Justin Baldoni files libel suit against The New York Times for reporting on his sexual assault of Blake Lively
Justin Baldoni, 40, has filed a libel lawsuit against The New York Times, which published a major story about his alleged harassment of Blake Lively, 37, on the set of the film “It Ends With Us.”
Earlier, the media wrote that the actor was preparing a lawsuit against Blake, since she was the one who first made the accusations, but it turned out that the actor decided to sue the press. Justin filed the lawsuit jointly with Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan, who were also mentioned in the article.
In his statement, reported by Variety, Baldoni accuses The New York Times of intentionally cherry-picking facts and depriving the emails cited as evidence of necessary context, all in an attempt to mislead the public.
For example, the newspaper wrote that Justin constantly went into Blake's work trailer when she was not dressed. Baldoni, in turn, published a screenshot of the correspondence with Lively - in her message, the actress writes to Justin that she is relaxing in her trailer, and invites him to come in if he wants to rehearse lines.
“The Times’ story relies entirely on Lively’s unsubstantiated claims to paint her in a favorable light, while ignoring the wealth of evidence that contradicts her claims and reveals her true motives,” Justin’s lawsuit states.
Baldoni also claims in his lawsuit that at a committee convened during the filming of the movie at Blake's request, the actress's 48-year-old husband Ryan Reynolds insulted him. And another unnamed actor, according to Justin, pressured the talent agency WME to terminate his contract.
In addition, Baldoni’s lawyer said the Times “bowed to the whims of two powerful, untouchable members of the Hollywood elite, discrediting journalistic ethics.” The newspaper has already issued a statement in response. Its representatives noted that they covered the topic thoroughly and responsibly and that their material was based on an analysis of thousands of pages of original documents, including text messages and emails cited as quotes.
On top of that, it was revealed that Blake had not actually filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, but had only filed a complaint with the California Department of Civil Rights. Justin cites this fact as evidence that Lively actually wanted to avoid a lawsuit that would expose her true nature by having to answer questions under oath. However, on the same day that Baldoni's lawsuit was revealed, Blake officially filed a lawsuit against him.
Recall that Blake accused Justin Baldoni of harassment on the set of the film “It Ends with Us.” According to the actress, Baldoni intentionally added new intimate scenes to the script and improvised too much when they were filmed, and also came to her dressing room when she was breastfeeding, made tactless remarks about her and showed her a photo of his naked wife. He also allegedly initiated the harassment of Blake together with his publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis PR manager Melissa Nathan, who was responsible for Johnny Depp’s image during his legal battles with Amber Heard.