Actor’s lawsuit against The New York Times reveals discrepancies between Lively’s allegations and new evidence about the case
Justin Baldoni filed a US$250 million lawsuit against the The New York Times this Tuesday, 1st, in Los Angeles Superior Court. The American newspaper was responsible for the publication entitled “We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine”, which unravels complaints about Blake Lively against the director and co-protagonist of This Is How It Ends (2024).
The parties, which include the film’s producers Jamey Heath and Steve Sarowitzin addition to advertising Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abelclaim that the Teams chose the information in the article “cherry-handedly, altered, devoid of necessary context and deliberately edited to deceive”, according to a document obtained by Variety.
According to the lawsuit, whoever carried out a defamation campaign was Lively against Baldoniusing false “allegations of sexual harassment to assume unilateral control over all aspects of the production” of the feature film inspired by the book of the same name by Colleen Hoover.
Also according to the document, the actress’s husband, Ryan Reynoldsaccused Baldoni of fatphobia against his wife during a meeting in New York. Reynolds would also have pressured the BaldoniWME, so that the actor could be dismissed at the premiere of Deadpool & Wolverine in July 2024.
The process points out that the messages exchanged between public relations Nathan and Abelwhich shows them supposedly celebrating the publication of an article on DailyMail which dealt with forms of dissemination of Lively considered inappropriate for This Is How It Endswere taken out of context.
“You really outdid yourself with this article,” he wrote Abel the Nathanwho responded, “That’s why you hired me, right? I’m the best.” However, the publication of the New York Times omitted previous message, in which Nathan says, “Damn, that’s unfair, because it wasn’t me either.”
“The article by [Times] also deliberately ignores that the publicist of Lively, Leslie Sloanefrom Vision PR, previously backed by Harvey Weinsteinplanted critical stories about Baldoniincluding the claim that Baldoni was a sexual predator, before the release of the film”, says another excerpt from the document that contradicts accusations of Lively.
According to the complaint, the Nathan “was informed that Sloane had planted an unfavorable, false and defamatory story about the Bahá’í Faith of Baldoni node Page Six” and released “a false story claiming there were ‘multiple’ HR complaints during production.”
Lively still accused Heaththe film’s producer, to show a video of his own naked wife. According to the process of Baldoni“the video in question was a (non-pornographic) recording of the wife of Heath during a home birth — a deeply personal moment, without any sexual connotations” and was shown as part of a creative discussion for the feature film.
Regarding the allegation of Lively of what Baldoni described the actress’ character’s outfit as “sexy”, the new lawsuit reveals that she herself used the word during a conversation with the actor related to the costumes. To Livelyher character’s wardrobe should be “sexier”, according to messages exchanged between Baldoni and her. “I’ll show you both styles, but the hat is much sexier,” he said. Lively at a given moment, what the lawyer Baldoni points out as “the tone” established by the actress.
Other messages also show that Livelywho initially objected to sex scenes with Baldonipreferred not to meet the intimacy coordinator in advance. Additionally, “notes from the intimacy coordinator [que] included a suggestion that perhaps Ryle [interpretado por Baldoni] chose not to orgasm after satisfying Lily [interpretada por Lively]”.
According to the document, in messages, “Lively personalizes this and states, ‘I would be mortified if that happened to me,’ to which Baldonifollowing the guidance of Lively in an attempt to connect with and develop his characters, responds, ‘I don’t know about you, but these have been some of the most beautiful moments with [minha esposa] and me'”.
The list of 30 items with Lively related to the film’s recordings would also not have been agreed upon in a meeting held in January, with Baldoni, Heath, Lively, Reynolds and a Sony executive. “No such document has ever been presented to Baldonithe Wayfarer team or, as far as they know, no one else — whether during that meeting or at any other time — and therefore could not have been agreed upon,” the lawsuit contests.
Other side
THE The New York Times spoke through a representative about the process of Justin Baldoni. In a statement sent to Varietythe newspaper stated:
The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts wherever they lead. Our story has been carefully and responsibly told. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and in detail in the article. To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldonithe other subjects of the article and their representatives did not point out a single error. We have also published their full statement in response to the allegations in the article. We plan to vigorously oppose the lawsuit.
Source: Rollingstone
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
