Rudy and Judith Giuliani married in a glitzy ceremony at Gracie Mansion in 2003, but things soured after Giuliani’s disastrous bid for the republican presidential nomination in 2008, she said in an exclusive interview with Inside Edition.
Rudy Giuliani’s descent from hero mayor who became a symbol of leadership in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks to Donald Trump ally facing potential indictment for attempting to subvert the 2020 election began when he lost his own bid for president of the United States, his ex-wife said in an exclusive interview with Inside Edition.
“The person you see now is not the man I married,” Judith Giuliani said, breaking the years of silence she observed in the wake of her marriage to Rudy Giuliani.
They were married in 2003 in a glitzy ceremony at the New York Mayor’s residence, Gracie Mansion, but things soured after Giuliani’s disastrous bid for the republican presidential nomination in 2008, she said.
“We, for a long time, were a very good team,” she said. “Then things changed."
“He felt he was beloved by the nation,” she continued. “He was devastated. It was very difficult for him and understandably so.”
Judith said the hero of 9/11 fell into despair, and for comfort, he turned to his old friend, Donald Trump. “We stayed at Mar-a-Lago. We were given a place to go, where Rudy could have sanctuary and recover,” she said.
There have been reports that he started drinking heavily to "dull the pain.” More recently, on the night of the 2020 election, Giuliani was reportedly drunk. Giuliani denies he has a drinking problem.
President Trump rejected the advice of his campaign experts on election night, and instead followed the course recommended by an apparently inebriated Rudy Giuliani.
When asked if her ex-husband has a drinking problem, Judith said, “You just have to see what Rudy has said himself publicly. He has described himself as a partier... he says he likes to drink scotch.
“I think Rudy has answered his own questions about his own behavior for himself,” she said.
When asked if his decision-making has been impaired by possible heavy drinking, Judith said, “I certainly don’t agree with a lot of the decisions that he's made. How he's come to those decisions, wouldn't be something that I can comment on.”
Giuliani saw Trump as a lifeline back to the center of political power, his ex-wife said.
“There becomes this thing I watched happen to him, that power just becomes extremely addictive, extremely addictive,” she said. “One of the other things Rudy also loves is the limelight.”
His love of the limelight has landed Giuliani in some embarrassing situations, including an awkward encounter in a hotel room with actress Maria Bakalova, who was working undercover for comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, as well as the 2020 press conference in which Giuliani was sweating so much, his hair dye came dripping down his face.
“It breaks my heart, it’s sad,” Judith said of her ex-husband’s fall from grace.
What she views as Giuliani's most humiliating moment was his appearance on “The Masked Singer.”
“This Rudy isn’t the guy I married,” she said. “The guy I married would not have gone on ‘The Masked Singer.’”
But nothing has done more to damage his once heroic reputation as “America’s Mayor” than his role peddling bogus conspiracy theories claiming the election was stolen from Trump.
When asked if she thinks he truly believes the election was stolen, Judith said, “I have not spoken to Rudy recently; I have no idea what Rudy believes.”
Giuliani now finds himself under investigation and reportedly faces potential indictment in Georgia. He’s also battling Judith over $260,000 in back alimony and the sale of joint assets.
Their bickering was caught on tape outside a Manhattan courtroom, just an hour after Judith’s interview with Inside Edition was conducted.
“He hasn’t met his obligations. He was a guy who was responsible for enforcing the rules, now he's not following the rules,” Judith’s attorney, Dror Bikel, said.
The encounter was bitter for Judith, who said she became emotional at the sight of her ex-husband.
“I actually cried when I saw him,” she said. “The person the world sees now is someone that clearly isn't getting good advice.”
Giuliani admits he owes his ex past alimony payments, but says it's much less than the $260,000 she's asking for.
INSIDE EDITION REPORTER:
Dror Bikel, author of “The 1% Divorce” is Judith Guiliani’s attorney.
DROR BIKEL:
He hasn’t met his obligations. Here was a guy, as everybody knows, who was responsible for enforcing the rules and, unfortunately now, he’s not following the rules.