Justin Baldoni sues New York Times over Blake Lively lawsuit article
Topics: Celebrity, Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni
Rhianna Benson
Featured Image Credit: Cindy Ord/Getty Images/ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Celebrity, Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni
Justin Baldoni has filed a lawsuit against the New York Times over its coverage of his co-star Blake Lively's accusations against him.
For those in need of a reminder, just prior to the festive period, 40-year-old Baldoni was named in a legal complaint filed by his It Ends With Us cast-mate Lively.
The actress, 37, accused him of orchestrating a 'smear campaign' to 'destroy' her reputation and allegedly exhibiting overly-sexualised behaviour towards her and her employees.
Among the accusations being made in the latter category, are that he allegedly 'improvised gratuitous sexual content' after she’d accepted the role of Lily Bloom in the adaption of Colleen Hoover’s novel, and asked explicit questions about her own sex life with husband Ryan Reynolds.
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The mother-of-four also alleged that her on-screen love interest - who plays Ryle Kincaid in the cinematic adaptation - 'routinely degraded' her on set, along with several other staff members from his production company Wayfarer Studios.
Lively also recalled Baldoni having allegedly entered her trailer without permission, referenced his alleged 'pornography addiction' and mentioned the 'genitalia' of other cast and crew members - accusations of which he vehemently denies.
All of these allegations - as well as others, which accused Baldoni of having hired a publicity team to 'destroy' the actress' reputation - were originally covered in late December by the New York Times.
The publication reported on the filing - made on 20 December - the following day, titling it: "'We Can Bury Anyone': Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine," seemingly a reference to a text Baldoni received from his publicist Melissa Nathan about Lively, obtained due to a subpoena.
Joined by nine other plaintiffs, Baldoni has now brought a $250 million lawsuit against the outlet.
The group allege that the NY Times has instigated both libel and false-light invasion of privacy in a suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
They also allege that the publication's reporting 'cherry-picked' and 'altered communications stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead'.
The latest filing also claims that the news outlet 'relied almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative'.
A spokesperson for the NY Times said: "The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead. Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported.
"It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article.
"To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the other subjects of the article and their representatives have not pointed to a single error. We published their full statement in response to the allegations in the article as well.
"We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit."
Bryan Freedman, the attorney who filed the lawsuit, told Variety that 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'.
As well as her original lawsuit, lawyers for Lively have said they have now filed a federal complaint against Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, claiming the defendants 'have violated federal and California state law by retaliating against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns'.
Lively's legal team said: "Now, the defendants will answer for their conduct in federal court."
LADbible Group contacted Lively and Baldoni's represenatives, and the New York Times for comment.