Blake Lively‘s legal team has a response for Justin Baldoni‘s new lawsuit against the actress, saying it’s another chapter pulled from the abuser playbook.
“This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim.
Reverse Victim Offender,” read a statement from Lively’s lawyers that was given to The Hollywood Reporter late Thursday afternoon.
The evidence will show that the cast and others had their own negative experiences with Mr. Baldoni and Wayfarer.
Lively’s lawyers said Baldoni’s response to the sexual harassment allegations is “she wanted it, it’s her fault.
According to Blake Lively’s legal team, Justin Baldoni’s recent lawsuit against the actress is just another example of abuse.
This is a classic tale: The abuser tries to turn the tables on the victim after a woman comes forward with verifiable proof of sexual harassment and retaliation. This is referred to by experts as DARVO. Deny. Attack. “Reverse Victim Offender,” read a statement provided to The Hollywood Reporter late Thursday afternoon by Lively’s attorneys.
Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Manatt, Phelps and Phillips are Lively’s attorneys.
Hours after Baldoni filed a 179-page lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and two publicists in a federal court in New York, the rebuttal was released. The lawsuit claimed extortion, defamation, and breach of contract with regard to the creation and release of It Ends With Us.
Lively co-stars with Baldoni, who also directed the film. Both are acknowledged as PGA producers on the film, which, despite being a box office hit, has been the focus of a series of legal actions that started when Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and launching a smear campaign against her for raising concerns about misbehavior on the set. Prior to a formal lawsuit being filed in a federal court in New York earlier this month, she filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department in late December.
Baldoni, who is also asserting that he is the target of a smear campaign and denies any sexual harassment, is being sued by his film studio, Wayfarer, and its CEO, Jamey Heath, as well as their public relations agents, Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan. They want damages of at least $400 million. Steve Sarowitz is a multibillionaire who supports Wayfarer.
Freedman Bryan, the unrestrained L. A. The lawsuit, filed early Thursday, is “based on an overwhelming amount of untampered evidence detailing Blake Lively and her team’s duplicitous attempt to destroy Justin Baldoni, his team, and their respective companies by disseminating grossly edited, unsubstantiated, new, and doctored information to the media,” according to the lawyer representing the Baldoni side of the aisle. “”.
“This is a battle she will not win and will definitely regret,” he continued, “because of our own complete willingness to provide all complete text messages, emails, video footage, and other documentary evidence that was shared between the parties in real time. “.”.
Baldoni, Wayfarer, Baldoni’s publicist Jennifer Abel, and veteran crisis P are all named by Lively in her lawsuit. R. . executive Melissa Nathan. . Around the time of the movie’s premiere, when almost the whole cast abandoned their director in favor of Lively, who refused to be pictured with him on the red carpet or attend junkets with him, Baldoni hired the latter.
Following the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike, Baldoni claims that he was “under duress” when he and Heath agreed to sign a list of 30 demands if Lively would return to set. No more displaying naked videos or pictures of women, including the producer’s wife, to Lively or her staff; no more discussing Baldoni or Heaths’ “pornography addiction” or Lively’s abstinence from pornography; no more talking to Lively about her own sex experiences, including those involving spouses or other people; no more describing their own genitalia to Lively; and no more asking Lively about her weight. The actress also obtained guarantees that Baldoni would not discuss her conversations with her deceased father or show up in her trailer without warning. Sony, a distributor, was also obliged to play a more active role.
In early November 2023, the document was signed. A meeting with executives from Wayfarer and Sony, among others, was called at Lively and Reynolds’ New York City loft in early January 2024, prior to the start of production after the actors’ strike. Reynolds allegedly accused Baldoni of fat-shaming his wife after they got heated (Lively gave birth to her fourth child, a son, in early 2023, right before the shoot started).
Baldoni’s lawsuit claims that Wayfarer was taken by surprise when Lively, following the end of the industry strikes, refused to return to production unless the company agreed to her non-negotiable “Protections for Return to Production” (the “Return to Production Demands”), which implied misconduct had occurred during filming (which, as evidence will show, did not). Lively used this document, which was essentially signed under duress, to take over the film, which caught Wayfarer off guard as well. “”.
In response, Lively’s attorneys said, “They are attempting to change the focus to Ms. Lively by fabricating that she took creative control and distanced the cast from Mr. Dot Baldoni.”. The proof will demonstrate that Wayfarer and Mr. Baldoni caused problems for the cast and other people. Sony requested Ms. Lively to supervise their version of the movie, which they subsequently chose for release and found to be a huge hit. “.”.
In fact, Sony released Lively’s version of the movie and publicly backed her following the conflict with Baldoni.
Baldoni describes how Lively allegedly took over the film gradually and purposefully. She allegedly used her best friend Taylor Swift’s name when presenting him with rewrites, telling him that both Swift and Reynolds, whom she called “her dragons,” thought the changes were fantastic. As per the lawsuit filed on Thursday, Baldoni finally gave in and sent Lively an email stating that he didn’t require her to mention Swift and Reynolds to persuade him. Regarding additional ways she attempted to dominate the movie, he claims she took charge of her wardrobe right away, requesting pricey shoes, among other things.
Baldoni’s reaction to the sexual harassment claims, according to Lively’s attorneys, is “she wanted it, it’s her fault.”. Their explanation for why this occurred to her was to take a look at her attire. To put it briefly, the abuser concentrates on the victim while the victim concentrates on the abuse. The plan of attack against the woman is desperate, it will fail, and it does not deny the evidence in Ms. Lively’s complaint. “.”.
They went on to say that Wayfarer has chosen to use its billionaire co-founder’s resources to threaten legal action, file baseless lawsuits, and make media statements in an effort to make it difficult for the public to comprehend that their actions are retaliation for sexual harassment claims. “”.
Baldoni sued The New York Times on the same day that Lively filed a lawsuit in federal court earlier this month, alleging that the publication colluded with Lively’s PR team to promote an “unverified and self-serving narrative” while disregarding evidence that refuted her claims.