In a direct move to break Donald Trump's playbook, Justin Baldoni and his publicists have filed a lawsuit New York timeTo millions because of the explosive story of the paper on him And it ends with us Star Blake Lively claims sexual harassment and a smear campaign from the Jane the Virgin alum and his followers.
The 87-page defamation complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court just hours before the end of 2024, accuses the Gray Lady and its journalists of being in cahoots with Lively with a lengthy article stating that “selected and edited communications were stripped of necessary context and intentionally linked to mislead.” “.
Neither The New York Times nor Lively's representatives responded to a request for comment from Deadline on the actions of Baldoni and the crew. If they do, this post will be updated.
Filled with text messages from Baldoni's TAG PR team and others, Lively's 80-page complaint filed Dec. 20 with the California Department of Civil Rights alleges IEWU Co-star/director who sexually harassed her and then enacted a “coordinated effort to destroy her reputation” via social media attacks and planted newspaper articles
Baldoni's lawsuit, written in the typical hyperbolic style of attorney Brian Friedman, attempts to discredit Leslie Sloan, Lively's publicist, over her past associations with Harvey Weinstein, and clings to Ryan Reynolds' tough words toward Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios team. During a comprehensive meeting on January 4. The filing states that one of the producers who attended the meeting regarding Lively's requirements to resume filming said, “In his 40-year career, he had never seen anyone talk to someone like that in a meeting. Additionally, “the Sony representative stated that she often thought “At this meeting, her only regret is that she did not stop Reynolds' reprimanding of Baldoni.”
In fact, Baldoni's filing denies that he and his team saw the detailed requirements contained in Lively's 10-claim complaint dated Dec. 20 to the California Department of Civil Rights that the Gossip Girl vet says she filed at the Jan. 4, 2024, sit-in.
“In fact, many of these elements were first encountered in the CRD complaint itself and include references to deeply disturbing events that never occurred,” Baldoni’s defamation and invasion of privacy lawsuit filed. “The repeated use of the phrase ‘no more’ before each request falsely suggests that these alleged incidents have occurred previously and must stop. This insinuation is not only misleading, it is completely untrue.”
What's strange is that Baldoni was represented by Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Appel and his Wayfarer Studios responded immediately after that meeting with a note that while they say things differently than Lively, “Wayfarer, Sony and Production respectfully acknowledge that [Ms. Lively] Has concerns about safety, professionalism and workplace culture.
While Lively has yet to file a lawsuit of her own, though one is expected to be filed any day, Stephanie Jones, Abel's old boss at Joneswork, has already sued the company.
“What Melissa Nathan is doing is not a public relations crisis. She is creating a crisis in the lives of others for no other reason than her own personal profit and prejudicial standing. And now we find that her sister has abused her position at the New York Post to maliciously spread slander. It seems to run in the family.”
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