Lurid lawsuit claims Giuliani "took Viagra constantly" and raped employee — and there's tapes

Noelle Dunphy "eventually stopped resisting because it was clear that he would not stop pressuring her": lawsuit

By Gabriella Ferrigine

Staff Writer

Published May 16, 2023 11:03AM (EDT)

U.S. President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani (Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
U.S. President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani (Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)

A former employee accused former New York City mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani of sexual harassment in a lengthy complaint filed in New York Supreme Court on Monday.

Noelle Dunphy filed a summons in January, alleging that Giuliani hired her for "business development work" in 2019, subsequently leading to various inappropriate actions on Giuliani's behalf, and filed the lawsuit on Monday.

The Monday filing, packed with graphic detail, alleges that Giuliani engaged in repeated lewd behavior, including forced oral sex and intercourse. The filing, which states that Dunphy is seeking $10 million in damages, also says that she recorded several of her interactions with Giuliani. The complaint accuses Giuliani of first-degree rape, third-degree rape, first-degree sexual abuse, third-degree sexual abuse, sexual misconduct and forcible touching.

The bombshell suit claims that on February 25, 2019, Giuliani forced Dunphy to have sexual intercourse against her will for the first time, after telling her "that he would not wait any longer."

"Ms. Dunphy objected and told Giuliani repeatedly that she did not want to have sex. But Giuliani would not take 'no' for an answer," the complaint alleges, adding that Giuliani "eventually forced her into having sexual intercourse with him."

"She never consented to intercourse," the suit states, "but she eventually stopped resisting because it was clear that he would not stop pressuring her." The complaint argues that Dunphy lived under the "virtually constant threat that Giuliani might initiate sexual contact at any moment."

Giuliani also reportedly pressed Dunphy to work from his apartment, "often demanded that she work naked, in a bikini, or in short shorts with an American flag on them that he bought for her." During the COVID-19 pandemic, Giuliani allegedly would tell Dunphy to undress during their video calls. 

Giuliani reportedly also shared BDSM sexual fantasies with Dunphy and pushed her to watch BDSM scenes, eventually using abusive and degrading language toward her. 

Dunphy also claims in the suit that Giuliani "took Viagra constantly" during her employment, and would occasionally "point to his erect penis, and tell Dunphy that he could not do any work until 'you take care of this.'" The suit also states that Giuliani was often intoxicated and that he would make Dunphy "fetch his alcohol and make sure he was a 'functioning alcoholic.'" 

The complaint includes a number of screenshots of text messages between Dunphy and Giuliani, including requests for Dunphy to join him in the shower and telling her "you're mine."

The complaint states that Giuliani believed himself to be above the law because he had "immunity," claiming that he was selling pardons for $2 million dollars.

"He told Ms. Dunphy that she could refer individuals seeking pardons to him, so long as they did not go through "'the normal channels' of the Office of the Pardon Attorney because correspondence going to that office would be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act," Dunphy alleges.

In February of 2019, the suit claims, Giuliani divulged Donald Trump's 2020 election loss plan: "Specifically, Giuliani told Ms. Dunphy that Trump's team would claim that there was 'voter fraud' and that Trump had actually won the election."

The suit also alleges that Giuliani would sometimes use hateful and racist language when speaking to Dunphy, arguing that it's time for Jews to "get over the Passover" because "it was like 3,000 years ago," and asserting that Jewish men have small genitalia. Giuliani also reportedly said Black and Hispanic men physically hurt women because "it is in their culture."


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Dunphy also says that Giuliani called her obsessively, even demanding to approve her phone calls at one point. 

"During February 2019, Giuliani's habit of calling her obsessively continued, including approximately 34 calls on February 1, 2019, 19 calls on February 2, 2019, 44 calls on February 5, 2019, 32 calls on February 6, 2019, 28 calls on February 7, 2019, 36 calls on February 11, 2019, 50 calls on February 12, 2019, 53 calls on February 13, 2019, and 10 calls on February 14, 2019," the complaint says.

Speaking with The Daily Beast in January, Giuliani's legal team dismissed the summons filing as "frivolous."

"These are libelous allegations drafted by an individual with no lawyer, because no lawyer would associate themselves with this nonsense," Giuliani's attorney, Robert Costello, said at the time. 

"Unfortunately, when you are in the public eye, you become a target for these predators. Any cursory due diligence will reveal that this person is not truthful and any publication of these lies will be purely malicious on the part of your publication."

A spokesperson for Giuliani said on Monday that he "vehemently and completely denies the allegations in the complaint and plans to thoroughly defend against these allegations. This is pure harassment and an attempt at extortion."


By Gabriella Ferrigine

Gabriella Ferrigine is a staff writer at Salon. Originally from the Jersey Shore, she moved to New York City in 2016 to attend Columbia University, where she received her B.A. in English and M.A. in American Studies. Formerly a staff writer at NowThis News, she has an M.A. in Magazine Journalism from NYU and was previously a news fellow at Salon.

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Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Brief Donald Trump Noelle Dunphy Politics Rudy Giuliani