Blake Lively accuses Justin Baldoni of silencing sexual harassment victims
Blake Lively in the movie "It Ends With Us" (screenshot)
The legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, who previously collaborated on the film It Ends With Us, continues. This time, the actress, through her lawyer, accused him of attempting to silence the victims of sexual harassment amid their high-profile legal fight, reports TMZ.
Blake’s lawyers, Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, condemned Baldoni, who positions himself as an advocate for victims of violence. However, when he is personally accused, he seeks to "clear" his name.
"The man who has built his brand on supposedly speaking up for victims believes that the First Amendment rights of victims of sexual assault and harassment to speak out should give way to the rights of perpetrators to sue their victims ‘into oblivion,’" the actress's representatives stated.
Lively and Baldoni play a couple (photo: instagram.com/justinbaldoni)
They argue that Justin and his lawyer, Bryan Freedman, are obsessed with destroying Blake and accuse them of intimidating victims of sexual violence. They claim that under the guise of self-defense, Baldoni is exploiting the system and using it to scare other victims into silence.
Freedman sees the situation differently, insisting that it is Lively who is spreading false information, while his client is merely exercising his constitutional right to defend his reputation in court.
"This convoluted statement makes it abundantly clear that Ms. Lively and team are rattled and once again resorting to making inflammatory remarks to steer focus away from the actual facts. Clearly they want to divert the public’s attention from the receipts, the actual documents, video footage and additional evidence shown that make it irrefutable that there was no sexual harassment," explained Justin's lawyer.
Lively and Baldoni in "It Ends With Us" (photo: instagram.com/justinbaldoni)
What preceded the statements
In December 2024, Lively accused her colleague of sexual harassment and of conducting a smear campaign against her. In response, he filed a lawsuit against the actress seeking $400 million in damages and also filed a defamation lawsuit for $250 million against The New York Times, which published an article with the actress's accusations.
Amid the prolonged conflict, Blake filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which sparked a new wave of mutual statements from both sides. The director rejected her motion on the grounds that she allegedly organized, participated in, and led a false campaign to destroy the reputation and career of his production company.
