Justin Baldoni's lawyer slams 'ironic' claims of Blake Lively, vows to expose truth with all receipts
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Justin Baldoni's lawyer is pushing back against allegations made by Blake Lively in a legal battle that has gained widespread attention.
In response, Baldoni's legal team has vowed to reveal evidence to support his position, while Lively's attorneys maintain that their case is rooted in facts and will be pursued in federal court.
Justin Baldoni's lawyer claims Blake Lively's team orchestrated 'vicious attack' on him
In a statement released to People, Justin Baldoni's attorney Bryan Freedman criticized Blake Lively for accusing the actor-director of leveraging the media.
"It is painfully ironic that Blake Lively is accusing Justin Baldoni of weaponizing the media when," Freedman stated.
He claimed, "Her own team orchestrated this vicious attack by sending The New York Times grossly edited documents prior to even filing the complaint."
Freedman further alleged, "We are releasing all of the evidence which will show a pattern of bullying and threats to take over the movie."
"None of this will come as a surprise because consistent with her past behavior Blake Lively used other people to communicate those threats and bully her way to get whatever she wanted," he added. "We have all the receipts and more."
Blake Lively's lawyers argue her claims are based on 'concrete facts'
Blake Lively, who starred alongside Justin Baldoni in 'It Ends with Us', filed a lawsuit against him and others, including his producing partners and publicists.
The lawsuit alleges sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign aimed at damaging her reputation.
On January 6, Lively’s legal team said that her "serious claims of sexual harassment and retaliation," first filed in California on December 20, 2024, are "backed by concrete facts."
"This is not a 'feud' arising from 'creative differences' or a 'he said/she said' situation," her attorney said. "As alleged in Ms Lively’s complaint, and as we will prove in litigation, Wayfarer [Studios] and its associates engaged in unlawful, retaliatory astroturfing against Ms Lively for simply trying to protect herself and others on a film set."
Blake Lively's attorneys highlight Justin Baldoni's tactics used to 'blame the victim'
Blake Lively’s attorneys accused Justin Baldoni's legal team of using tactics to discredit her claims.
"Sexual harassment and retaliation are illegal in every workplace and in every industry," her legal team stated.
They termed it as "a classic tactic to distract from allegations of this type of misconduct is to 'blame the victim' by suggesting that they invited the conduct, brought it on themselves, misunderstood the intentions, or even lied."
"Another classic tactic is to reverse the victim and offender, and suggest that the offender is actually the victim. These concepts normalize and trivialize allegations of serious misconduct."
Lively's lawyers vow to fight claims in federal court. "Most importantly, media statements are not a defense to Ms Lively’s legal claims," her legal team wrote.
"We will continue to prosecute her claims in federal court, where the rule of law determines who prevails, not hyperbole and threats," as stated by Lively’s attorneys.
