Justin Baldoni’s authorized group will not be letting Blake Lively’s gag order request go quietly.
Earlier this week, the actress demanded a gag order be enforced towards Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, after Freedman launched unedited footage from the “It Ends With Us” set.
In a court docket submitting Tuesday, Energetic’s group slammed Freedman for making a number of statements to the media that would taint a jury ought to the actress’s sexual harassment complaints towards Baldoni make it to a courtroom.
On Jan. 23, Baldoni’s attorneys filed a response, calling Energetic’s gag order try an “intimidation tactic” and “tactical gamesmanship.”
Blake Energetic accused Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment in a federal lawsuit filed Dec. 31. (Getty Photographs)
“Having publicly made ruinous allegations that the Wayfarer Events can show are false, the Energetic Events now invoke lawyer disciplinary guidelines as an intimidation tactic,” Baldoni’s authorized group wrote.
“The Energetic Events’ need to power the Wayfarer Events to defend themselves privately towards allegations made publicly will not be a correct foundation for a gag order. It’s tactical gamesmanship, and it’s outrageous.”
“It’s tactical gamesmanship, and it’s outrageous.”
The submitting states that, after a “bombshell” New York Occasions article included Energetic’s allegations of sexual harassment towards Baldoni, releasing the unedited “This Ends With Us” footage has been very important to defending their consumer.
They referred to as the backlash from the article “completely calamitous,” including that Baldoni and his group have been “exiled from well mannered society” due to it. The letter additionally mentioned Baldoni has suffered damages “totaling tons of of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} as a consequence of Ms. Energetic’s scorched-earth media marketing campaign.”
Representatives for Energetic didn’t reply to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark.
The unedited “This Ends With Us” video, shared by Baldoni’s lawyer and obtained by Fox Information Digital, allegedly addresses the actress’s claims a few slow-dance scene.
WATCH: JUSTIN BALDONI RELEASES UNEDITED ‘IT ENDS WITH US’ FOOTAGE FEATURING BLAKE LIVELY
Energetic claimed Baldoni “leaned ahead and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he mentioned, ‘It smells so good,'” whereas filming a sluggish dance montage scene, in response to her Dec. 20 sexual harassment lawsuit obtained by Fox Information Digital.
“When Ms. Energetic later objected to this conduct, Mr. Baldoni’s response was, ‘I’m not even interested in you.’”
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Nonetheless, Baldoni insisted the remark was made in regard to Energetic’s personal admission about her spray tan. All through the video, almost 10 minutes of uncooked footage, Baldoni is directing the scene whereas Energetic engages him in dialog as a result of she states that it is “extra romantic” than simply gazing one another.
Whereas Baldoni snuggled into Energetic’s neck, the actor jokingly requested, “Am I getting beard on you at this time?” She laughed and mentioned, “I am in all probability getting spray tan on you.”
Baldoni then acknowledged, “It smells good,” to which Energetic responded, “Effectively, it isn’t that. It is my physique make-up.”
Blake Energetic demanded a gag order be enforced towards Justin Baldoni’s authorized group throughout their ongoing court docket battle. (Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Photographs; Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan through Getty Photographs)
The movies “captured on Might 23, 2023, clearly refute Ms. Energetic’s characterization of his conduct,” an announcement shared initially of the clip acknowledged. “The scene in query was designed to indicate the 2 characters falling in love and longing to be shut to 1 one other. Each actors are clearly behaving properly inside the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism. These are all three takes filmed of the sequence.”
Energetic’s authorized group claimed the unedited video is “damning proof” and “corroborates” her allegations of sexual harassment.
Blake Energetic and Justin Baldoni on the set of “It Ends with Us” Jan. 12, 2024. (Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Photographs)
Blake Energetic referred to as Baldoni’s unedited video “damning proof” that “corroborates” her allegations of sexual harassment. (Justin Tallis/AFP through Getty Photographs)
“Justin Baldoni and his lawyer might hope that this newest stunt will get forward of the damaging proof towards him, however the video itself is damning. Each body of the launched footage corroborates, to the letter, what Ms. Energetic described in Paragraph 48 of her criticism,” Energetic’s authorized group mentioned in an announcement supplied to Fox Information Digital.
“The video exhibits Mr. Baldoni repeatedly leaning in towards Ms. Energetic, making an attempt to kiss her, kissing her brow, rubbing his face and mouth towards her neck, flicking her lip along with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and speaking along with her out of character.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
“Each second of this was improvised by Mr. Baldoni with no dialogue or consent prematurely and no intimacy coordinator current. Mr. Baldoni was not solely Ms. Energetic’s co-star, however the director, the top of studio and Ms. Energetic’s boss.
Justin Baldoni filed his personal $400 million lawsuit towards Energetic and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. (Nathan Congleton/NBC through Getty Photographs)
“The video exhibits Ms. Energetic leaning away and repeatedly asking for the characters to only speak. Any lady who has been inappropriately touched within the office will acknowledge Ms. Energetic’s discomfort. They’ll acknowledge her makes an attempt at levity to attempt to deflect the undesirable touching. No lady ought to must take defensive measures to keep away from being touched by their employer with out their consent.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Final week, Baldoni filed a $400 million lawsuit towards Energetic and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
Fox Information Digital’s Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report.
Source link