Justin Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman slammed Blake Lively as an elitist manipulator who is trying to game the legal system after she sought to have a countersuit from Baldoni tossed out of court.
Attorney Bryan Freedman, who is representing the It Ends with Us director and leading man in the drawn-out litigation with Lively surrounding the stormy production of their summer hit, issued a statement to Dailymail.com Thursday taking aim at the actress for what he said was an abuse of the system.
‘Ms. Lively’s recent motion to dismiss herself from the self-concocted disaster she initiated is one of the most abhorrent examples of abusing our legal system,’ Freedman told Dailymail.com in a statement. ‘Stringent rules are put into place to protect the innocent and allow individuals to rightfully defend themselves.
‘Laws are not meant to be twisted and curated by privileged elites to fit their own personal agenda.’
Freedman vowed to ‘continue to hold Ms. Lively accountable for her actions of pure malice which include falsely accusing my clients of harᴀssment and retaliation.’
He added, ‘Her fantastical claims will be swiftly debunked as discovery moves forward, easily disproved with actual, evidentiary proof.
Justin Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman slammed Blake Lively as an elitist manipulator who is trying to game the legal system after she sought to have a countersuit from Baldoni tossed out of court. Pictured last summer on the Today show
Freedman vowed to ‘continue to hold Ms. Lively accountable for her actions of pure malice which include falsely accusing my clients of harᴀssment and retaliation.’ Pictured March 7 in Austin
Lively accused Baldoni of Sєxual harᴀssment in a lawsuit filed in December while Baldoni accused Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, and publicist Leslie Sloane of defamation and extortion in a $400 million suit filed in January.
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Baldoni has denied the allegations from Lively, while Lively, Reynolds and Sloane have denied the accusations made by Baldoni.
Lively’s legal team, led by Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, issued a statement to Dailymail.com Thursday explaining the legal rationale behind Lively’s motion to dismiss.
‘This lawsuit is a profound abuse of the legal process that has no place in federal court,’ Lively said. ‘California law now expressly prohibits suing victims who make the decision to speak out against Sєxual harᴀssment or retaliation, whether in a lawsuit or in the press.’
They continued, ‘This meritless and retaliatory lawsuit runs head first into three legal obstacles, including the litigation, fair report, and Sєxual harᴀssment privileges, the latter of which contains a mandatory fee shifting provision that will require the likes of billionaire Steve Sarowitz, Wayfarer Studios, and others that brought frivolous defamation claims against Ms. Lively to pay damages.’
Attorneys for Baldoni – who directed and starred in It Ends with Us – said in a February 26 court filing that they were ‘surprised’ by Lively asking the court to shield more ‘material and relevant evidence’ from the public about the case, ‘given how actively [she and her team] have publicized and litigated [her] claims in the media.’
Attorneys for Baldoni, who played the role of Ryle Kincaid opposite Lively’s Lily Bloom in the romantic drama, noted a trio of factors they said justified their contention that the actress had went out of her way to draw attention to the allegations she raised against Baldoni over the production of the film.
Attorney Bryan Freedman is representing the It Ends with Us director and leading man in the drawn-out litigation with Lively surrounding the stormy production of their summer hit. Pictured in NYC last month
Baldoni’s attorneys noted that Reynolds even spoke about the scandal in a ‘planned skit’ earlier this month during the highly-viewed SNL50 special earlier this month
Lively leaked details from ‘the otherwise confidential administrative complaint’ she entered in late December to the California Civil Rights Department, Baldoni’s legal team said in the court filing.
Lively, Reynolds and their publicity teams have rattled off a series of ‘bold statements’ to news outlets in an effort to ‘rehabilitate her tarnished image’ amid claims the A-list couple used their considerable clout to gain a measure of creative control on the set of It Ends With Us, Baldoni’s lawyers told the court in the filing.
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Baldoni’s attorneys noted that Reynolds even spoke about the scandal in a ‘planned skit’ during the highly-viewed SNL50 special earlier this month (in which he and Lively were panned on social media as tone-deaf).
Baldoni’s attorneys said in Tuesday’s court filing that Lively’s request to stipulate only lawyers in the case could review certain materials was ‘not warranted.’
They added that Lively’s team says that the ability to designate ‘information [for only the lawyers to see] is appropriate because the “litigation involves claims of Sєxual harᴀssment in the workplace.”‘
Baldoni’s legal team said Lively herself ‘has already publicized the alleged details of the so-called “harᴀssment” in her Amended Complaint spanning 138 pages and almost 500 paragraphs.’
