Justin Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman has forcefully responded to Blake Lively’s request for a gag order in the former costars’ ongoing legal case surrounding the filming of It Ends With Us.
“The irony is not lost on anyone that Ms. Lively is so petrified of the truth that she has moved to gag it,” Freedman told Us Weekly in a Saturday, January 25, statement. “The immense power that she wielded in Hollywood built on pure fear of her husband and their powerful friends came to an end the moment Ms. Lively planned a mass distribution of a disturbingly false and well-calculated hit piece in The New York Times.”
Lively, 37, publicly accused Baldoni, 41, of sexual harassment and alleged workplace misconduct via an article published by the Times in December 2024. Baldoni denied the claims and subsequently filed a lawsuit against the newspaper for libel. He also filed a separate lawsuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, earlier this month, alleging in court docs that Lively was “determined to make Baldoni the real-life villain in her story” to mask her alleged “tone-deaf” promotion of the film.
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Earlier this week, Freedman released a 10-minute video of Lively and Baldoni filming a dancing scene for 2024’s It Ends With Us. As a result, Lively requested a gag order via her legal team, claiming the footage was “damming.” Baldoni’s team is now filing to stop Lively’s motion from being approved by a judge.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds Ask Court to Silence Justin Baldoni’s Lawyer
“Ms. Lively did this with the sole intent to ruin the lives of innocent individuals, and then went the extra mile to place blame on a fictitious smear campaign, all because she quite simply could not accept that the public had organically seen through her facade,” Freedman added in his statement. “When you accuse innocent individuals of something so disturbing as sexual harassment without thinking of the destruction it would cause to not only them but the entire domestic violence community, this is where accountability for such mean-spirited actions must be taken.”
He continued, “We will always respect the court; however, we will never be bullied by those suggesting we cannot defend our clients with pure, unedited facts. All we want is for people to see the actual text messages that directly contradict her allegations, video footage that clearly shows there was no sexual harassment and all the other powerful evidence that directly contradicts any false allegations of sexual harassment and subsequent smear campaign. It seems that in a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
Justin Baldoni Never Wanted to ‘Hurt’ Blake Lively, Lawyer Says
Lively has not publicly addressed Freedman’s latest statement. Us has reached out for comment.
The Gossip Girl alum, who starred as Lily Bloom in It Ends With Us, has previously denied all of Baldoni’s accusations and slammed Freedman for releasing the set footage.
“The video shows Mr. Baldoni repeatedly leaning in toward Ms. Lively, attempting to kiss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, flicking her lip with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and talking with her out of character,” her legal team said in a statement at the time.
Us Weekly
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