Justin Baldoni’s lawyer says his countersuit against Blake Lively will ‘shock everyone’
It looks like the animosity between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni won’t end until 2024.
Following Ny Breaking.com’s exclusive report Friday that It Ends with Us actor-director Baldoni, 40, and several associates are preparing to file a countersuit against movie star Lively, 37, when the courts open on Jan. 2, the Baldoni attorney Bryan Freedman promised that the contents of the filing “will shock everyone.”
“I’m not going to say when or how many lawsuits we file, but when we file our first lawsuit, it will shock anyone who has been manipulated into believing a demonstrably false story,” Freedman said Saturday. Term.
Freedman said the contents of the countersuit “will be supported by real evidence and tell the true story” of how things transpired between the creatives and their respective publicity teams.
“In my 30-plus years of practice, I have never seen this level of unethical behavior deliberately fueled by media manipulation,” Freedman told the newspaper. “It reminds me of what NBC tried to do to Megyn Kelly and Gabrielle Union, and we all know how that turned out. Standby.’
Ny Breaking.com has reached out to Freedman, as well as representatives from both Lively and Baldoni, for comment on the latest development in the developing story.
It appears the animosity between Blake Lively, 37, and Justin Baldoni, 40, won’t end until 2024, as a lawyer for Baldoni promises that an upcoming countersuit against the actress will “shock everyone.” Pictured on set in New York earlier this year
Lively accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her in multiple ways during the film’s production. Pictured in LA last month
As Ny Breaking.com previously reported, Baldoni’s business partner Jamey Heath will also be involved in the countersuit, as will the publicists cited in the complaint filed by Lively on December 20.
In the 80-page legal complaint — which typically predates a formal lawsuit — Lively accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her in multiple ways during the film’s production.
Lively said in the legal complaint that Baldoni barged into her trailer while she was breastfeeding her child; talked about his past addiction to adult films; talked about past sexual experiences with non-consensual implications; and asked her about details of her ‘intimate life’.
Lively’s legal team said in the complaint that Baldoni is “routinely deteriorating” [her] by finding ways to criticize her body and weight.”
Baldoni and select associates worked together to create a negative public campaign at her expense, with the intent to damage her reputation, Lively — who is married to Deadpool star Ryan Reynoldsc, 48 — said in the complaint.
“I hope my legal action will help pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak out about wrongdoing and help protect others who may be targeted,” Lively told the newspaper. The New York Times in a December 21 report.
Baldoni has dismissed all claims against him in Lively’s legal filing.
Expected claims in the countersuit, as previously reported by Ny Breaking.com, include accusations that Lively’s employees misled into releasing out-of-context WhatsApp messages; that Lively’s representative used media to attack Baldoni’s reputation; and that the complaint was filed to save Lively’s reputation after a series of negative publicity.
Baldoni has dismissed all claims against him in Lively’s legal filing
Lively’s wife Ryan Reynolds took to Instagram Stories on Sunday to promote his football club Wrexham AFC
Leslie Sloane, head of the PR firm representing Lively, Vision PR, denied ever providing the media with stories regarding complaints about Baldoni’s behavior on the set of the film, in a statement to Deadline on Saturday.
“It is clear that Mr. Baldoni and his Wayfarer Associates are implying that I fabricated press stories about HR complaints on set, which is not true,” Sloane said, referring to “Lively’s complaint and the complaint filed by Jonesworks LLC and Stephanie Jones ‘ in regard to ‘the details of the campaign against’ Lively.
Sloane told the outlet that the situation involved both Baldoni PR chief Melissa Nathan and her sister, Page Six editor Sara Nathan.
“I was contacted on September 11 by Sara Nathan (Melissa Nathan’s sister) who forwarded an anonymous tip that Page Six received,” Sloane told Deadline, “about allegations of HR complaints on the set of It Ends with Us.”
Sloane told the newspaper: ‘Afterwards I was contacted by several press outlets with questions about allegations of HR complaints. When I reached out, I responded to press inquiries by referring them to Wayfarer or Sony for information on HR complaints.”
It Ends with Us, which also starred Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, Brandon Sklenar and Kevin McKidd, arrived in theaters on August 9 and was a hit with audiences. According to Box Office Mojo, it earned $148 million at the domestic box office and $350 million worldwide.