Lively’s legal team said in a February 20 court filing that due to ‘violent’ messages she had received amid the public scandal, she was peтιтioning the court for enhanced protection, Fox News Digital reported.
Lively appeared to be in good spirits amid her return to the limelight at 30 Rockefeller Plaza on February 16 in NYC for SNL50
Lively has accused Baldoni of Sєxually harᴀssing her in multiple ways during the making of the movie It Ends With Us
‘As detailed in Ms. Lively’s Amended Complaint, Ms. Lively, her family, other members of the cast, various fact witnesses, and individuals that have spoken out publicly in support of Ms. Lively have received violent, profane, Sєxist, and threatening communications,’ her legal team said in the filing.
Lively’s attorneys cited a specific written threat that rattled a ‘witness known to publicly support Ms. Lively,’ in threatening ‘that the witness’s family would be Sєxually ᴀssaulted and killed unless the witness agreed to “make a statement and give the truth.”‘
Lawyers for Lively said in the court filing that publicly unveiling specific materials in the case ‘will create a “defined, specific and serious injury” to parties and non-parties, such as by violating their privacy, exposing them to threats, and creating a climate of possible witness intimidation.’
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Lively’s lawyers responded in a court filing obtained by Dailymail.com on Tuesday, entered a reply ‘to address three discrete points’ raised by Baldoni’s team.
Lively’s legal team said that Baldoni’s lawyers wanting to block restricting access to certain materials to attorneys failed to acknowledge that third parties are essentially exempt from typical circumstances in the process.
‘Requiring third parties to confer with counsel for multiple parties in order to justify withholding highly personal and sensitive materials from the parties (but not their counsel) would place an unfair burden on them,’ Lively’s attorneys said in Tuesday’s reply filing.
Lively’s lawyers said that in peтιтioning the court to expose potentially sensitive materials, Baldoni’s team is disregarding the chances for ‘defined, specific, and serious’ injuries that could result in releasing personal details in the emotionally-charged case.
Baldoni and his team displayed ‘callous disregard and disrespect for a woman advocating for the most basic workplace protections against Sєxual harᴀssment,’ Lively’s attorneys said on Tuesday. Pictured December 2023 in NYC
Lively’s legal team said in Tuesday’s reply filing that the actress, her family and people connected to the case ‘have faced online harᴀssment, threats, and attempted intimidation’ as result of their involvement.
Lively’s legal team said in the court filing that Baldoni’s team is making a faulty argument that Lively detailing her allegations against Baldoni disqualifies her from protecting critical personal details, or those of her ᴀssociates.
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‘Lively attempted to resolve her concerns about an unsafe work environment privately and directly with’ Baldoni and his ᴀssociates, Lively’s attorneys said in Tuesday’s reply filing, ‘and only filed a legal complaint after the defendants launched the retaliatory smear campaign detailed in’ an amended complaint she filed.
Baldoni and his team displayed ‘callous disregard and disrespect for a woman advocating for the most basic workplace protections against Sєxual harᴀssment,’ Lively’s attorneys said.
It appears the argument from Baldoni’s team is ‘that a woman who speaks up against Sєxual harᴀssment has somehow waived any and all privacy interests,’ Lively’s lawyers added in the court filing.
Lively’s lawyers said in the court filing that requests made by Baldoni and his legal team would result in ‘a mᴀssive waste of party and judicial resources’ amid the already-complicated case.
The latest legal developments in the case occurred Tuesday, as a newly-published feature from The Hollywood Reporter detailed how Sony officials had to intervene amid tumult on the set of the motion picture.
Baldoni, his studio Wayfarer and Sony had previously brokered a deal to market and distribute the movie.
The last time Lively stepped on a red carpet prior to the SNL50 special came on December 11 at the 2024 Beauty Inc Awards in NYC
The motion picture earned $148 million in domestic box office, and $350 million globally
The outlet cited a quote from since-retired Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Tony Vinciquerra that omitted any mention of Baldoni and his studio Wayfarer, instead effusing praise on Lively, who had been dealing with a moderate publicity crisis amid murmurs of discontent on the set.
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‘Blake’s pᴀssion and commitment to advancing the conversation around domestic violence is commendable,’ Vinciquerra told the outlet August 15. ‘We love working with Blake, and we want to do 12 more movies with her.’
Sony ‘had for months been playing the unintended role of mediator’ between the Lively and Baldoni camps – a conflict which is now playing out in the courts, according to the outlet.
The statement from the since-retired exec was described by the outlet as ‘one of numerous examples all along the way where Sony seemingly attempted to support and appease’ lead actress Lively amid a power struggle on ‘a possible troubled set’ with Baldoni, her costar and director.
