{"id":287944,"date":"2025-01-01T13:51:39","date_gmt":"2025-01-01T10:51:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kahawatungu.com\/?p=287944"},"modified":"2025-01-01T13:51:39","modified_gmt":"2025-01-01T10:51:39","slug":"justin-baldoni-sues-new-york-times-for-250-million-over-blake-lively-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kahawatungu.com\/justin-baldoni-sues-new-york-times-for-250-million-over-blake-lively-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin Baldoni Sues New York Times For $250 Million Over Blake Lively Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Justin Baldoni is firing back after being accused of sexual harassment by his co-star Blake Lively, filing a libel suit against The New York Times on Tuesday, claiming that the newspaper published an article \u201crife with inaccuracies, misrepresentations, and omissions\u201d that relied on Lively\u2019s \u201cself-serving narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lively filed a complaint\u00a0with the California Civil Rights Department in December, accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation. In the bombshell complaint, Lively claimed that after she raised concerns of sexual harassment on the set of their film, \u201cIt Ends With Us,\u201d Baldoni and his team retaliated against her, leaking unflattering press to try to ruin her professional reputation.<\/p>\n

Lively\u2019s complaint was first reported in The New York Times, which published an article titled, \u201c\u2018We Can Bury Anyone\u2019: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,\u201d on December 21. The 4,000-word article contained contents from the Civil Rights Department complaint, which typically remain confidential.<\/p>\n

In the wake of the New York Times article and Lively\u2019s complaint against Baldoni, he was dropped by the talent agency, WME, which also represents Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. Lively received swift support across Hollywood SAG-AFTRA, the actors\u2019 union, releasing a statement in support of her. Sony, the studio behind \u201cIt Ends With Us,\u201d also released a statement standing by Lively.<\/p>\n

Now, Baldoni is alleging that Lively created false sexual harassment accusations so she could take control of the film, then set out on a campaign to \u201creshape her public persona\u201d with \u201csalacious, headline-grabbing allegations\u201d in The New York Times at Baldoni\u2019s expense.<\/p>\n

\u201cLively\u2019s cynical abuse of sexual harassment allegations to assert unilateral control over every aspect of the production was both strategic and manipulative,\u201d Baldoni\u2019s lawsuit states. \u201cSimultaneously, her public image suffered as a result of a series of high-profile blunders, which she tried to deflect by blaming Plaintiffs for the public\u2019s prying interest into the foibles of an A-list celebrity. This is nothing but an excuse. Fame is a double-edged sword, but Lively\u2019s tactics here are unconscionable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The suit claims that The New York Times failed its \u201cjournalistic integrity\u201d to vet Lively\u2019s sexual harassment and retaliation allegations, noting that the paper \u201crelied almost entirely on Lively\u2019s unverified and self-serving narrative, lifting it nearly verbatim while disregarding an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for The New York Times told CNN the publication plans to \u201cvigorously defend against the lawsuit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead,\u201d Danielle Rhoades Ha, spokesperson for the Times, told CNN in a statement Tuesday. \u201cOur\u00a0story<\/a>\u00a0was 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\u00a0full statement\u00a0in response to the allegations in the article as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attorneys for Lively told CNN in a statement that \u201cnothing in this lawsuit changes anything\u201d about Lively\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n

While Lively initially filed a complaint against Baldoni and his Wayfarer production company with California\u2019s Civil Rights Department, attorneys for the actress filed a federal complaint on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to addressing each and every one of Wayfarer\u2019s allegations in court,\u201d Lively\u2019s attorneys said.<\/p>\n

Baldoni\u2019s suit was filed by attorney Bryan Freedman in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of 10 plaintiffs total, including Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, his producing partner Jamey Heath, who was also accused by Lively of sexual harassment, and Baldoni\u2019s publicist and crisis manager, Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan.<\/p>\n

Baldoni co-starred with Lively and directed \u201cIt Ends With Us,\u201d which is based on the book of the same name that centers on a couple and domestic violence in their relationship. Wayfarer Studios, acquired the rights to book and produced the film, which became a box office success.<\/p>\n

Lively\u2019s complaint included screen captures of text messages and correspondence that Lively\u2019s team alleged showed orchestrated attempts on the part of Baldoni\u2019s PR representatives to hurt her reputation in the media as part of a \u201csocial manipulation campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baldoni\u2019s lawsuit contains pages upon pages of text messages that Freedman told CNN are proof that the text messages published in Lively\u2019s initial complaint were \u201cdoctored and manipulated.\u201d He alleges in his complaint that the Times \u201cintentionally\u201d omitted texts which \u201cdispute\u201d Lively\u2019s narrative.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Times truly reviewed the thousands of private communications it claimed to have obtained, its reporters would have seen incontrovertible evidence that it was Lively, not Plaintiffs, who engaged in a calculated smear campaign,\u201d Baldoni\u2019s suit states.<\/p>\n

