Blake Lively’s legal team has shared a new statement after Justin Baldoni claimed he was “sent to the basement” during the It Ends with Us premiere.
Last month, the 37-year-old actress filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign against her after the pair starred in the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel.
The Gossip Girl alum alleged that there was inappropriate behavior from the 40-year-old while they were on the film set, claiming that he asked about her sex life with her husband Ryan Reynolds, and commented on her body.
She is also suing Baldoni’s crisis manager, Melissa Nathan, as well as his publicist Jennifer Abel, and Wayfarer Studios, which produced the movie.
In response, the Jane The Virgin actor’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, has labeled Lively’s allegations as “completely false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”
While Baldoni has yet to file a countersuit against Lively, he has launched a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times for alleged libel, false light invasion of privacy, promissory fraud, and breach of contract.
The publication published an article featuring Lively’s claims, including her statement which read: “I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.”
In his filing, Baldoni states: “The Times story relied almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative, lifting it nearly verbatim while disregarding an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives.”
And Freedman told Page Six in a statement: “In this vicious smear campaign fully orchestrated by Blake Lively and her team, the New York Times cowered to the wants and whims of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elites, disregarding journalistic practices and ethics once befitting of the revered publication by using doctored and manipulated texts and intentionally omitting texts which dispute their chosen PR narrative.
The New York Times has vowed to defend itself against Baldoni’s allegations.
Amid these legal proceedings, a leaked voicemail recorded by Baldoni has circulated online, reportedly detailing his account of events at the It Ends With Us premiere.
As cited by Variety, the director is heard telling his team in the alleged voice message: “On what could have been one of the most beautiful nights of my life career-wise, I literally was sent to the basement with all my friends and family for over an hour because I wasn’t allowed to be seen, she didn’t want me anywhere near her or the rest of the cast.”
“So they ushered me off the carpet and sent us down to the basement, we were down there together, my friends and family, the people that love me the most,” he continued.
“We start laughing because of the ridiculousness of this whole thing and I realize like on a night that was supposed to be so materialistically joyful, I was in the basement with the people that love me the most and we were all joyful and laughing cause none of that sh** matters, none of it.”
The Five Feet Apart star concluded: “That’s not why we’re in the business… to attend a premiere and be celebrated like that, we’re in it because we’re artists and we believe in what we do and because we want to create art that touches people’s souls and can move people. And that’s what we did, that’s what you both did and I believe that will follow us, the truth will prevail and light and love will win.”
Lively’s legal team has issued a new statement to PEOPLE in response to the leaked voicemail, accusing Baldoni, his production studio Wayfarer Studios, and associates of engaging in “unlawful, retaliatory astroturfing’ against Lively ‘for simply trying to protect herself and others on a film set”.
They said the actor’s response to the court filing “has been to launch more attacks against Lively” and added that The Age of Adaline actress’ “serious claims of sexual harassment and retaliation” are “backed by concrete facts”.
“This is not a ‘feud’ arising from ‘creative differences’ or a ‘he said/she said’ situation,” the lawyers said. “Sexual harassment and retaliation are illegal in every workplace and in every industry.”
“A classic tactic to distract from allegations of this type of misconduct is to ‘blame the victim’ by suggesting that they invited the conduct, brought it on themselves, misunderstood the intentions, or even lied,” the team continued. “Another classic tactic is to reverse the victim and offender and suggest that the offender is actually the victim. These concepts normalize and trivialize allegations of serious misconduct.”
“Most importantly, media statements are not a defense to Ms. Lively’s legal claims…We will continue to prosecute her claims in federal court, where the rule of law determines who prevails, not hyperbole and threats,” they ended the statement.