The studio ‘seemingly’ prioritized Lively’s morale over Baldoni’s, THR reported, as her star power both individually, and as a tandem with Reynolds, was viewed as essential to marketing the late summer hit.
According to THR, Sony’s involvement with the lucrative movie went from a financial dream to ‘the ultimate nightmare for a major Hollywood studio,’ as the film has been the source of lawsuits alleging Sєxual harᴀssment, coercion and power plays.
An unnamed studio executive summed up the situation to the outlet: ‘It’s a mess.’
The latest legal developments in the case occurred Tuesday, as a newly-published feature from detailing how Sony officials – including since-retired Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Tony Vinciquerra – had to intervene amid tumult on the set of the motion picture
The studio ‘seemingly’ prioritized Lively’s morale over Baldoni’s, as her star power both individually, and as a tandem with Reynolds, was viewed as essential to marketing the late summer hit. The power couple pictured at the NYC premiere of It Ends With Us in August
Baldoni’s team earlier this month released a website which includes private communications such as text messages that were included in court filings detailing his interactions with the Hollywood power couple over the making of romantic drama.
He claimed in court filings they made efforts made to usurp and undermine his input as the director of It Ends with Us.
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Baldoni’s team previously said that the communications shared in court filings on the website – which already has fans talking – makes things clear about the motives of both parties, marking the latest chapter in the feud between the It Ends with Us headliners.
The website, which is live online at thelawsuitinfo.com, comes amid a spate of high-profile litigation between the collaborators on the film, which was a hit at the box office last August.
The site went live days prior to the first hearing, ahead of a trial with a starting date of March 9, 2026.
Lively filed an 80-page civil rights complaint with the California Civil Rights Department against Baldoni December 20, before officially filing a federal lawsuit on December 31.
Lively in December sued Baldoni amid claims of Sєxual harᴀssment during production of the motion picture. In her lawsuit, the Gossip Girl alum accused Baldoni of Sєxually harᴀssing her in multiple ways – including body shaming her – and orchestrating a smear campaign against her to damage her reputation.
Baldoni and his reps have said in response to the lawsuit that Lively twisted the meaning of text messages and mislead the public about their interactions while making the motion picture.
Lively in December sued Baldoni amid claims of Sєxual harᴀssment during production of the motion picture, which was a hit when it arrived in theaters in August
In her lawsuit, Lively named a number of Baldoni’s collaborators, including his company Wayfarer Studios, the studio’s CEO and financial backer, and PR personnel Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel.
‘I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted,’ Lively told The New York Times the day after she filed the complaint.
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Baldoni subsequently sued the newspaper for $250 million in a defamation claim over a December 21 story тιтled ‘”We Can Bury Anyone”: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine;’ the newspaper has denied the allegations.
Baldoni on January 16 filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds and her publicist Leslie Sloane, alleging defamation and extortion.
Baldoni told the court the trio had concocted ‘false accusations of Sєxual harᴀssment’ against him.
Since Lively’s complaint was filed, Baldoni has faced a number of professional consequences, including a lawsuit from a former publicist; and being dropped by the agency WME, which also reps Lively and Reynolds.
WME has denied claims that Lively and Reynolds leaned on them to release Baldoni from their client roster, according to Variety.
Lawyers for both parties were in accordance with a plan to compound both federal cases filed into one moving forward. All parties to the litigations have denied the allegations against them.
Baldoni on January 16 filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds and her publicist Leslie Sloane, alleging defamation and extortion. Pictured at the IEWU premiere in August in NYC
It Ends with Us, which also starred Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, Brandon Sklenar and Kevin McKidd, arrived in theaters August 9 and was a hit with audiences.
The film, adapted from the 2016 Colleen Hoover novel, earned $148 million in domestic box office, and $350 million globally, according to Box Office Mojo.
Lively broke out with the 2005 movie The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants opposite Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel and America Ferrera. That led to her high-profile role on the TV show Gossip Girl, which she starred on from 2007-2012, playing lead character Serena van der Woodsen.
She has also appeared in movies such as 2010’s The Town, 2016’s The Shallows, 2018’s A Simple Favor and 2020’s The Rhythm Section.
Prior to It Ends with Us, Baldoni was best known for playing the role of Rafael Solano on the TV show Jane the Virgin from 2014–2019. He also has directed films including 2019’s Five Feet Apart and 2020’s Clouds, and penned the 2021 book Man Enough, which tackled misconceptions of contemporary masculinity.
