Over the weekend, Justin Baldoni’s team began to fight back against Blake Lively and her team. Just days before Christmas, Blake filed a suit against Baldoni, claiming that he sexually harassed her while they filmed It Ends With Us. Not only that, Blake’s team made some bombshell allegations about Baldoni waging a social manipulation campaign to destroy her reputation online. Blake’s story is backed up by her access to emails and texts between Baldoni’s publicist and crisis manager. Baldoni’s team went to the Daily Mail (yikes) to preview what’s next for him in this battle – they said that Baldoni would countersue Blake and that (basically) Blake is just mad that her attempted smear campaign against Baldoni failed and boomeranged back onto her over the summer. After the Mail published that exclusive, People Magazine got their own exclusive from Baldoni’s team:
Justin Baldoni’s lawyer says that the actor’s impending lawsuit against Blake Lively will not only bring forth the “truth” — but also expose “those who believe themselves untouchable.”
“This is not a response or countersuit — it’s a deliberate pursuit of truth,” attorney Bryan Freedman exclusively tells PEOPLE of Baldoni’s forthcoming lawsuit, which follows Lively’s explosive complaint accusing Baldoni, 40, of sexual harassment on the set of It Ends with Us and a subsequent retaliatory smear campaign.
Freedman, a veteran Hollywood lawyer, also says that Baldoni’s filing will “expose” falsities in Lively’s complaint — specifically a series of private text messages that allegedly show Baldoni texting and emailing with PR executive Jennifer Abel and crisis management expert Melissa Nathan as they planned what Lively, 37, alleges was a smear campaign orchestrated to “destroy” her reputation.
“This lawsuit will uncover and expose the false and destructive narrative that was intentionally engineered by a trusted media publication who relied upon nefarious sources and neglected a thorough fact checking process to confirm the validity of these texts,” Freedman tells PEOPLE. “There is an insurmountable collection of authentic evidence, including timelines and communications, which have not been doctored or spliced without context, unlike the altered [New York Times] story that ran on Saturday, December 21st 2024,” he continues in the written statement.
The article Freedman is referring to — titled “ ‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine” — broke the news of Lively’s complaint the day after she filed it in California.
“In over three decades of legal practice, I’ve never witnessed such unethical behavior, fueled by those who abuse their power and manipulate the truth,” Freedman adds. “This isn’t an isolated case; it’s a recurring pattern in Hollywood and the mainstream media where careers and reputations are destroyed to maintain control. Legacy media has long weaponized their platforms to distort the truth, exploit vulnerabilities, and destroy lives without accountability,” the attorney continues. “These lawsuits will confront this system head-on, ensuring that no individual or entity, no matter how influential, can continue perpetuating this cycle of fear and destruction.”
“The truth will not only come to light — it will dismantle the illusions propped up by those who believe themselves untouchable,” Freedman concludes.
A representative for Lively did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Sunday, Dec. 29.
For what it’s worth, I think it’s odd and notable that there’s so much focus on the “social manipulation” part of Blake’s claim and not the sexual harassment part. Blake’s case against Baldoni for sexual harassment and inappropriate/toxic behavior seems to be more cut and dry, and from what I’ve seen, she has some documentation to back it up, including lots of high-level meetings with the studio. The social manipulation part of her claim is a lot trickier than her side wants to admit. As someone who reads “legacy media” and gossip outlets like Page Six on a daily basis, I remember the curious, anti-Baldoni stories “planted” in various outlets ahead of IEWU’s release. Now, does Baldoni actually have evidence that Blake’s team was trying to hurt him over the summer, or is it all insinuation? I don’t know.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
