Within hours of Justin Baldoni‘s team leaking footage from the set of It Ends With Us, attorneys for Blake Lively moved for the court overseeing her civil rights lawsuit to impose a gag order against Baldoni lawyer Bryan Freedman.
They accused him of effectively continuing the alleged smear campaign against Lively by repeatedly talking to the press, leaking information to gain public favor for his clients and issuing false statements.
Baldoni, who both directed and stars in the movie opposite Lively, filed his own complaint last week against Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds seeking at least $400 million in damages.
Lively’s legal team urged the court to schedule a hearing to consider a gag order against Freedman.
The allegedly defamatory statements concerned Freedman calling Kassan a “pathological liar.” The lawsuit was later dismissed.
The back and forth goes on.
Blake Lively’s lawyers quickly petitioned the court presiding over her civil rights case to impose a gag order on Justin Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman after his team leaked video from the It Ends With Us set. Through his repeated interviews with the media, information leaks to help his clients, and false statements, they charged him with successfully carrying out the alleged smear campaign against Lively.
Although Freedman remained silent, which is typical of his litigation strategy, sources close to Baldoni claim that it is “grossly unfair to impose a gag order after Justin has been defamed by The New York Times in an article that they say has cost him three jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars.”. “”.
According to the source, Justin only wants to “release videos and text messages to prove the allegations are false.”. According to the source, it’s “unbelievable that Blake Lively would launch a takedown campaign against Justin and then instantly turn around and say she wants a gag order so that Justin can’t defend himself again.”. “”.
In a lawsuit filed earlier this month in federal court in New York, Lively accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her while the film was being made and of planning a smear campaign after the film’s premiere with his associates. Baldoni, who directed and starred opposite Lively in the film, filed a complaint against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds last week, requesting at least $400 million in damages. Freedman, who represents him, is a fearless attorney who isn’t afraid to speak to the media; at one point, he threatened to “oblivion” anyone involved in certain “abhorrent” actions.
A cease-and-desist letter that Lively sent to Freedman last month was mentioned in the letter. Citing Freedman’s remarks to the media following Lively’s filing of a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department and his leak of a copy of the document, it asserted that Freedman had defamed the actress and committed unlawful retaliation against her.
The letter declared, “Lawyers are not publicity agents.”. Compared to crisis managers and publicists, we must adhere to a distinct set of professional standards. Among these standards is the ban on intentionally misrepresenting facts, even when doing so would support or advance the interests of our clients. “”.
Freedman’s claims that “no proactive measures were taken with media or otherwise,” that “representatives of Wayfarer Studios still did nothing proactive nor retaliated, and only responded to incoming media inquiries to ensure balanced and factual reporting and monitored social activity,” and other alleged false statements are among those cited in the cease-and-desist. “.”.
Baldoni’s team submitted footage to the media, starting with the Daily Mail, on Tuesday, the same day that the gag order request was submitted. He claims the footage refutes one of Lively’s allegations. He has repeatedly stated publicly that he and his team have nothing to conceal and that the video supports his claims. A website with all of the correspondence and pertinent videos that, according to Baldoni’s team, will refute Lively’s assertions is also being prepared.
According to Gottlieb, the release of that video, along with other actions during his media frenzy, is against several rules pertaining to lawyers’ professional conduct. For instance, lawyers are not allowed to say anything outside of court that might influence the course of the case.
Referencing his “litigation-via-press-statements strategy,” the letter claimed that “his conduct threatens to, and will, materially prejudice both the Lively Case and the Wayfarer Case by tainting the jury pool.”. One problem is releasing information to the media that might not be allowed in court.
A hearing to consider a gag order against Freedman should be scheduled, according to Lively’s legal team. Both she and Reynolds are represented by Manatt, Phelps and Phillips and Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
Freedman has been in possible trouble before for remarks he made to the media. In order to stop staff and clients from following him to his next project, MediaLink fonder Michael Kassan filed a defamation lawsuit against him last year, alleging that UTA attempted to damage his reputation. Freedman’s accusations of defamation included referring to Kassan as a “pathological liar.”. The lawsuit was subsequently dropped.
