Justin Baldoni sued Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds for civil extortion, defamation and different actions in a lawsuit filed Thursday.
Baldoni accused Full of life of tormenting him, his household and colleagues in a lawsuit filed within the Southern District of New York and obtained by Fox Information Digital. The actor requested a jury trial and a judgment of $400,000,000.
Lively sued Baldoni first for sexual harassment after the 2 starred collectively within the Colleen Hoover-adapted movie, “It Ends With Us.” For the reason that premiere of the film in August, Full of life has additionally accused Baldoni of taking part in a deliberate smear marketing campaign to damage her status.
Nevertheless, Baldoni – together with Wayfarer Studios, Jamey Heath and others – paint a distinct story within the actor’s personal lawsuit.
Justin Baldoni sued Blake Full of life for civil extortion, defamation and extra in a lawsuit filed Jan. 16. (Getty Pictures)
“Plaintiffs now don’t have any alternative however to combat again armed solely with the reality – and the mountain of concrete proof disproving Full of life’s allegations,” the court docket docs learn.
“Heartbreakingly, a movie that Baldoni envisioned years in the past would honor the survivors of home violence by telling their story, with the lofty purpose of constructing a constructive impression on this planet, has now been overshadowed past recognition solely on account of Full of life’s actions and cruelty.”
Baldoni’s authorized group claimed Full of life has no proof of a deliberate smear marketing campaign and as a substitute labored to restore her status by accusing the actor and others of sexual harassment.
“However Full of life couldn’t tolerate her publicly tainted picture for even a second, and additional couldn’t settle for that it was solely of her personal making,” the lawsuit learn. “She wanted a scapegoat. And slightly than admit and take accountability for her personal mishaps, she selected accountable Plaintiffs, in a malicious and unforgivably public method.”
“When she and Reynolds couldn’t power Baldoni and Wayfarer to learn a press release she and her representatives ready, extorting them to ‘take accountability’ in protection of Full of life’s actions, she lay in await months, getting ready to publicly assault Baldoni by falsely claiming that he had sexually harassed her.”
Blake Full of life and Justin Baldoni are seen on the set of “It Ends With Us” on Jan. 12, 2024. (Photograph by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Pictures)
Baldoni’s authorized group included textual content messages, emails and extra as “untampered proof” backing up the “Jane the Virgin” star’s claims.
“This lawsuit is a authorized motion based mostly on an awesome quantity of untampered proof detailing Blake Full of life and her group’s duplicitous try and destroy Justin Baldoni, his group and their respective corporations by disseminating grossly edited, unsubstantiated, new and doctored data to the media,” Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, stated in a press release to Fox Information Digital. “It’s clear based mostly on our personal all out willingness to offer all full textual content messages, emails, video footage and different documentary proof that was shared between the events in actual time, that it is a battle she is not going to win and will definitely remorse. Blake Full of life was both severely misled by her group or deliberately and knowingly misrepresented the reality.”
“Ms. Full of life won’t ever once more be allowed to proceed to take advantage of precise victims of actual harassment solely for her private status acquire on the expense of these with out energy,” the assertion continued. “Let’s not neglect, Ms. Full of life and her group tried to bulldoze reputations and livelihoods for heinously egocentric causes via their very own harmful manipulation of the media earlier than even taking any precise authorized motion. We all know the reality, and now the general public does too. Justin and his group don’t have anything to cover, paperwork don’t lie.”
A consultant for Full of life and Reynolds didn’t return Fox Information Digital’s speedy request for remark.
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Blake Full of life accused Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment. ( Gareth Cattermole/Getty Pictures)
Lively detailed allegations of sexual harassment, retaliation, intentional affliction of emotional misery, negligence and extra made by Baldoni and movie producer Jamey Heath in a grievance first filed with the California Civil Rights division and later in federal court docket.
In line with the grievance, obtained by Fox Information Digital, the actress convened an “all fingers” assembly on Jan. 4, 2024, concerning the alleged habits of Baldoni and Heath, a gathering which her husband, Reynolds, attended.
“Ms. Full of life was pressured to handle considerations about Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath’s misconduct with them straight, and started doing so months earlier than filming started,” the grievance reads. “The considerations she raised weren’t just for herself, however for the opposite feminine solid and crew, a few of whom had additionally spoken up.”
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
Justin Baldoni sued The New York Occasions for defamation following Blake Full of life’s sexual harassment lawsuit. (Nathan Congleton/NBC by way of Getty Pictures)
Following Full of life’s lawsuit, Baldoni additionally sued The New York Times for defamation.
Nevertheless, Full of life’s group famous her allegations are “backed by concrete information.”
“This isn’t a ‘feud’ arising from ‘artistic variations’ or a ‘he stated/she stated’ state of affairs,” her attorneys informed Fox Information Digital. “As alleged in Ms. Full of life’s grievance, and as we’ll show in litigation, Wayfarer [Studios] and its associates engaged in illegal, retaliatory astroturfing towards Ms. Full of life for merely making an attempt to guard herself and others on a movie set. And their response to the lawsuit has been to launch extra assaults towards Ms. Full of life since her submitting.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Source link