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- New York, NY – Actor Justin Baldoni makes time for his fans as he signs autographs and poses for pictures as he arrives at CBS Mornings to promote “It Ends With Us’ Pictured: Justin Baldoni BACKGRID USA 7 AUGUST 2024 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New Jersey, NJ – **FILE PHOTOS** Did the kiss last too long? Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni share an on-screen smooch on the set of “It Ends With Us” on January 13, 2024. The “drama” between the two has been reaching a boil since the film’s release with fans speculating about how the stars of the hit film really feel about each other. Recent reports claim Blake felt ‘fat-shamed” by Justin while filming. *Shot on January 14, 2024** Pictured: Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni BACKGRID USA 14 AUGUST 2024 BYLINE MUST READ: T.JACKSON / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New Jersey, NJ – **FILE PHOTOS** Did the kiss last too long? Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni share an on-screen smooch on the set of “It Ends With Us” on January 13, 2024. The “drama” between the two has been reaching a boil since the film’s release with fans speculating about how the stars of the hit film really feel about each other. Recent reports claim Blake felt ‘fat-shamed” by Justin while filming. *Shot on January 14, 2024** Pictured: Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni BACKGRID USA 14 AUGUST 2024 BYLINE MUST READ: T.JACKSON / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New Jersey, NJ – **FILE PHOTOS** Did the kiss last too long? Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni share an on-screen smooch on the set of “It Ends With Us” on January 13, 2024. The “drama” between the two has been reaching a boil since the film’s release with fans speculating about how the stars of the hit film really feel about each other. Recent reports claim Blake felt ‘fat-shamed” by Justin while filming. *Shot on January 14, 2024** Pictured: Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni BACKGRID USA 14 AUGUST 2024 BYLINE MUST READ: T.JACKSON / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New Jersey, NJ – **FILE PHOTOS** Did the kiss last too long? Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni share an on-screen smooch on the set of “It Ends With Us” on January 13, 2024. The “drama” between the two has been reaching a boil since the film’s release with fans speculating about how the stars of the hit film really feel about each other. Recent reports claim Blake felt ‘fat-shamed” by Justin while filming. *Shot on January 14, 2024** Pictured: Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni BACKGRID USA 14 AUGUST 2024 BYLINE MUST READ: T.JACKSON / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- World Premiere Of ‘It Ends With Us’ at AMC Lincoln Square Theatre Featuring: Justin Baldoni Where: New York, United States When: 06 Aug 2024 Credit: Darla Khazei/INSTARimages
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- World Premiere Of ‘It Ends With Us’ at AMC Lincoln Square Theatre Featuring: Justin Baldoni Where: New York, United States When: 06 Aug 2024 Credit: Darla Khazei/INSTARimages
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- Celebrities attends Sony Pictures world premiere of ‘It Ends With Us’ at AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York Featuring: Justin Baldoni Where: New York, New York , United States When: 06 Aug 2024 Credit: Roger Wong/INSTARimages
What else is the guy going to do to fight back? Of course he’s going to try to muddy the waters.
I dont like BL …never have. I find her and RR pretty annoying. My take on this situation:
They both engaged in social media manipulation and I think she did it first because I saw the negative stories about him before I saw any about her.
That said, the allegations of sexual harassment are pretty detailed and damning if true, especially since the standard for sexual harassment is low in California.
This case and his countersuit will settle before depositions.
100% with you, Mimi
Baldoni’s lawyer was saying they have lots of emails with all the context not muddied by splicing and redaction – it should be interesting IF those original unspliced, unreacted emails will go against the emails Blake presented to the press which Baldoni’s lawyer seemed to insinuate.
Dear sweet Italian Jesus, I wish this film had never been made.
I feel that way about every Colleen Hoover book. They’re all completely awful.
They’re potboilers, and they were wildly popular for awhile at the library where I work – not enough on the shelves to keep up with demand, three-digit hold queues. Things have cooled since then, but she’s pretty popular. I read one to see what the fuss was about, and that was enough.
All I’ve been thinking is, why did this guy have to be Italian? We Italian Americans have it bad enough, never seeing our community represented in anything but mob movies and tv shows.
Fan and friend of Italian Americans here! Moonstruck and Serpico are two movies that come to mind that show heart and heroism!
In the 1990’s my grandfather was surprised that Italian Americans started to be considered “white” in his time, so I guess progress is relative.
I raise you Big Night starring Stanley Tucci. Beautiful film, recommend watching for some feel goods.
I don’t know if this is entirely true, but I get the feeling when a guy reacts super aggressive, he’s done something very wrong. Joe Jonas attacked Sophie Turner from the get go in their divorce. Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp and Diddy all did the same against Angie, Amber and Cassie.