One of the most egregious claims in Lively\u2019s complaint was that Baldoni and Heath \u201centered her makeup trailer uninvited while she was undressed, including when she was breastfeeding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baldoni\u2019s suit offers a rebuttal to that specific claim, showcasing a text that appears to be from Lively to Baldoni that reads, \u201cI\u2019m just pumping in my trailer if you wanna work out our lines.\u201d<\/p>\n

(CNN has not verified the authenticity of any of the text messages. The text message where Lively allegedly invites Baldoni into her trailer is marked as being sent in June 2023.)<\/p>\n

After Lively\u2019s complaint was filed, a snowball effect ensued with both sides taking jabs at each other, raising questions as to how those private text messages were acquired. A subsequent lawsuit, filed by Baldoni\u2019s former publicist, Stephanie Jones, alleged that those text messages came from the phone of her former employee, Abel \u2014 Baldoni\u2019s current publicist \u2014 who was among the individuals Lively accused of orchestrating a smear campaign against her.<\/p>\n

Baldoni, Heath, Abel, Nathan and Wayfarer all denied Lively\u2019s original claims and asserted Lively was the one leaking negative press about Baldoni.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media,\u201d Freedman said in a statement to CNN when Lively\u2019s complaint was first filed.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Freedman told CNN that Lively, her team and the New York Times engaged in a \u201cvicious smear campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn doing so,\u201d Freedman said, \u201cthey pre-determined the outcome of their story, and aided and abetted their own devastating PR smear campaign designed to revitalize Lively\u2019s self-induced floundering public image and counter the organic groundswell of criticism amongst the online public. The irony is rich.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile their side embraces partial truths, we embrace the full truth,\u201d Freedman added. \u201cAnd have all of the communications to back it.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Agencies <\/em><\/p>\n

Also Read<\/strong>: \u201cHe Was Good In Bed\u201d: Kristin Cavallari On Romance With Morgan Wallen<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Justin Baldoni is firing back after being accused of sexual harassment by his co-star Blake Lively, filing a libel suit against The New York Times on Tuesday, claiming that the newspaper published an article \u201crife with inaccuracies, misrepresentations, and omissions\u201d that relied on Lively\u2019s \u201cself-serving narrative.\u201d Lively filed a complaint\u00a0with the California Civil Rights Department<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":287945,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175204],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-287944","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment-2"},"yoast_head":"\nJustin Baldoni Sues New York Times For $250 Million Over Blake Lively Story - KahawaTungu<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Justin Baldoni is firing back after being accused of sexual harassment by his co-star Blake Lively, filing a libel suit against The New York T\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kahawatungu.com\/justin-baldoni-sues-new-york-times-for-250-million-over-blake-lively-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Justin Baldoni Sues New York Times For $250 Million Over Blake Lively Story\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Justin Baldoni is firing back after being accused of sexual harassment by his co-star Blake Lively, filing a libel suit against The New York T\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/kahawatungu.com\/justin-baldoni-sues-new-york-times-for-250-million-over-blake-lively-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"KahawaTungu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KahawaTungu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/adresvila.walyaula\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-01T10:51:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/kahawatungu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/gettyimages-2165985617-20241225160921623.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1160\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"653\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andrew Walyaula\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@WalyaulaA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Kahawatungu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andrew Walyaula\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kahawatungu.com\/justin-baldoni-sues-new-york-times-for-250-million-over-blake-lively-story\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/kahawatungu.com\/justin-baldoni-sues-new-york-times-for-250-million-over-blake-lively-story\/\",\"name\":\"Justin Baldoni Sues New York Times For $250 Million Over Blake Lively Story - KahawaTungu\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kahawatungu.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-01T10:51:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-01T10:51:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kahawatungu.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a189dba57438b428bed4223e9abc98f6\"},\"description\":\"Justin Baldoni is firing back after being accused of sexual harassment by his co-star Blake Lively, filing a libel suit against The New York T\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kahawatungu.com\/justin-baldoni-sues-new-york-times-for-250-million-over-blake-lively-story\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/kahawatungu.com\/justin-baldoni-sues-new-york-times-for-250-million-over-blake-lively-story\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kahawatungu.com\/justin-baldoni-sues-new-york-times-for-250-million-over-blake-lively-story\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/kahawatungu.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Justin Baldoni Sues New York Times For $250 Million Over Blake Lively Story\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kahawatungu.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/kahawatungu.com\/\",\"name\":\"KahawaTungu\",\"description\":\"Bitter! 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