Blake Lively Slams “False Premise” Of Justin Baldoni’s $250M Suit Against New York Times Over Actress’ Sexual Harassment & Retaliation Claims

[ad_1] (Up to date, 4:57 pm with assertion from Blake Vigorous‘s attorneys) In a transfer straight out of the Donald Trump playbook, Justin Baldoni and his publicists have sued the New York Occasions for thousands and thousands due to the paper’s explosive story on his It Ends With Us co-star Blake Vigorous’s claims of sexual harassment and a smear marketing campaign from the Jane the Virgin alum and his flacks.

The 87-page libel grievance filed in LA Superior Courtroom simply hours earlier than 2024 ends accuses the Grey Girl and its journalists of being in league with Vigorous with a prolonged December 21 article that “cherry-picked and altered communications stripped of crucial context and intentionally spliced to mislead.” Portray with a broad brush, the 4 declare submitting from Baldoni, Melissa Nathan, Jennifer Abel and others asserts “the Occasions’ complicity arises from its obvious endorsement of the legal alteration of those textual content messages by Vigorous.”

“As well as, Defendants, and every of them, willfully refused to afford Plaintiffs significant alternative to answer the allegations.”

Learn Justin Baldoni’s libel lawsuit in opposition to the New York Occasions over the paper’s story on Blake Vigorous’s sexual harassment & retaliation claims right here

The NYT didn't reply to request for remark from Deadline on Baldoni and crew’s motion. In the event that they do, this put up might be up to date.

Blake Vigorous’s aspect, then again, actually had one thing to say.

“Nothing on this lawsuit modifications something concerning the claims superior in Ms. Vigorous’s California Civil Rights Division Grievance, nor her federal grievance, filed earlier at present,” attorneys for Vigorous advised Deadline.

“This lawsuit is predicated on the clearly false premise that Ms. Vigorous’s administrative grievance in opposition to Wayfarer and others was a ruse primarily based on a alternative ‘to not file a lawsuit in opposition to Baldoni, Wayfarer,’ and that ‘litigation was by no means her final objective,” Vigorous’s Manatt, Phelps & Phillips attorneys and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP agency add. “As demonstrated by the federal grievance filed by Ms. Vigorous earlier at present, that body of reference for the Wayfarer lawsuit is fake. Whereas we is not going to litigate this matter within the press, we do encourage folks to learn Ms. Vigorous’s grievance in its entirety. We sit up for addressing each one in every of Wayfarer’s allegations in court docket.”

Stuffed with textual content messages from Baldoni’s TAG PR staff and others, Vigorous’s 80-page December 20 grievance to the California Civil Rights division accuses her IEWU co-star/director of sexually harassing her and subsequently enacting “a coordinated effort to destroy her status” by way of social media assaults and planted press items.

A “stunning” countersuit was promised, and now we have now it — although the shock worth isn’t that top.

Written within the ordinary hyperbolic tones that lawyer Bryan Freedman is well-known for, Baldoni’s go well with Tuesday tries to taint Vigorous’s personal publicist Leslie Sloane for her previous associations with Harvey Weinstein and clutches its pearls over Ryan Reynolds‘ stern phrases to Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios staff throughout an all-hands January 4th assembly. The submitting states that one producer current on the assembly over Vigorous’s necessities to renew filming mentioned “in his 40-year profession he had by no means seen anybody converse to somebody like that in a gathering.” Moreover, “the Sony consultant talked about that she would usually consider that assembly and her one remorse is that she didn’t cease Reynolds’ berating of Baldoni.”

Actually, Baldoni’s submitting denies that he and his staff ever even noticed the itemized necessities contained in Vigorous’s 10-claim grievance that the Gossip Lady vet says was introduced on the January 4, 2024 sit-down.

“In actuality, lots of these things have been encountered for the primary time within the CRD Grievance itself and embrace references to extremely disturbing occasions that by no means occurred,” Baldoni’s libel and invasion of privateness go well with says. “The repeated use of the phrase ‘no extra’ earlier than every demand falsely means that these alleged incidents had beforehand taken place and wanted to stop. This implication just isn't solely deceptive however totally unfaithful.”

What’s odd and left essentially unmentioned at present is that the Nathan and Abel repped Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios responded simply after that assembly with a notice that whereas they noticed issues in another way than Vigorous, “Wayfarer, Sony and Manufacturing respectfully acknowledge that [Lively] has issues concerning security, professionalism and office tradition.”

Whereas Vigorous had but to really file a go well with of her personal, although one was dropped at present too, Abel’s previous Joneswork boss Stephanie Jones has already sued her ex-employee, Baldoni and TAG boss Nathan in a defamation motion of her personal. This got here simply days afters Abel pointed a finger at Jones for the interior communications in and round Baldoni attending to Vigorous’s attorneys and the NYT for its piece timed to the actress’ confidential CCR submitting.

As Vigorous has garnered assist from fellow Hollywood A-listers, Baldoni noticed their mutual company WME pink slip him on December 21. The company wasn’t leaned on by both famous person Reynolds, who can also be signed to WME, nor Vigorous to chop Baldoni unfastened, I hear. Nonetheless, including insult to damage, the self-declared “feminist” additionally had an ally of girl award rescinded, amongst different penalties of Vigorous’s very public checkmate.

As Deadline has realized from others with information of the state of affairs and occasions, Nathan’s ways and media associations aren’t held within the highest gentle in some circles. “What Melissa Nathan practices just isn't disaster PR,” one supply exclaimed at present. “It’s making a disaster in different folks’s lives for no different cause than her personal private revenue and perverse status. Now we discover that her sister abused her place on the New York Submit to maliciously unfold the slander. Seems prefer it runs within the household.”