Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively.
Getty Images (2)Justin Baldonilawyer Brian Friedman Fired back on Blake LivelyA response to the director's $400 million lawsuit.
“After my client filed a comprehensive lawsuit containing nearly 200 pages of undeniable facts and documentary evidence that crushed their false claims of a smear campaign by providing fabricated communications to… New York Times“Blake and her legal team have only one outrageous pivot left to do: double down on the disgusting false sexual accusations against Mr. Baldoni,” Friedman said. Delivery time In a statement on Saturday, January 18.
Baldoni, 40 years old, Lively, 37, was sued earlier this weekIt is demanding compensation amounting to $400 million. In the deposit he received weBaldoni's legal team claimed that Lively was “determined to make Baldoni the true villain of her story” to hide her allegedly “tone-deaf” promotion of their film. And it ends with us.
Baldoni directed and starred in the 2024 film adaptation Colin HooverA novel about an abusive relationship. Protagonist Lily Bloom was vividly portrayed on screen and also served as executive producer. Baldoni played Lily's husband, Rail Kincaid.
Justin Baldoni is leaning on his loved ones amid his ongoing legal battle against Blake Lively. “We're grateful to be with family, man,” Baldoni, 40, told photographers on Friday, January 17, at Los Angeles International Airport in a video obtained by TMZ. “We have amazing friends, family and faith.” Baldoni gives birth to his daughter Maya (…)
Months after the film's August 2024 premiere, Lively Baldoni was accused of sexual harassment and promoting a “hostile work environment.” She also alleged in her December 2024 lawsuit that Baldoni attempted to coordinate a focused campaign to destroy her reputation. (Friedman, on behalf of Baldoni, denied the allegations at the time.)
Shortly after Baldoni filed a lawsuit against Lively last week — also naming her husband, Ryan ReynoldsTheir team of publicists in the lawsuit denied the accusations.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.
Theo Wargo/WireImage“This latest lawsuit filed by Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its partners is another chapter in the abuser’s playbook. This is an old story: a woman speaks out with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and an abuser tries to turn the tables on the victim. Lively's lawyers said we In a statement. “This is what experts call a Darvo. Deny. Attack. Reverse perpetrator-victim. Wayfarer has chosen to use the resources of its billionaire founder to issue media statements, launch baseless lawsuits, and threaten litigation to overwhelm the public's ability to understand that what they are doing is retaliation for sexual harassment allegations.” .
UPDATE: 1/7/24, 12 PM ET – Brian Friedman, Justin Baldoni's attorney, issued the following statement in response to Lively's team: “It is painfully ironic that Blake Lively is accusing Justin Baldoni of using the media as a weapon when she is the person in question.” The team organized this vicious attack by sending grossly edited documents to The New York Times before[…]
The publicists named in the lawsuit also issued a statement.
“It is devastating that we are forced to respond to this ongoing selfish lawsuit filled with documented and proven lies in the midst of a tragedy affecting California where we reside.” we He reads. “Five months ago, Ms. Lively chose to promote a film about domestic violence in a way that caused immediate and negative backlash due to her highly publicized actions. Instead of accepting responsibility, she decided to callously blame us. This is a malicious attack on individuals by Ms. Lively and her team.” In which they chose spoon feeding New York Times With text messages that were manipulated, taken out of context and edited in an attempt to portray herself as a victim, she sparked a series of events that were extremely damaging.
The letter continued: “To be clear, Ms. Lively and her team began this smear campaign in the media for the sole purpose of gaining undeserved public sympathy for her wrongdoings. Over the past month, we have received death threats, abhorrent abuse, and vile anti-Semitic insults directed at us because of her decision to use us as a scapegoat for her own choices in promoting her multi-million dollar film. With this recording, we lift the curtain on what happens when they use power, fear and money as weapons to destroy, intimidate and bully those who get in their way.
Meanwhile it was Baldoni Staying focused on his family In light of the situation.
“We're grateful to be with family,” he told photographers at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, January 17. “We have amazing friends, family and faith.”
Baldoni shares daughter Maya, 9, and son Maxwell, 7, with his wife. Emily Baldoni.
