Justin Baldoni‘s lawyer Bryan Freedman thinks the settlement with Blake Lively was a major victory!
Speaking to TMZ on Tuesday, the lawyer claimed he didn’t “know what motivated people on either side to try to get it resolved” on Monday. However, he crucially added:
“I can just tell you that when an opportunity comes along that is way too good to pass up…”
Sounds like Blake’s team must’ve reached out with a deal, right??
Related: Blake DIVIDES Internet With ‘Bossy’ Viral Met Gala Exchange
When pressed about this, Bryan remained cryptic:
“It’s not a question of who the overture was made by. I think that the opportunity existed, and it was an incredible opportunity, and I think that you don’t pass up an incredible opportunity.”
Alright, we get it. It was a good settlement for the It Ends With Us director! And it’s not hard to see why he thinks that. According to TMZ insiders, there was no money exchanged as per the agreement – and Justin didn’t even have to release an apology! It’s like Blake totally caved on everything she wanted.
Stressing how good a result this was for the actor, the attorney went on to point out:
“Justin Baldoni didn’t settle a case, technically, if you think about it. Justin Baldoni won the case on summary judgment. He was accused of sexual harassment. Those were claims that you cannot settle, that you have to go all the way, or his career is over. So you want to talk about if this is a victory or not, it’s a huge victory. It was a huge victory after the summary judgment ruling.”
Reflecting on the decision that was made in April, he carried on:
“He could breathe again. To be accused of sexual harassment on such a public level — Jamey Heath also, right — to be accused of it on such a public level is devastating. It’s devastating for your family. It’s devastating for yourself individually. What he went through is just… I get emotional speaking about it because he’s such a great human being and stands for everything that’s good about women and supporting women. And so when he got the vindication of being removed personally from this lawsuit, and he was no longer in the lawsuit, as were five other individuals, it was a great day.”
Throwing shade at the Gossip Girl star – who previously tried to claim the judge dismissing her sexual harassment claims wasn’t a total loss for her via an Instagram statement – Freedman dissed:
“Whether somebody wants to go to their Instagram or whether they want to say it differently or all of the sudden they want to say, ‘no, no, the case was about something different.’ I guess they have the prerogative to do that. That’s not how we interpreted it.”
Oof! Called out!
As for what he hopes moving forward, the legal professional wishes them both well as they recover from this emotional ordeal:
“Recover is a very interesting word. I think there’s an emotional, psychological, and physiological recovery that’s a part of this.”
But when it comes to reviving their careers and who will get the first gig, he doesn’t know. We’ll all have to wait and see how the industry handles this.
Hear more from the lawyer:
Thoughts? Do U think this was a victory for Justin?
