Blake Lively’s publicist defends claiming the “whole cast hates” Justin Baldoni
Blake Lively’s publicist stated in a legal filing on February 20th that it was not defamatory for her to tell a reporter that the entire cast of It Ends With Us hated Justin Baldoni.
Lesli Sloane, who represents both Lively and Ryan Reynolds, has been accused of spreading misinformation about Baldoni being a sexual predator in order to detract from Lively’s alleged unprofessional behaviour on set.
Per Variety, in Baldoni’s lawsuit, there are text messages between Sloane and a Daily Mail reporter who was seeking comments about a “power struggle” between Baldoni and Lively. In the messages, Sloane denies that the problems on set were caused by Lively and warns against the reliability of the information by Baldoni’s team, saying, “They are panicking as the whole cast hates him.”
Sloane’s attorneys are trying to dismiss the suit, saying that her use of the word “hates” was merely an expression of opinion and does not qualify for a defamation claim. The team have also argued that the claim is true and they alleged that Baldoni himself has admitted this. However, Baldoni claimed that Lively encouraged the cast to turn against him by unfollowing the director on social media.
Initially, it was reported by the Daily Mail in August that Baldoni had been “borderline abusive” towards some of the women on set, in which Baldoni has accused Sloane of having “planted false and defamatory information about Baldoni to distract from Lively’s numerous missteps”. In a bid to dismiss this claim, Sloane’s lawyers have argued that she merely responded to the story that was allegedly planted by Baldoni’s legal team.
Lively first sued Baldoni in December, accusing him of orchestrating a smear campaign against her in response to her sexual harassment complaints. Baldoni responded with a countersue, accusing Lively and her team of seeking to destroy his career. Sloane’s lawyers have argued that Baldoni “repeatedly crossed professional boundaries” and “engaged in bizarre and abusive practices on set”.
“Justin Baldoni has spent years profiting off the feminist and #MeToo movements, peddling books, podcasts, TED Talks, and more using slogans about believing survivors, ending victim blaming, and promoting informed consent,” says Sloane’s legal team. “His conduct in this dispute is therefore sheer hypocrisy, beginning with his egregious sexual harassment of multiple employees, and continuing with his ongoing campaign to discredit and blame his victims and punish anyone who speaks out against him.”
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