Justin Baldoni’s lawyer vows star’s lawsuit against Blake Lively will ‘expose truth’ after her ‘Hollywood Smear Machine’
JUSTIN Baldoni’s lawyer has vowed the actor’s lawsuit against It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively will “expose the truth”.
The Gossip Girl alum, 37, issued a lawsuit for sexual harassment, claiming Justin’s actions caused “severe emotional distress” and amounted to a smear campaign to “destroy” her reputation.
Justin, who previously starred in 2018 movie Con Man and TV series Jane The Virgin, denied all the allegations – stating they were “serious and categorically false.”
Justin’s attorney Bryan Freedman insisted the contents of the filing will “shock everyone”.
“I am not going to speak to when or how many lawsuits we are filing but when we file our first lawsuit, it is going to shock everyone who has been manipulated into believing a demonstrably false narrative,” Freedman on Saturday told Deadline.
Justin’s lawyer said that details of the countersuit “will be supported by real evidence and tell the true story”.
‘In over 30 years of practicing, I have never seen this level of unethical behavior intentionally fueled through media manipulation,’ Bryan told the publication.
“It reminds me of what NBC tried to do to Megyn Kelly and Gabrielle Union and we all know how that ended up. Standby.”
While Bryan also told People Sunday that the countersuit will shed light on ‘those who believe themselves untouchable.’
Freedman told People Sunday that the countersuit will shed light on ‘those who believe themselves untouchable.’
He said: “This lawsuit will uncover and expose the false and destructive narrative that was intentionally engineered by a trusted media publication who relied upon nefarious sources and neglected a thorough fact checking process to confirm the validity of these texts.’
BOMBSHELL LAWSUIT
Hollywood stars Blake and Justin appeared in the adaptation of the best-selling Colleen Hoover novel, It Ends With Us in August.
Yet the film’s release was marred by a string of alleged bust-ups on set.
Justin, who is married to wife Emily Baldoni, has now been accused of showing Blake naked videos and images of other women as well as making references about his alleged previous porn addiction in the bombshell lawsuit, according to documents seen by TMZ.
The documents claim film executives had to arrange an all-hands meeting, attended by Deadpool star Ryan, 40, after Blake told bosses of her concerns.
The actress is said to have demanded ‘Conman’ star Justin to stop showing her naked photos of women, talking about his sex life, discussing cast members’ genitalia and asking about his co-star’s weight.
She also claims to have asked for “no more adding of sex scenes, oral sex or on camera climaxing outside the scope of the script approved when signing onto the project.”
Distributor Sony Pictures approved The Age of Adaline star’s requests but the lawsuit says Justin used “social manipulation” to destroy her reputation after she aired her fears.
Justin’s lawyer Bryan Freedman has branded the lawsuit “shameful” and claimed it was “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious, with an intent to publicly hurt”.
He claimed Blake launched legal action to “fix her negative reputation” after reports that she was “diva-like” on set.
HOOVER SUPPORT
Colleen Hoover – author of the book on which the movie is based – has also spoken out amid the sexual harassment allegations.
The American appeared to support Blake in an online post that also included a link to the star’s claims.
Novelist Colleen said Blake had been “nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met.”
She added: “Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt.”