The legal battle between It Ends With Us co-stars Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively seems to be heating up as Baldoni’s lawyer has come out swinging with his team’s plans for future lawsuits.
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, just dropped a major bombshell on NBC’s Today show, confirming they’re definitely planning to sue Lively. And when we say definitely, we mean absolutely.
“Absolutely,” Freedman said when directly asked if they plan to file a lawsuit against Lively. This comes after Lively filed a sexual harassment complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, alleging Baldoni repeatedly harassed her and crossed boundaries during intimate scenes.
When addressing potential reputation damage, Freedman was crystal clear: “One hundred percent no,” he said when asked if there was an organised campaign to harm Lively.
He claimed that Baldoni never wanted to cause harm, stating, “Justin Baldoni from the moment, from the get go, said, ‘I don’t want to do anything negative toward her. I don’t want to hurt her’.”
Baldoni’s team has already sued the New York Times for $250 million in a libel lawsuit, claiming the newspaper’s December 21st story about the behind-the-scenes drama unfairly portrayed him.
The Times stands by its reporting, stating they’re committed to “vigorously defend against the lawsuit” and that their story was “meticulously and responsibly reported”.
On the same day, Lively formally launched a lawsuit against Baldoni, his company Wayfarer Productions and members from the PR firm that allegedly helped create a “smear campaign” against Lively.
Lively’s allegations include claims that Baldoni would enter her trailer uninvited while she was undressed, including during breastfeeding.
However, Baldoni’s lawsuit suggests a text exchange shows Lively actually inviting him to review lines while she was pumping breast milk.
Freedman’s not holding back, promising, “We plan to release every single text message between the two of them. There is nothing that in any way is a concern about this entire situation from our perspective, and we want the truth to be out there.”
When discussing potential uncomfortable on-set behaviour, Freedman was candid: “I think there’s some behaviour always that you make people uncomfortable. I don’t think anybody has the intention to do that. The question really, in this case, is does it rise the level of sexual harassment?”
Lively has previously said to The Times that she hopes her legal action “helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct”.
One thing’s for certain — this legal battle is just getting started, and with both sides lawyered up and ready to fight, the full story is yet to unfold.
Lead image: @soceleb via TikTok/ Getty Images