Justin Baldoni has a few problems, and he’s reacting super aggressively towards Blake. 1. I have NOT seen that there is ANYTHING refuting what happened during filming. That filing of 80 pages mentions *30* rather damning corrections that Blake wanted regarding sexual harrassment and an unsafe work environment. It should be easy for Justin Baldoni to prove he never misbehaved, right? Steve Sarowitz was never filmed as an obstetrician, right? Where are all the cast and crew defending Justin Baldoni apart from Hasan Minhaj? Especially the women?
I read the entire filing (linked in Lainey Gossip’s Dec 23rd post on the subject.) The list of corrections was easy to quote and pretty damning all by itself, but reading the details of what he did is even more disgusting. I’m not going to try to summarize the whole filing, but it is very clear Baldoni, Heath and others knew exactly what they were doing. It was flagrant and deliberate.
II’m an employment lawyer and I have been expecting this move. Blake ‘s team was brilliant to drop the news via the NYT article on the Friday before most people were out for the holidays and while the courts are closed. Justin’s team had to scramble to get any version of his side out there and to file a counter suit, which ensured that Blake’s narrative was the only one out there for 2 weeks. Good for her – it couldn’t ha Happened to a bigger ahole than Justin. In 20 yeyears of being a management side employment law attorney, this is most straightforward case of retaliation that I have ever seen. I want to see Baldoni, Heath, Wayfarer, the Nathan sisters, and Abel booted out of the industry and with scarlet letters on their chests.
Why are you so convinced that he is guilty? Blake got NYT because she is the power player here with better connections. I would hope as a lawyer you would wish for less trial by internet jury? No? I think there’s a lot going on between both of them and the truth is somewhere in the middle. I’m not keen on attacking or supporting either of them until all evidence has been properly vetted through legal channels and not NYT’s or Daily Mail’s biased clickbait.
Eew Sasha- and- he has not refuted one single instance of sexual harassment that were detailed not only in her legal filing, but also in the meeting held- where she had again, in writing, the long, horrific list of harassments she had already endured.
He’s whining about the discovery of the smear campaign, about the way his former pr firm handed over text communication of his paid “consultant.”
But no where does he say- i did not add kissing scenes, i did not show Ms Lively nude photos, i did not give my friend the role of ob dr so he could be up close and personal with Ms Lively as she was almost naked.
He is screaming- but- what he did to her on that set, repeatedly, was disgusting.
@Sasha, he didn’t refute the claims of sexual harassment that he did on the set, supported by the documentation and witnesses. There is no middle when it comes to what he did.
I’m not a jury in a court of law, I don’t have to know beyond a reasonable doubt that he’s guilty. I’m a person and based on the evidence I see …… he is SO GUILTY.
Lively got a Pulitzer prize winning professional journalist to share authorship on the NYT article on her complaint. Real journalists with professional reputations to maintain don’t just write articles because a celebrity asked them to, but because there is a real story here. Baldoni’s attorney is using MAGA dog whistles like ‘main stream media’ and ‘legacy media’ in his statement, which tells me A) Baldoni is going to end up with spots on the Joe Rogan podcast and then get his own ‘men’s rights podcast and be just fine; and B) the lawsuit will be more about the NYT coverage of Baldoni’s smear campaign, because they see that as being more detrimental to his career than the fact that he sexually harassed Lively, even though she was smart to documented it and address it with the studio while the project was still happening.
@notMika Yep. When it comes to accusations that some dude was toxic my standard for the evidence is pretty much “say no more that mfer did it I’ve seen all I need to see.” That’s the beauty about standards of proof. YOU, an individual, can have any standard you see fit. “Beyond a reasonable doubt” is for the government depriving someone of liberty. “Preponderance” is for civil cases that can deprive people of assets. The older I get, the more I think all men are guilty until proven innocent.
@ariel, I don’t know why the “eew Sasha” took me out. LOL Past that, I totally agree with everything you said. Unless that is all coming in the countersuit, but I think that if were true, he would be screaming that (the actual “facts”) from the mountaintop, not screaming at Blake (with nothing to back him up) from the mountain top.
@Sasha, Abel, Baldoni’s PR person (who is also implicated in Lively’s suit) immediately took to Facebook to defend herself and their team when the NYT article dropped (she has since deleted the post but it’s been screenshot).
Her defense? I’m paraphrasing (I read it last week and don’t have the link rn), but it was essentially, “Sure, we had a social media plan in place to bury Lively but we didn’t even have to use it – the internet did the work for us.”
