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By Erin Keller
Reporter (Live News)
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Bryan Freedman, a lawyer for Justin Baldoni, said they plan to sue Blake Lively "into oblivion" as the legal drama between the It Ends With Us co-stars continues.
Newsweek has contacted representatives for Baldoni by email for comment.
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Why It Matters
Lively, 37, filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, 40, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation during the film's production.
The complaint, first submitted to the California Civil Rights Department on December 20, details several allegations, including unwanted physical advances on set, as well as Baldoni hiring a crisis management team to orchestrate a smear campaign against her, aiming to damage her reputation through social media and negative news stories.
On December 31, Baldoni filed a $250 million libel lawsuit against the New York Times, accusing the publication of publishing a biased narrative using manipulated and cherry-picked evidence while ignoring evidence that refuted Lively's allegations.
What To Know
On Tuesday, Freedman appeared on The Megyn Kelly Show where the host asked if Baldoni planned to sue Lively.
"Into oblivion," Freedman replied. "Wait until you see this lawsuit," which he said is coming "soon."
What are Justin Baldoni's key allegations against Blake Lively?
Freedman told Kelly about the expected legal filing, "It's all going to be based on evidence, and it's not going to be just a lawsuit. It's going to be the kind of lawsuit that is full of evidence, admissions and documents that prove exactly what she did and how she bullied her way through the process to take over the movie and used her PR people to try and destroy Justin."
In addition to Lively, Freedmen said the lawsuit will also name others as defendants, including her PR rep Leslie Slone, Baldoni's former publicist Stephanie Jones, and "for sure" Lively's husband, Ryan Reynolds.
Freedman told Kelly that Lively "shocked everybody," including Sony and the film's production when she told reporters at the movie premiere that Reynolds wrote a scene for the film.
"Justin handles that really, really well and doesn't want to say 'she's a liar' or doesn't want to say 'that's inappropriate,' or doesn't want to say that's part of of of someone else's job,' and he treats her very well about," Freedman reflected on Baldoni's reaction to the claim.
It Ends With Us screenwriter Christy Hall spoke in August, clarifying that Reynolds did not write the film's rooftop scene by himself, but rather suggested dialogue that made the cut.
What is the new evidence against Blake Lively?
"We're going to put every single text message out there. We're going to put every email out there," Freedman told Kelly.
"We're going to put every document out there that's relevant to the case – not something that's disrespectful or otherwise would embarrass. Ms. Lively, because that's not what we want to do, but we want to make sure that people have the facts and people can make their own determinations as to what happened," he said.
What People Are Saying
Lively's legal team in a statement to Newsweek on Wednesday: "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. Another classic tactic is to reverse the victim and offender, and suggest that the offender is actually the victim."
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What Happens Next
Freedman told Kelly he predicts this case will get "worse and worse" for Lively.
"People are going to be more comfortable telling the truth. And what this is about is really the truth. She's put [producer] Jamey Heath and Justin Baldoni in this position of being called sexual predators, and sexual harassers. They have no choice but to go all the way."
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