Blake Lively is standing firmly behind The New York Times as the publication fights to be removed from Justin Baldoni’s mᴀssive $250 million lawsuit.
The outlet filed a motion in a New York federal court on Friday, defending its reporting on Lively’s accusations against Baldoni, according to ᴅᴇᴀᴅline.
The NYT maintains that its reporting on Lively’s Sєxual harᴀssment claims against Baldoni was fair and accurate, while ᴀsserting that Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios’ ‘one-sided’ allegations have no relevance to the publication.
‘The Wayfarer Parties FAC tells a one-sided tale that has garnered plenty of headlines,’ the filing states, per the outlet. ‘But The Times does not belong in this dispute.’
A spokesperson for Lively also backed the motion, telling the outlet, ‘In its motion to dismiss, The New York Times correctly calls out Justin Baldoni’s lawsuit for what it is: a shameless PR document that has no business in a court of law.’
The rep added: ‘For years, Baldoni urged men to listen to and believe women. But when a woman spoke out about his behavior, he and his billionaire backer Steve Sorowitz used a social media combat plan’ to scorch earth and try to ‘bury’ and ‘destroy’ her, along with the media who reports on it.’
Blake Lively is standing firmly behind The New York Times as the publication fights to be removed from Justin Baldoni ’s mᴀssive $250 million lawsuit; (seen in February)
The outlet filed a motion in a New York federal court on Friday, defending its reporting on Lively’s accusations against Baldoni, 40, regarding alleged misconduct on the set of It Ends With Us, according to ᴅᴇᴀᴅline; (seen in 2023)
The rep continued, ‘These bullying tactics will not survive in court, and everyone should see their meritless claims for what they are.’
In a December 21 article тιтled We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine, The New York Times shed light on allegations of Sєxual harᴀssment and retaliation made by Lively against Baldoni during the production of It Ends With Us.
Following this, Baldoni and his PR team filed a $250 million lawsuit against the Times on December 31.
Read MoreBREAKING NEWS Blake Lively hires former CIA deputy chief of staff amid legal battle 
The 87-page libel complaint filed in LA Superior Court accused the NYT and its journalists of being in league with Lively with the December 21 article that ‘cherry-picked and altered communications stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead.’
While the initial lawsuit in California has been dropped, the Times has been added to Baldoni’s amended complaint in New York, which also names Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist Leslie Sloane.
‘Over the course of their 224-page First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) (plus an added 168-page timeline), the Wayfarer Parties breathlessly tell their side of an ongoing Hollywood drama involving actors Blake Lively (“Lively”) and Justin Baldoni (“Baldoni”), the stars of the film It Ends With Us,” the New York Times’ court filing submitted on Friday reads, per the outlet.
‘The FAC has, to some extent, achieved its obvious purpose; the Wayfarer Parties’ story has been reported by countless news outlets during the last few weeks. What the FAC has not done, however, is plead a viable claim against The Times.’
Per ᴅᴇᴀᴅline, the memorandum accompanying the dismissal motion added: ‘Throughout their blunderbuss complaint, the Wayfarer Parties seek to drag The Times into their larger feud with Lively.
A spokesperson for Lively also backed the motion, telling the outlet, ‘In its motion to dismiss, The New York Times correctly calls out Justin Baldoni’s lawsuit for what it is: a shameless PR document that has no business in a court of law,’ (Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds in August)
‘But the only thing The Times is, in fact, alleged to have done is engage in newsgathering and publishing an Article and Video about the Wayfarer/Lively dispute.’
The publication contends that its involvement was limited to standard newsgathering and reporting on Lively’s complaint filed with the California Civil Rights Department, per ᴅᴇᴀᴅline.
Addressing allegations of collusion with Lively’s team and biased reporting, the Times’ legal team ᴀsserted, ‘Despite the Wayfarer Parties’ hundreds of pages of screengrabs, outrage, and rhetoric, this is a very simple case: the Article is absolutely privileged as a fair report, and the Wayfarer Parties’ defamation claim fails.’
No hearing date has been set for the motion to dismiss.
Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokesperson for the Times, told ᴅᴇᴀᴅline, ‘As our motion shows, this case should never have been brought against The New York Times.
‘Blake Lively raised serious concerns about the way she was treated on the set and after the movie’s release. We did exactly what news organizations should do: we informed the public of the complaint she filed with the California Civil Rights Department.
Mr. Baldoni’s misbegotten campaign against the Times—questioning our ethics, attempting to discredit our reporting, filing a baseless lawsuit—will not silence us.’