I’m sorry, but if your reaction to your client being so credibly accused of workplace sexual harassment that the company in charge had to update their rules and policies for everyone to protect against further SH from your client, and your reaction is: “OK, let’s make sure we are ready to destroy her reputation if she goes public with the bad stuff my client did,” then you are already an a-hole, who deserves all the bad things, whether or not you ever implemented said plan to destroy her.
Whether or not they implemented the plan, this whole team seems to acknowledge that they tried to destroy someone’s professional reputation just for reporting that she was sexually harassed at work.
And not one of them seems to be disputing the harassment, either.
Because, if you’ve read the whole complaint, there are multiple, documented incidents with witnesses… and text messages between his PR people discussing his gross behavior that a lawyer would be disbarred and lose their whole entire career for faking…
Why are people so keen to believe this guy simply cannot be a creepy porn-addicted perv, just because they think Blake is annoying, rude and tone deaf? What next… she led him on, or ooh – was she wearing something slutty? I’m wondering if his next attempt to discredit her is to lie Blake came onto him, and he rejected her. Wouldn’t surprise me at this rate.
And beyond all that this guy and his producing partners ran such a slipshod set she and her baby were exposed to Covid.
Did you read the filing? I have, and I bet “It Really Is You, Not Me,” and employment lawyer has, too. It’s actually very readable, despite being 80 pages. Let me spell it out for you:
The sexual harassment outlined was contemporaneously recorded in formal complaints. It was most often done in front of witnesses. It’s very clear it happened. It’s equally clear from the communications record that Baldoni et al waged a smear campaign in order to discredit Lively or any other potential complainants, should they make those sexual harassment complaints public. That goal, the plans and execution of the plans are very clear. That’s clear illegal retaliation.
I have no love for Blake but I believe every word in that complaint.
Because Blake has a ton of evidence and her allegations are almost all things that others on set would have been witness to.
Every single other woman on that film has supported Blake and refused to have anything to do with Baldoni.
If Blake is lying, then every single person on that set would obviously be very aware that she is lying, since she’s alleging things that happened in full view of everyone else.
Why would all the other women support a proven liar?
Either she’s telling the truth, or there’s some vast conspiracy to bury an innocent man for zero reason. I see no evidence for the latter.
He’s focusing on media manipulation instead of sexual harrassment charges? Really? Says it all…
Unless the counter suit is for straight up defamation and he denies all of the sexual harassment claims, what is the point?
Defamation and libel (against the New York Times). I doubt he will do that because the truth is an absolute defense to defamation/libel.
How can he countersue a complaint? She goes to HR and management to get a serious on set problem solved. He hires PR crisis to run a smear campaign against her. She gathers factual evidence and files a complaint with the labor board. His lawyer goes on and on and on in the press about how awful she is and threatens to countersue a complaint??? She is calm. He is aggressive. As usual.
I agree. Unfortunately, anyone can sue anyone in our great country (just thinking about Sammie Markle suing Megan is a great example). It is a way to continue harassment and punishment. The most toxic people are the ones who just make it a bigger fight, because they enjoy it and really feel like they were the ones wronged. Is Justin sitting around coming to terms with what he very likely did? or is he sitting around justifying what he did? Probably the latter.
Who the hell is Justin Baldoni? I’ve only heard of him in connection to this movie, yet he seems to have the power, money and fandom that’s on par with Johnny Depp. How can a nobody like him get where he’s at, especially with his gross on-set behavior?
That is what I want to know! I literally never heard of him before the fuss about this movie last summer. I assumed he must be some nepo baby if he rose to the level of headlining with Blake Lively out of nowhere.
Steven Sarowitz. Billionaire friend (much richer than BL and RR) who helped his friends Jamey Heath and Justin Baldoni found Wayfarer.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Sarowitz
All three are also involved in the Bahai faith. I looked into Bahai when I left the Catholic church (now agnostic) and, locally at least, I found it to be very problematic.
@Zengirl — what did you find problematic about the Baháʼí faith? I have several friends who follow their teachings and have explained that Baháʼís describe the core of the faith in three key concepts: “the unity of religion”, “the unity of God”, and “the unity of humanity”. They also believe in the underlying connection between science and religion, that one cannot survive and prosper without the other. Maybe you have a different take?
