Jan 01, 2025 08:47 AM IST
It Ends With Us star Justin Baldoni has filed a $250 million lawsuit over a New York Times article that put forward Blake Lively’s sexual harassment claims.
Actor-filmmaker Justin Baldoni has sued the New York Times, demanding $250 million in damages. The suit is in response to a deep dive piece the newspaper had published backing Baldoni’s It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively’s sexual harassment allegations against him. Baldoni has called the article completely reliant on her ‘self-serving narrative’. (Also read: Blake Lively sues Justin Baldoni for severe emotional distress, mental pain, anguish, and lost wages)
Justin Baldoni’s suit
Variety reported on Tuesday that Baldoni has filed a $250 million lawsuit against the NYT in Los Angeles Superior Court. The plaintiffs in the suit also include publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, as well as It Ends With Us producers Jamey Heath and Steve Sarowitz, who are suing the newspaper for libel and false light invasion of privacy. The bone of contention is a December 21 article titled ‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.
The lawsuit claims that the publication relied on “‘cherry-picked’ and altered communications stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead.” The article had presented Blake Lively’s version of events in her ongoing legal battle against Baldoni, wherein she has accused her co-star of sexual harassment and an alleged smear campaign against her. In his 87-page complaint, however, Baldoni has claimed that the smear campaign was orchestrated by Blake against him, calling the article manipulative.
New York Times responds
The New York Times has defended its article and vowed to fight the lawsuit. A New York Times spokesperson told Variety, “The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead. Our story was 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 full statement in response to the allegations in the article as well. We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”
The article and the aftermath saw Baldoni being dropped by WME as a client. Blake had earlier filed a lawsuit of her own, accusing Baldoni of harassment. A new lawsuit adds ‘mental anguish’ to the charges as well. The two starred in the drama It Ends With Us, released last year. But it was a rocky collaboration with neither appearing alongside the other during promotions.
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