostile work environment — many women have left,” Giuliani said. “One’s on Newsmax, another’s independent. We’ll see if they’ll speak up.”
Minutes later, Giuliani repeated the hostile workplace allegations.
“Dr. Maria’s been treated like horribly. If she doesn’t sue you and that creep of yours Chad Lopez for a very, very hostile work environment, she’s crazy,” he said. “And if she doesn’t get a couple other women to do it with her I’d be surprised.”
“How many have you fired or left you?” Giuliani asked.
Giuliani does have some experience with hostile work environment litigation — as a defendant. Recall that Noelle Dunphy in May 2023 filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Giuliani, claiming that he sexually abused her and subjected her to a hostile work environment while not paying her for her work.
The suit alleged that Giuliani was recorded saying things like “You’re a f—ing slut,” “You’re my b—-,” “whore,” “I’m gonna get my c— in there,” “I want to own you officially. Legally. With a document,” “I can’t control myself. I lose control. I think of you all the time. I’m unable to control it. I’m addicted,” and “I can’t think about you without getting hard.”
Dunphy also accused Giuliani of having a drinking problem that explained his “vile commentary.”
“Constantly drunk, morning, noon, and night. Dysfunctional in public and private. Alcohol played a constant role in his life, fueling bizarre behavior, bad judgment, impulsiveness, and vile commentary,” the lawsuit said.
When Giuliani vehemently denied the sexual assault allegation, he said that he and Dunphy had a consensual relationship over a period of months in 2019. He accused her of being a “seasoned professional at accusing former romantic partners of misdeeds in civil litigation.”
“I dated Ms. Dunphy for several months in early 2019. I ended the relationship because she continued to reach out and attempt to make contact with me. I discovered she was banned from several luxury hotels and also found out that she brought forward two prior cases, but never submitted a police report. I look forward to full vindication,” he said.
The Dunphy case aside, the 2020 election and Giuliani’s insistence that it was stolen from Donald Trump has led to far-reaching personal consequences, both in the civil and criminal arenas, as Law&Crime has reported. Aside from facing election-related indictments in Georgia and Arizona, Giuliani filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York after he lost a defamation case by default in Washington, D.C., a case that led to a $146 million judgment in favor of Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss.
As recently as Friday, Freeman and Moss told Giuliani’s bankruptcy judge that he should be “permanently” barred from “repeating the defamatory statements for which he has been held liable” and “any substantially similar statements” accusing the mother and daughter of trying to steal the election from Trump.
“Mr. Giuliani’s persistence in making these statements after all that has transpired, coupled with his refusal to agree to refrain from continuing to make such statements, make clear that he intends to continue in his campaign of targeted defamation and harassment,” the filing said. “Accordingly, there is an overwhelming, ongoing, and imminent risk that Mr. Giuliani will inflict substantial reputational and emotional harm on Plaintiffs. This has to stop.”
Giuliani’s creditors, angered by the glacial pace of the proceedings and by Giuliani’s latest attempt to appeal the Freeman judgment, also weighed in last week on the state of affairs.
“The Committee finds itself on a hamster wheel trying to hold the Debtor accountable for his recurring and continuous misdeeds,” the bankruptcy lawyers said.
Attorneys for Freeman and Moss, in the meanwhile, complained that Giuliani has been undeterred by the defamation judgment and only continued using his internet commentary pulpit to repeat “false and defamatory remarks about them.”
“On April 11, 2024, after filing this case, and after being warned by this Court not to continue making defamatory statements, Rudy Giuliani livestreamed a video of himself addressing a crowd in Tulsa, Oklahoma, across multiple platforms, including Twitter/X, YouTube, and Rumble. While sitting in a chair onstage, Mr. Giuliani discusses election night 2020 and Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss,” the filing said. “Despite having been found liable for approximately $148 million in damages as a result of his previous statements about these women, Mr. Giuliani again made false and defamatory remarks about them. Mr. Giuliani stated ‘I was sued by two women who were counting multiple ballots in Georgia, we have one of them on tape doing it.’ Mr. Giuliani went on and told the crowd, ‘I can show you [evidence] tonight of them counting the ballots four times, one two one two four times four time four times.””
From WABC’s standpoint, it seems Giuliani’s possibly permanent suspension and canceled show is strictly about protecting itself from being pulled into the former NYC mayor’s legal quagmire. That is simply what happens when on-air talent becomes more of a liability than an asset.
WABC owner John Catsimatidis reportedly said of Giuliani’s continued 2020 election talk despite warnings. “I had no choice but to suspend him.”
“What media company wouldn’t suspend him based on that?” he asked. “I said to him, you’re suspended, let’s sit down and talk on Monday, and then he went berserk on us.”
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