Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni file lawsuits. The celebrity dispute does not subside

The legal dispute between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni is intensifying. The actress filed a lawsuit against her “It Ends with Us” co-star on Tuesday. As the BBC points out, the allegations contained therein are consistent with the allegations made by the star in the content submitted two weeks ago complaints to the California Department of Civil Rights. Lively accuses Baldoni of sexual harassment and trying to destroy her reputation. The star is demanding financial compensation from the director in an unspecified amount.

On Tuesday, Baldoni also filed a lawsuit – against The New York Times, which first reported Lively's allegations. The director accuses the newspaper of defamation and demands $250 million (approximately PLN 1.04 billion) in damages from it. Baldoni accuses “NYT” of cooperating with the actress, trying to destroy his image and failing to provide him and his lawyers with adequate time to respond to the content of the article – reports Variety, which was the first to learn about the lawsuit.

According to Baldoni, the text messages and e-mails he exchanged with his public relations team presented in the NYT article were “selectively” selected from other messages by the newspaper. The daily also allegedly deprived the quotes of the “necessary context” and motivated its actions with the desire to “intentionally mislead”. The newspaper denies this version of events. In a statement sent to Variety, the NYT notes that it “scrupulously and responsibly” reported the story of Lively and Baldoni.

The daily emphasizes that the text was based on “a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including text messages and e-mails,” which were quoted “accurately and extensively.” He also notes that neither Baldoni himself nor any other person described in the article has so far pointed out any specific error in the text, and the statements of the heroes of the story have been quoted in full. “We plan to defend ourselves against the lawsuit,” announces “NYT.”

According to Bryan Freedman, a lawyer who filed a lawsuit against the NYT on behalf of Baldoni and other plaintiffs, the newspaper “succumbs to the whims and whims of two powerful, untouchable (representatives of) the Hollywood elite” and by publishing the text “disregarded journalistic customs and ethics.”

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The article in question reported the content Lively's complaints to the California Department of Civil Rights. This refers to situations that allegedly occurred on the set of the film “It Ends with Us”, which premiered this summer. Lively plays the main female role, and Baldoni plays the male lead. The American is also a director of photography. According to the “NYT” text and the complaint cited therein, Lively Baldoni repeatedly violated the actress's personal space on the set and made inappropriate comments of a sexual nature towards her.

Along with one of his producers, Jamey Heath, Baldoni also allegedly entered Lively's trailer without her consent, including while she was undressed or while she was breastfeeding her baby. Heath himself allegedly showed the actress recordings of his wife in which she was naked. Due to the above, a special meeting was organized, which, apart from those interested, was also attended by Lively's husband, actor and producer Ryan Reynolds. After implementing the changes discussed together, the atmosphere on the set was supposed to improve. Later, however, as Lively argues in her complaint, the men, as part of retaliation, decided to organize a smear campaign against her in the media.

“It Ends with Us” tells the story of a woman who, after overcoming a traumatic childhood, meets a man who seems to be her soulmate. However, she soon begins to see his darker side. Then love from years ago stands in her way. The film was based on the best-selling novel by Colleen Hoover.

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