Actor Justin Baldoni has filed a $250 million lawsuit against the actor The New York Times On Tuesday, he claimed that the Gray Lady had defamed him and his team when reporting on It Ends with Us co-star Blake Lively’s claim that he had launched a “smear campaign” against her.
Lively previously filed a lawsuit against Baldoni for sexual harassment, retaliation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and more. Lively also claims that Baldoni executed and participated in a “social manipulation” campaign to destroy her career and reputation.
The Times published a story on December 21 headlined, “We Can Bury Anyone: In a Hollywood Smear Machine,” reporting private emails and text messages that show a “playbook for conducting a largely non- detectable smear campaign in the digital age’ about Lively. , a 37-year-old actress married to actor Ryan Reynolds.
Actor Justin Baldoni is suing The New York Times for defamation. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
However, Baldoni and other accusers, including Hollywood public relations gurus, allege that the Times article “intentionally omitted portions of text exchanges and other information that contradicted the actress’ version of events.” They allege that the Times discredited them in the process, omitting critical context from communications that dispute many of Lively’s claims.
“The central contention of the article, summarized in a defamatory headline designed to immediately mislead the reader, is that Plaintiffs orchestrated a campaign of retaliation against Lively for speaking out about sexual harassment – a premise that is categorically false and could easily be refuted,” said the 87-year-old. Page lawsuit, filed by attorney Bryan Freedman in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleges.
“The Times story was based almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving story, reciting it almost verbatim while ignoring a plethora of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives,” the lawsuit continues.
Released man told Variety that the Times “croached to the wishes and whims of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elites, disregarding journalistic practices and ethics that once suited the respected publication by using falsified and manipulated copy and deliberately omitting copy that question their chosen PR story.”
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. (Getty Images)
The Times stands by its reporting.
“The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead. Our story was reported accurately and responsibly. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails which we quote accurately and at length in the article,” Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades told Ha Fox News digital.
“We published them full statement also in response to the allegations in the article,” she continued. “We intend to vigorously defend ourselves against the lawsuit.”
The lawsuit also alleges that the Times published its report before the deadline given to Baldoni’s representatives to respond in order to “pay lip service to journalistic ethics and fundamental fairness” but “never intended (or wanted) that the plaintiffs would respond.”
Talent agency William Morris Endeavor dropped Baldoni as a client after the Times article, the newspaper said.
Freedman did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment about Baldoni’s claims about the Times. He previously told The Times that Lively’s initial claims were “completely false, outrageous and deliberately salacious with the intent to publicly injure and repeat a media narrative.”
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 08: Blake Lively attends the UK Gala Screening of “It Ends With Us” at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on August 8, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Lia Toby/Getty Images) (Lia Toby/Getty Images)
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Lauryn Overhultz and Christina Dugan Ramirez of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
