Rudy Giuliani may have locked up a spot in the pantheon of creepiest American politicians with a series of audio transcripts introduced in court this week by a woman accusing him of sexual assault and harassment. The audio recordings, made by his former employee Noelle Dunphy, show that America’s Mayor allegedly made jarringly sexist, antisemitic, and homophobic remarks.
In a lawsuit filed in May, Dunphy says she was hired by the former New York mayor in 2019 as his director of business development for an annual salary of $1 million. She also claims that Giuliani promised to represent her pro bono in a legal fight against an abusive ex-partner. But from the get-go, the complaint alleges, Giuliani “made clear that satisfying his sexual demands — which came virtually anytime, anywhere — was an absolute requirement of her employment and of his legal representation.” Dunphy says that throughout her term of employment, the lawyer sexually assaulted her several times and perpetuated a “cycle of abuse.” “While working with Ms. Dunphy, Giuliani would look to Ms. Dunphy, point to his erect penis, and tell her that he could not do any work until ‘you take care of this,’” the complaint alleges. Dunphy also accuses Giuliani of only paying her around $12,000 for her work until her termination in January 2021, even though she was owed around $2 million in back pay.
Giuliani has denied Dunphy’s allegations, insisting that the relationship was consensual. (The Cut has reached out to his attorney and will update if we hear back.) In June, he asked the judge to strike portions of the lawsuit as well as sanction Dunphy and her lawyer. Dunphy’s legal team responded on Monday, introducing the transcripts, which were certified by a court-reporting agency, as exhibits. She also requested that the judge sanction the former mayor and his lawyer, arguing that Giuliani has a pattern of disrespecting the court. Earlier this summer, an attorney disciplinary panel recommended that Giuliani be disbarred over his work to help former president Donald Trump overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The transcripts appear to back up Dunphy’s account with Giuliani allegedly telling her, “You’re my whore. You’re my fucking slut,” on one occasion. In another, he purportedly calls her “my daughter” and “my little girl.” The 79-year-old would also come on to Dunphy. “Come here, big tits. Come here, big tits. Your tits belong to me,” one of the transcripts reads. “Give them to me (indiscernible). I want to claim my tits. I want to claim my tits. I want to claim my tits. These are my tits.”
The former mayor also allegedly made a series of antisemitic comments, including that Jewish people should “get over” Passover. “It was like 3,000 years ago. Okay, the Red Sea parted,” he said, according to the transcripts. “Big deal. Not the first time that happened.” On a separate occasion, he purportedly said: “Jewish men have small cocks because they can’t use them after they get married. Whereas the Italian men use them all their lives so they get bigger.” (Giuliani is Italian.)
According to the court documents, Giuliani also called actor Matt Damon a homophobic slur when discussing which celebrities are Republican and implied former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is gay. In her complaint, Dunphy said she felt pressured to go along with Giuliani’s behavior because she was afraid that she’d otherwise lose the salary she was promised and that the mayor wouldn’t represent her in the domestic-violence case against her ex-partner. She is seeking $10 million in damages.
The lawsuit is just one piece of the dizzying constellation of legal problems Giuliani is facing right now, including admitting to making defamatory statements in a lawsuit brought by two election workers in Georgia and being identified as a co-conspirator in the indictment filed against Trump for plotting to overturn the 2020 election.
