Justin Baldoni files $250 million lawsuit against…
Justin Baldoni has filed a lawsuit against the New York Times over a story it wrote relating to the “It Ends With Us” director and Blake Lively.
In the 87-page grievance obtained by Variety, Baldoni accused the Times of promissory fraud and breach of implied-in-fact contract. He additionally provided a scathing rebuttal to the 4,000-word piece titled “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,” which led to WME dropping him as a shopper simply hours after it was revealed.
One of these rebuttals was to the accusations that “[Baldoni] repeatedly entered her makeup trailer uninvited while she was undressed, including when she was breastfeeding.”
Justin Baldoni filed the lawsuit on Tuesday, Dec. 31. Nathan Congleton/NBC by way of Getty Images
According to the lawsuit, on June 2, 2023, Lively despatched Baldoni a textual content wherein she blamed her assistant for not offering her with an up to date batch of script pages for “It Ends With Us.”
“She didn’t realize they were new,” Lively wrote. “New pages can always be sent to me as well please.” The actress allegedly signed the message with an “X” — the common image for a kiss.
Justin Baldoni served as Blake Lively’s co-star and director for “It Ends With Us.” ©Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
Blake sued Justin earlier this month, claiming she confronted sexual harassment and retaliation. Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
She adopted up by allegedly sending him one other textual content shortly after, telling him, “I’m just pumping in my trailer if you wanna work out our lines,” to which he responded, “Copy. Eating with crew and will head that way.”
That discrepancy is one of the various claimed in Baldoni’s $250 million lawsuit filed on Tuesday afternoon, which included 10 plaintiffs. High-profile publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel are among the many plaintiffs suing the Times for libel and false mild invasion of privateness over the article revealed on Dec. 21.
Publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel are among the many plaintiffs suing the Times for libel and false mild invasion of privateness over the article. WireImage
Baldoni claims Lively was the one who allegedly launched into a “strategic and manipulative” smear marketing campaign. Christopher Peterson / SplashNews.com
The Times’ piece painted Lively as a star who endured months of alleged sexual harassment from Baldoni, claiming she allegedly confronted retaliation of a smear marketing campaign when she voiced her considerations.
However, the lawsuit states it was Lively who allegedly launched into a “strategic and manipulative” smear marketing campaign, utilizing false “sexual harassment allegations to assert unilateral control over every aspect of the production.”
Baldoni’s lawsuit additionally accuses Lively’s husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, of allegedly berating him during a heated assembly at their Tribeca penthouse in New York, wherein he accused the director of “fat shaming” his spouse.
Baldoni accuses Ryan Reynolds of berating him during a heated assembly at their Tribeca penthouse. Getty Images for WeWork
Blake Lively’s lawyer denied the allegations in a assertion to The Post. Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
He additionally claimed Reynolds pressured Baldoni’s company, WME, to drop him — allegedly during the “Deadpool and Wolverine” premiere in July, which happened earlier than Baldoni employed his disaster PR crew.
A WME rep denied the accusations that Reynolds or Lively pressured the company to drop Baldoni as a shopper.
He additionally claimed Reynolds pressured Baldoni’s company, WME, to drop him as a shopper. Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
Blake’s lawyer’s advised The Post, “Nothing in this lawsuit changes anything about the claims advanced in Ms. Lively’s California Civil Rights Department Complaint, nor her federal complaint, filed earlier today. This lawsuit is based on the obviously false premise that Ms. Lively’s administrative complaint against Wayfarer and others was a ruse based on a choice ‘not to file a lawsuit against Baldoni, Wayfarer,’ and that ‘litigation was never her ultimate goal.’ As demonstrated by the federal complaint filed by Ms. Lively earlier today, that frame of reference for the Wayfarer lawsuit is false. While we will not litigate this matter in the press, we do encourage people to read Ms. Lively’s complaint in its entirety. We look forward to addressing each and every one of Wayfarer’s allegations in court.”
Attorney Bryan Freedman, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs, advised Variety that the Times “cowered to the wants and whims of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elites, disregarding journalistic practices and ethics once befitting of the revered publication by using doctored and manipulated texts and intentionally omitting texts which dispute their chosen PR narrative.”
A spokesperson for the Times stated, “The function of an impartial information group is to comply with the info the place they lead. Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was primarily based on a review of hundreds of pages of authentic paperwork, together with the textual content messages and emails that we quote precisely and at size within the article. To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the opposite topics of the article and their representatives haven’t pointed to a single error. We revealed their full assertion in response to the allegations within the article as nicely.
“We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”
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