The New Yorker has fired reporter Ryan Lizza after allegations the Washington correspondent engaged in “improper sexual conduct.”
“The New Yorker recently learned that Ryan Lizza engaged in what we believe was improper sexual conduct. We have reviewed the matter and, as a result, have severed ties with Lizza. Due to a request for privacy, we are not commenting further,” reads a statement from the publication.
Lizza also serves as a CNN contributor. The network said he will not appear on the network while they investigate the matter.
Lizza, who had been with the magazine since 2007, pushed back on the firing, saying in a statement he was “dismayed” the publication had portrayed “a respectful relationship with a woman I dated as somehow inappropriate.”
Douglas Wigdor, an attorney for Lizza’s accuser, pushed back on Lizza’s assertion that the two had engaged in a “respectful relationship” but did not elaborate.
“Although she desires to remain confidential and requests that her privacy be respected, in no way did Mr. Lizza’s misconduct constitute a ‘respectful relationship’ as he has now tried to characterize it,” wrote Wigdor in a statement to The Hill. “Our client reported Mr. Lizza’s actions to ensure that he would be held accountable and in the hope that by coming forward she would help other potential victims.”
The 43-year-old Berkeley graduate made national headlines this past summer with an interview with then-White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci.{mosads}
Scaramucci went on a profanity-laced tirade that resulted in his resignation from his position in the White House after just 10 days on the job. The former financier’s targets included then-White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon and then-chief of staff Reince Priebus.
“I’m not Steve Bannon, I’m not trying to suck my own c–k,” Scaramucci, 53, said of Bannon. “I’m not trying to build my own brand off the f—ing strength of the President. I’m here to serve the country.”
He also accused Priebus of leaking stories to the press while referring to him as “a f—ing paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac.”
Scaramucci appeared to predict Lizza would be running into some kind of trouble just last week during a podcast interview with former New York sports radio morning host Craig Carton.
“This guy’s obviously a very bad actor,” Scaramucci told Carton on Monday. “Karma’s a bitch. It’ll come back and bite him. You’ll see.”
– This report was updated at 5:35 p.m.