Blake Lively’s lawyers denounce “further attacks” from Justin Baldoni
Blake Lively. Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
Blake LivelyThe lawyers denounce “further attacks”. Justin Baldoni and his team.
The New York Times brought the news on Dec. 21 that Lively had sued Baldoni — her co-star and director in the film It ends with us – for sexual harassment. Baldoni denied all allegations made against him in the lawsuit received from Us weeklyand days later was one of the 10 plaintiffs who filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times for reporting Lively’s allegations.
On New Year’s Eve, Lively, 37, filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, 40, in federal court in New York, mirroring her previous claims filed with the California Department of Civil Rights. In addition to Baldoni, Lively is also suing publicists Melissa Nathan And Jennifer Abeland Wayfarer Studios, Baldoni’s production company.
Lawyers for the actress said so People In a statement on Monday, January 6, it said Lively’s “serious allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation” were “supported by concrete facts.”
The alleged feud between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni made headlines months before the It Ends With Us co-stars filed lawsuits. While Lively and Baldoni were promoting the film in August 2024, rumors began circulating about an alleged feud between the two. Fans noticed that Lively was promoting the film with some of her co-stars, while Baldoni, the (…)
“This is not a ‘feud’ arising from ‘creative differences’ or a ‘he said/she said’ situation,” the lawyers’ statement said, according to the outlet. “As alleged in Ms. Lively’s complaint and as we will prove in litigation, Wayfarer (Studios) and its employees unlawfully retaliated against Ms. Lively for simply attempting to protect herself and others on a film set. And their response to the lawsuit has been to launch further attacks against Ms. Lively since it was filed.”
The statement said: “Sexual harassment and retaliation are illegal in every workplace and in every industry. A classic tactic to deflect allegations of this type of misconduct is to “blame the victim” by suggesting that they initiated the behavior, caused it, misunderstood intentions, or even lied.”
Lively’s team continued: “Another classic tactic is to reverse victim and perpetrator, suggesting that the perpetrator is actually the victim. These concepts normalize and trivialize allegations of serious misconduct.”
And finally, they wrote: “Most importantly, media statements are not a defense of Ms. Lively’s legal rights. We will continue to pursue their claims in federal court, where the rule of law, not hyperbole and threats, will determine who prevails.”
When it comes to Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s professional relationship, the odds are on. Both Lively, 37, and Baldoni, 40, have claimed in their respective lawsuits that they each had a hand in making different cuts of the film at the center of the It Ends With Us drama. In (…)
Us weekly turned to Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedmanfor a comment.
On Thursday, Jan. 2, Freedman recounted NBC News that he “absolutely” planned to sue Lively on his client’s behalf.
“We plan to release every single text message between the two of them,” Freedman told the outlet. “We want the truth to come out. We want the documents out there. We want people to make decisions based on evidence.”
He previously shared a statement Usvowed to “put down” The New York Times for his “vicious smear campaign.”
As for them Justsaid a spokesman Us that the outlet plans to “vigorously defend itself.”
“The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead,” it said in a Dec. 31 statement. “Our story has been reported carefully and responsibly. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and extensively in the article. These texts and emails were also at the heart of a discrimination lawsuit filed by Blake Lively in California against Justin Baldoni and his associates.”
