Justin Baldoni's legal representative is intensifying the ongoing legal dispute with Blake Lively.
According to a statement issued to us on Tuesday, January 7th, the attorney for the It Ends with Us director, Bryan Freedman, remarked, "It is deeply ironic that Blake Lively is accusing Justin Baldoni of manipulating the media, when," he asserts, "her own team initiated this aggressive assault by forwarding heavily redacted documents to The New York Times before filing any formal complaint."
"We are releasing all of the evidence that will illustrate a pattern of intimidation and threats aimed at taking control of the film," Freedman continues, asserting, "None of this will be unexpected as, consistent with her prior conduct, Blake Lively employed others to convey those threats and achieve her aims through intimidation. We possess all the proof and more."
Freedman's statement arises as Lively—who co-starred with Baldoni, 40, in It Ends with Us—filed a lawsuit against him and others, including Baldoni's production partners and publicists, accusing them of sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign aimed at damaging her reputation.
On Monday, January 6th, Lively’s legal team informed PEOPLE that her “serious allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation,” initially filed in a California complaint on December 20, 2024, are “supported by substantial evidence.”
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| Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in New York City in August 2024. |
“This is not a ‘feud’ stemming from ‘creative differences’ or a ‘he said/she said’ situation,” her lawyers' statement declared. “As detailed in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and as will be demonstrated in litigation, Wayfarer [Studios] and its affiliates engaged in illegal, retaliatory astroturfing against Ms. Lively for merely attempting to protect herself and others on the film set. Their response to the lawsuit has been to unleash further attacks on Ms. Lively since her filing.”
The attorneys' statement further emphasized, "Sexual harassment and retaliation are unlawful in every workplace and industry."
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A typical strategy to divert attention from accusations of this nature is to 'blame the victim' by implying that they invited the conduct, provoked it, misunderstood the intentions, or fabricated the story," they asserted. "Another common approach is to invert the roles of victim and perpetrator, suggesting that the perpetrator is, in fact, the victim. These notions serve to normalize and belittle serious misconduct allegations."
"Above all, media statements do not constitute a defense to Ms. Lively’s legal claims," Lively's legal representatives emphasized. "We shall persist in pursuing her claims in federal court, where outcomes are determined by the rule of law, rather than by exaggeration and threats."
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| Justin Baldoni in New York City on August 6, 2024; Blake Lively in London on August 8, 2024. |
In her original complaint, Lively, aged 37, asserted that Baldoni — who directed, produced, and acted in "It Ends with Us" — displayed “disturbing" and “unprofessional” conduct that resulted in a "hostile work environment."
The actress's allegations include claims that Baldoni and another producer entered her trailer "without invitation" while she was undressed or "vulnerable," exerted pressure on her to "simulate full nudity" unexpectedly in a birthing scene, and "improvised physical intimacy that had not been rehearsed, choreographed, or discussed with Ms. Lively, and without the presence of an intimacy coordinator."
On December 31, Baldoni additionally initiated a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times over an article published on December 21 about Lively's complaint, alleging that the actress "orchestrated a calculated smear campaign."
In a previous statement to PEOPLE, Freedman contended that Lively’s complaint was filed to "repair her damaged reputation." The lawyer also characterized her claims as “false, outrageous, and deliberately sensational.