Justin Baldoni has no ill will towards Blake Lively according to his attorney Bryan Freedman.
During a segment on the Today Show on Friday, he denied the accusations that Baldoni had orchestrated a smear campaign against her designed to damage Lively’s reputation after It Ends With Us was released.
‘One hundred percent no,’ he stated. ‘Justin Baldoni, from the get-go, said, “I don’t want to do anything negative toward her. I don’t want to hurt her.”‘
With that said, the Jane the Virgin star, 40, ‘absolutely’ plans to countersue the Gossip Girl alum, 37.
Freedman said they ‘plan to release every single text’ between the former costars.
He claimed that text screenshots shared by the New York Times in Lively’s sexual harassment lawsuit against Baldoni were presented without context.
Justin Baldoni has no ill will towards Blake Lively according to his attorney Bryan Freedman
‘I’m not asking anyone to not believe anyone,’ Freedman said. “I am more than willing to take every single text message that exists out there, lay them out, put them on a website for the world to see, have them see the truth and determine the truth for themselves.’
In the lawsuit Lively filed last month, she accused Baldoni of body-shaming her, attempting to add additional sex scenes into the movie, showing her pornographic images and videos, breaking character and continuing to kiss her while filming and launching a “social manipulation” campaign against her to ‘destroy’ her reputation.
Freedman was asked whether or not he acknowledges that uncomfortable behavior went down on the set of It Ends With Us.
‘I think there’s some behavior always that can make people uncomfortable, and I don’t think anybody has the intention to do that,’ he said.
‘The question, really, in this case is does it rise to the level of sexual harassment?’
Baldoni has already filed a lawsuit against the New York Times for libel.
The text messages the newspaper published are particularly damning, but according to Baldoni’s legal team, taken entirely out of context.
In Baldoni’s lawsuit, he claims the publication ‘unscrupulously altered and selectively edited’ text messages between Baldoni’s publicist, Jennifer Abel, and crisis communications representative Melissa Nathan that are contained in Lively’s sexual harassment complaint.
During a segment on the Today Show on Friday, he denied the accusations that Baldoni had orchestrated a smear campaign against her
‘One hundred percent no,’ he stated. ‘Justin Baldoni, from the get-go, said, “I don’t want to do anything negative toward her. I don’t want to hurt her.”‘
Lively also alleged that Baldoni entered her trailer in the set of It Ends With Us ‘uninvited while she was undressed, including when she was breastfeeding.’
However, text exchanges in Baldoni’s libel lawsuit appears to show Lively inviting Baldoni to go over lines in her trailer while she was pumping breast milk.
Both lawsuits as well as Baldoni’s impending suit against Lively are cases of he said/she said.
Blake claims Justin fat shamed her after she gave birth to her fourth child, Baldoni claims that never happened.
Baldoni accused Blake’s husband Ryan Reynolds of screaming at him during a production meeting at the couple’s apartment.
Reynolds denies this claim and eyewitnesses told TMZ that while Reynolds was ‘angry and stern,’ his behavior cannot be categorized as yelling.
And while Blake accused Justin of a smear campaign, he has accused her of doing the same thing in order to get him banned from all screenings of the movie he wrote, directed and starred in.
Baldoni claims that Lively was attempting to ‘undermine’ his connection to the film by keeping him away from the premiere.
With that said, the Jane the Virgin star, 40, ‘absolutely’ plans to countersue the Gossip Girl alum, 37. Freedman said they ‘plan to release every single text’ between the former costars
He claimed that text screenshots shared by the New York Times in Lively’s sexual harassment lawsuit against Baldoni were presented without context. Seen here August 8, 2024
He claimed that text screenshots shared by the New York Times in Lively’s sexual harassment lawsuit against Baldoni were presented without context. Seen here December 10, 2024
He conceded in the lawsuit that Lively eventually allowed him and his team from his Wayfarer Studios to attend the premiere, but only ‘under humiliating conditions.’
His lawsuit against the Times follows Lively’s lawsuit against him for alleged sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and lost wages, though he has denied her accusations.
She initially filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department on December 21, before filing a federal lawsuit against him on December 31.
A source for People with knowledge of the case claimed that Baldoni’s lawsuit against Lively will be launched ‘soon.’