Rudy Giuliani made antisemitic remarks about Jews’ genitalia, mocked ‘freaking Passover’ observance, new lawsuit claims
‘Get over the Passover. It was like 3,000 years ago. The Red Sea parted, big deal,’ Guiliani said, according to former associate
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani on June 21, 2021. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
By Jacob Kornbluh May 15, 2023
A former associate of Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, filed a lawsuit against him Monday in which she accused him of sexual assault, harassment and making racist and antisemitic remarks.
Noelle Dunphy, who began working for Giuliani in 2019 as director of business development for the Giuliani Companies, as well as his executive assistant for travel, communications and public relations, detailed the accusations and his “alcohol-drenched rants” in a 70-page complaint filed in New York Supreme Court.
Dunphy claimed Giuliani made comments about “‘freakin Arabs’ and Jews,” and that in one instance, talking about Jewish men, “implied that their penises were inferior due to ‘natural selection.’”
Listen to That Jewish News Show, a smart and thoughtful look at the week in Jewish news from the journalists at the Forward, now available on Apple and Spotify:
She also alleged that Giuliani, who served as an attorney for former President Donald Trump during his first impeachment trial and after the 2020 presidential election, mocked Jewish people for observing the holiday of Passover, which marks the exodus from Egypt. “Jews want to go through their freaking Passover all the time, man oh man,” Giuliani is quoted as saying in one of the recordings mentioned in the lawsuit. “Get over the Passover. It was like 3,000 years ago. The Red Sea parted, big deal. It’s not the first time that happened.”
The lawsuit claims that, “To tide Ms. Dunphy over and keep her obedient to him, Giuliani sometimes paid Ms. Dunphy in increments of no more than $5,000 in cash, at random times.” Dunphy’s employment was terminated in January 2021 after she demanded her long-delayed salary, which she said was promised to be $1 million a year, according to the lawsuit.
Ted Goodman, a spokesperson for Giuliani, said the former mayor “unequivocally denies the allegations.”
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
