Blake Lively's team respond to Justin Baldoni's New York Times lawsuit
Blake Lively's legal team have insisted "nothing" in Justin Baldoni's own lawsuit against the New York Times newspaper changes her complaint against him.
Blake Lively's legal team have insisted "nothing" in Justin Baldoni's own lawsuit changes her complaint against him.
The 37-year-old actress sued her 'It Ends With Us' co-star and director last month alleging sexual harassment and the instigation of a smear campaign against her, and on 31 December, the 40-year-old actor launched his own legal action against the New York Times newspaper over their article detailing the complaints against him.
Justin, his business partners, PR team and production company Wayfarer Studios are suing the outlet for $250 million, with their 87-page complaint alleging libel, false light invasion of privacy, promissory fraud and breach of implied-in-fact contract, and Blake's own team have now responded to the move.
Her attorneys told People magazine in a statement: “Nothing in this lawsuit changes anything about the claims advanced in Ms. Lively’s California Civil Rights Department Complaint.
“While we will not litigate this matter in the press, we do encourage people to read Ms. Lively’s complaint in its entirety. We look forward to addressing each and every one of Wayfarer’s allegations in court.”
Following her complaint on 21 December, the former 'Gossip Girl' actress went on to officially file a federal complaint against Wayfarer Studios and others involved in producing 'It Ends with Us' in New York.
Her attorneys said: “Wayfarer and its associates have violated federal and California state law by retaliating against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns.
“Ms. Lively has brought this litigation in New York, where much of the relevant activities described in the Complaint took place, but we reserve the right to pursue further action in other venues and jurisdictions as appropriate under the law.”
Many of Blake's initial allegations concern administrative complaints she had made during shooting of the movie, and her legal team have accused Justin's new legal action of having an “obviously false premise that Ms. Lively’s administrative complaint against Wayfarer and others was a ruse based on a choice ‘not to file a lawsuit against Baldoni, Wayfarer,’ and that ‘litigation was never her ultimate goal.’”
Justin and his lawyers claimed that Blake launched her lawsuit in an effort to "reshape her public persona" with "salacious, headline-grabbing allegations".
His lawsuit reads: "Lively’s cynical abuse of sexual harassment allegations to assert unilateral control over every aspect of the production was both strategic and manipulative.
"Simultaneously, her public image suffered as a result of a series of high-profile blunders, which she tried to deflect by blaming Plaintiffs for the public’s prying interest into the foibles of an A-list celebrity. This is nothing but an excuse. Fame is a double-edged sword, but Lively’s tactics here are unconscionable."
Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokesperson for the New York Times, has revealed that the publication plans to "vigorously defend against the lawsuit".
Speaking to CNN, she explained: "The role of an independent news organisation is to follow the facts where they lead.
"Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article.
"To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the other subjects of the article and their representatives have not pointed to a single error. We published their full statement in response to the allegations in the article as well."