One of the co-founders of Wayfarer productions is Steve Sarowitz. He’s a billionaire and the power behind Justin. And how Justin had the money to buy the book rights, and the PR campaigns against Blake. He is also listed in the legal filings.
Seeing the cast has jumped to Blake’s side and Justin podcast partner dipped out. I really think this is not going to end well for Justin and his career in Hollywood.
And if this ruins any chance of sequel, good. That movie was god awful.
His best friend and creative partner is a billionaire, and he’s part of a cult which is very influential in Hollywood.
So I remember the anti-Baldoni articles in People that seemed to come from Lively’s team and it was one of the reasons I figured there was a mutual smear campaign happening bc they clashed on set. That was before the SH allegations came out and those are awful. That said, I think I read that this was part of Baldoni’s strategy. Putting out a few light anti-Baldoni articles and claims about a lingering kiss to make it look like blake was briefing against him. I can’t remember where I read that or whether it’s true but if it’s true that’s pretty diabolical. I’m guessing it’s all going to come out and if messages were spliced a judge will ask to see it in full context. I look forward to the SH case and am curious about the smear case. Bc unless there’s lies that were purposely made about Blake, what would the charges be? I’d love to see some new legislation coming up about smear campaigns whether they’re based on lies or not but idk if that will happen. Some sort of Cyber harassment laws?
Yes, I read that his team released some stuff to create that impression and to make it seem that the issues were only minor and Lively was being petty for getting upset about him not wanting to lift her for example.
He’s following the accused sexual harasser playbook very closely.
The fact that he’s pushing back so aggressively makes me wonder if there’s more to come out and also makes me wonder how horrible a person he is.
He could have just copped to an awkward set, accepted Lively’s list of fixes, made some noises about not realising he was upsetting people, apologised, and promised to do better (and actually have been better), and it would have been a bit embarrassing, but it would have gone away.
Instead, he’s launched a full on attack on Lively’s credibility that will only end up making everything much worse for him.
And remember he aggressively pushed back against his PR team. Initially, the team proposed just discussing the “power imbalance” between Blake and him but he wasn’t satisfied with the approach. He pushed back by saying he wanted to “bury” Blake.
Yes, one of the things the publicists discussed in the texts and/or emails was planting some quasi-negative stories about their own client (admitting to talking about her weight, for instance) but then countering them (he said it was because he has a bad back). So much of those articles could have been from his own team.
That’s the part I see as diabolical if it’s true. A lot of us are able to pick out a smear, but if he was faking a smear against himself to make it look like he was defending himself against Blake’s smear of him, those are some crazy moves. I legit fell for that if that’s what happened. I thought blake was smearing him and he was smearing her back and I was like alright they’re smearing each other bc they had some vague conflict on set. But now there’s SH that we know about. That’s the major part that’s getting glossed over but I’m still fascinated by the pr smear that happened.
That PoS is using his ADHD as an excuse and had a plan with his publicist do do exactly that, as per the released texts. He’s trying to blame neurodivergence for his behavior, which just adds another level of douchery to an already long list.
The social manipulation is the most provable part of Blake’s pre-claim filing.
With respect to that aspect of the filing, Blake says that Justin and the production company agreed that there would be no retaliation in relation to the meeting she and Ryan asked for. If so, then that is a matter of contract law. All she has to do is show that Justin initiated a smear campaign (via the PR company), and somehow link Justin’s actions to topics that were discussed at that meeting. Presto, RETALIATION!
We now know that the topics discussed at that meeting were: Justin entering her trailer when she was naked, Justin wanting her to be nude for birth scene, Justin biting her lip for a kissing scene, Justin kissing her too long for another scene, Justin concerned about her weight, etc. Supposedly, these issues were resolved during filming by hiring an intimacy coordinator. No one was to speak publicly of these matters because the intimacy coordinator resolved everything.
But Blake is mad. Her reputation is tarnished. The only way she can talk about Justin’s “intimacy behaviors” would be to allege that he broke the contract. So Blake’s lawyers filed a PRECURSOR to a law suit making such allegations. Nothing’s yet proven. But this is the only way Blake is able to say such negative and specific things about Justin without fear of a defamation lawsuit. If Blake had made these allegations outside of the precursor claim, she definitely would be facing a defamation and possibly a libel lawsuit!
