Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively.
(Photos by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)Justin BaldoniAdv Brian Friedman “absolutely” plans to sue Blake Lively on behalf of his client.
Friedman was asked by NBC News in an interview Thursday, Jan. 2, whether he plans to sue Lively, 37, on behalf of It ends with us director. Friedman replied, “Absolutely … yes.”
“We plan to release every single text message between the two of them,” Friedman told the publication. “We want the truth to be out there somewhere. We want the documents to be there. We want people to make a decision based on receipts.”
It comes after Baldoni, 40. sued for $250 million vs New York Times on Tuesday, December 31. Actor-director sues for defamation and invasion of privacy after New York Times report on costar Lively after she sued him for sexual harassment.
It Ends With Us director and star Justin Baldoni is suing the New York Times over its reporting on actor Blake Lively after she sued him for sexual harassment. Baldoni, 40, filed a $250 million lawsuit against Lively, 37, on Tuesday, Dec. 31 in Los Angeles Superior Court, Us Weekly can confirm. (…)
Baldoni was one of 10 plaintiffs in the the casewhich includes publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel as well as Ends with Us manufacturers James Heath and Steve Saraowitzwho started a lawsuit against the media.
Baldoni filed suit that same day New York Times, Lively officially filed a lawsuit v. Baldoni, Nathan and Abel, along with Wayfarer Studios in the Southern District of New York.
The suit alleges sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and lost wages. The allegations parallel those made in Lively’s complaint filed with the California Department of Civil Rights last week.
Lively talks about its legal effect by statement on Saturday, December 21 to Us Weekly.
“I hope my lawsuit helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to hurt people who speak up about wrongdoing and helps protect others who may be targeted,” she said.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.
(Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)A New York Times a spokesman said Us Weekly in a statement on Tuesday, Dec. 31, that the outlet plans to “vigorously defend itself against the lawsuit.”
“The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead,” the statement said. “Our story was reported thoroughly and responsibly. It is based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including text messages and emails, which we quote accurately and in detail in the article. Those text messages and emails were also the basis of a discrimination lawsuit filed in California by Blake Lively against Justin Baldoni and his associates.
The statement continued: “To address some inaccuracies in the case when seeking comments from Mr. Baldoni and others who will be mentioned in the article, The Times shared the information we intended to publish, including references to specific text messages and documents, asked them to identify any inaccuracies, provide additional context, and speak to our team. Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer and the other entities chose not to have any conversations with The Times or address any of the specific text messages or documents and instead emailed a general response, which was published in full. (Also, they sent their response to The Times at 11:16 p.m. ET on Dec. 20, not 2:16 a.m. ET on Dec. 21, as the complaint says.)”
In response to Baldoni’s filing of the lawsuit, Lively’s attorney said us on Tuesday, Dec. 31, that the case was based on a “manifestly false premise.”
“Nothing in this lawsuit changes anything about the claims presented in Ms. Lively’s California Division of Civil Rights complaint, nor her federal complaint filed earlier today,” the statement said. “This case rests on the patently false premise that Ms. Lively’s administrative complaint against Wayfarer et al was a ruse based on a choice ‘not to sue Baldoni, Wayfarer’ and that ‘the lawsuit was never her end goal.” As the federal complaint filed by Ms. Lively earlier today shows, that frame of reference for the Wayfarer lawsuit is incorrect. While we will not argue this matter in the press, we encourage people to read Ms. Lively’s full complaint. We look forward to addressing each of Wayfarer’s allegations in court.”
Friedman also shared a statement with Us Weeklypromising to “take down” New York Times for his “vicious smear campaign”.
“In this vicious smear campaign entirely orchestrated by Blake Lively and her team, New York Times subject to the whims and caprices of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elites, flouting the journalistic practices and ethics once befitting a respected publication, using forged and manipulated texts and deliberately omitting texts that challenge their chosen PR narrative,” he said in a statement to us on Tuesday, December 31. “In doing so, they predetermined the outcome of their story and aided and abetted their own devastating PR smear campaign designed to revive Lively’s self-inflicted shaky public image and counter the organic tide of criticism among online audiences.” The irony is rich.
He continued: “Make no mistake though as we all unite to bring down New York Times by no longer allowing them to deceive the public, we will continue this campaign for authenticity by also prosecuting those individuals who have abused their power to try to destroy the lives of my clients. While their side accepts partial truths, we accept the full truth – and we have all the communications to back it up. The public will decide for themselves as they did when this first started.
