Blake Lively’s lawyers insist ‘nothing’ in Justin Baldoni’s lawsuit 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 actress, 37, sued her ‘It Ends With Us’ co-star and director, 40, last month alleging sexual harassment and the instigation of a smear campaign against her.

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.’   

It comes after claims that Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds ‘never screamed’ at Baldoni during a showdown at his and Lively’s New York penthouse, according to new claims. 

Reynolds is said to have ‘aggressively’ accused Baldoni of a string of offenses against his wife, including ‘fat shaming’ her, during a meeting with other producers and a representative of Sony. 

Baldoni — who ‘absolutely’ plans to sue Lively back amid their spiraling legal battle, after she accused him of sexual harassment — called the encounter ‘traumatic’, stating he had ‘never been spoken to like that in his life.’ 

However, a source who was at the meeting told TMZ Reynolds was ‘angry and stern’, but the accusation of him screaming is ‘overblown.’

The insider described the actor’s tone as ‘impassioned’, but insisted that it did not escalate to the level of screaming or berating.

The source emphasized that everyone present was aware that Baldoni’s alleged behavior would be discussed, therefore, nobody was blindsided. 

The insider also disputed the lawsuit’s characterization of the meeting, specifically the claim that other celebrities were casually present at the couple’s home. The insider stated that celebrities were not coming and going from the penthouse.

On the evening of January 4 last year, the lawsuit said Baldoni plus other producers and a representative of Sony were invited to the home shared by the couple.

It said: ‘They arrived eager to discuss plans for the next day’s filming, prepared with their production materials. Instead, they were blindsided by Lively and Reynolds, who presented a list of grievances that were both unanticipated and troubling.’

‘Reynolds launched into a tirade, berating Baldoni in what Baldoni later described as a ‘traumatic’ encounter, stating he had ‘never been spoken to like that in his life.’

Reynolds demanded an apology to Lively for actions that were mischaracterized and demonstrably false, the lawsuit says.

It adds: ‘When Baldoni resisted apologizing for what he had not done, Reynolds became further enraged. Everyone, including the producer Lively had asked production to engage and a representative of Sony that was in attendance, left that ‘meeting’ in shock. The producer offered that in his 40-year career he had never seen anyone speak to someone like that.’

Baldoni says after the filming was complete that Lively took over the movie project from him, refused to walk the red carpet with him or let him attend its premiere, and that she and husband Reynolds allegedly used their power to try and damage him.

The lawsuit says that in July last year, before the film’s release, he got word that: ‘during the premiere of his movie Deadpool & Wolverine, Reynolds approached Baldoni’s agent at William Morris Endeavor and demanded that the agent ‘drop’ Baldoni.’

Lively first sued on December 20, accusing Baldoni of sexually harassing her and fostering a toxic work environment on the set of their film It Ends With Us, in which he both directed her and acted with her. He has staunchly denied the allegations.

In the first complaint, she also claimed Baldoni worked to tarnish her reputation with a team including his publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis PR Melissa Nathan, who previously worked with Johnny Depp. Abel has denied waging a ‘smear campaign.’

Lively then launched more formal complaint on New Year’s Eve, doubling down on her accusations. She filed her first complaint with the California Civil Rights Commission, but is now suing Baldoni in federal court in New York.

Her December 31 filing came on the same day Baldoni initiated a $250M libel action against the New York Times for its bombshell report on Lively’s first complaint.

Now Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman has declared the actor intends to sue Lively herself, telling NBC: ‘We plan to release every single text messages between the two of them [sic]. We want the truth to be out there. We want the documents to be out there. We want people to make their determination based on receipts.’