Huh. So the articles referencing weight and kissing were against a contract bc it wasn’t supposed to be mentioned after being resolved by the studio. But if Justin planted that info as part of the smear campaign, he was the one who went against the contract. So is Justin then potentially facing defamation and libel? Not sure if I’m following that right.
I disagree that the only way Blake has to talk about this is alleging that he broke the contract. Prior to the meeting after the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes where Blake got serious and got them to sign to a bunch of changes, she tried repeatedly to correct behaviour on set towards herself and others with formal documentation and complaints. All of that was clear sexual harassment at the time it happened, the meeting and the papers signed later aren’t what made it so. Those earlier complaints went nowhere until she played hardball in that meeting, because the perps and the bosses were the same people. She even tried complaining to Sony, and they said they were just the distributors, and the production was owned by Wayfarer (ie, Baldoni, Heath, etc.) so she could only address her complaints with them.
She could have sued for sexual harassment before that meeting and quit the production instead of trying to fix it, but for better or for worse, she thought it was worth trying to see the project through.
Also: retaliation is illegal, even without him signing to not retaliate in that post-strike meeting. The cover page of the complaint cites multiple statutes including two for retaliation before it cites breach of contract.
COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES FOR:
(1) SEXUAL HARASSMENT (CAL. GOV.
CODE, § 12940/TITLE VII OF THE
CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 (“TITLE
VII”));
(2) RETALIATION(CAL. GOV. CODE, §
12940/TITLE VII);
(3) FAILURE TO INVESTIGATE,
PREVENT, AND/OR REMEDY
HARASSMENT (CAL. GOV. CODE, §
12940);
(4) RETALIATION(CAL. LABOR CODE,
§ 1102.5);
(5) AIDING AND ABETTING
HARASSMENT AND RETALIATION
(CAL. GOV. CODE, § 12940);
(6) BREACH OF CONTRACT;
(7) INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF
EMOTIONAL DISTRESS;
(8) NEGLIGENCE;
(9) FALSE LIGHT INVASION OF
PRIVACY(CAL. CONST., ART. I, § 1) ;
(10) INTERFERENCE WITH
PROSPECTIVE ECONOMIC
ADVANTAGE
This is probably his only move. I hope it fails.
Megan Twohey wouldn’t have written her piece if she didn’t have the goods.
Agreed. Twohey knows her job. She’ll have fact checked everything she put her name to. She’ll have read every text, not just the ones quoted.
Agreeing with you and in a similar light, Michael Gottlieb the lawyer wouldn’t be filing anything unless he had the goods. A serious litigator who is the reason Rudy Giuliani is bankrupt and Georgia pollworkers Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman have a $148M settlement.
Baldoni’s lawyer isn’t denying the sexual harassment so far, he seems to infer that lawyering up and appealing to Sony with her husband while filming is abuse of power. Take it up with Sony then, they have the power in this situation.
I love this for Blake.
Let’s be honest, Baldoni is in a no win situation. His career is Hollywood dead and I don’t see how him screaming at the top of his lungs would change it. He did deny all allegations right after Blake filed the lawsuit. So, I want to see this unfold in court. From Baldoni’s perspective, his one shot at salvaging this is in a court room. Now, I am not saying he is guilty or innocent. But I just think the truth about what happened in that set would probably be somewhere in the middle of what either side is saying.
No.
He either sexually abused people or he did not.
There is no “middle ground” when it comes to sexual abuse.
Let’s wait for the trial. It’s not like you or I will decide the outcome on this anyway.
Kinda interesting with two people in this thread using the exact phrasing.
As you say, the truth isn’t ‘in the middle’.
Assuming this goes to trial is a very big assumption. Going to trial is the worst case scenario for both sides because it’s a gamble and 💯 a money drain. Settling is a sure thing for litigation experts and you can make sure nothing is disclosed. Both sides can say they’re happy and end the publicity over this movie.
His lawyer is attacking the media instead of the case itself. The only thing he’s doing is taking the public’s criticisms of the suit (texts out of contexts, questionable sources, etc.) and parroting them back using legalese. He’s also attacking the media instead of the case itself.