Justin Baldoni‘s lawyer Bryan Freedman is hitting back at Blake Lively‘s “shady” legal activity!
A HUGE part of the Gossip Girl star’s lawsuit against the director and his Wayfarer colleagues centers on text messages she obtained allegedly proving he orchestrated a smear campaign against her following issues on the It Ends With Us set. Justin’s been fighting against his publicist Stephanie Jones, who leaked the texts based on a mysterious subpoena she received in October (and one his own lawyer didn’t think existed for a while). Now, it turns out that the subpoena was real, but it was delivered under some sketchy circumstances!
Related: Hugh Jackman Takes A Swipe At Pal Ryan Reynolds
It was just revealed that Blake secretly filed a lawsuit under her company Vanzan back in the fall. She and her husband Ryan Reynolds weren’t listed in the suit nor were any of the 10 unnamed defendants. But through this, she was able to get her hands on pivotal evidence — and once she did, she ended the suit in December and filed her Civil Rights complaint the following day. Whoa!
Tons of legal professionals have slammed this tactic as shady — something her team has fiercely denied. Now, Justin’s attorney is doubling down on his frustration. Speaking to Deadline on Monday, Bryan argued:
“Ms. Lively’s and Mr. Reynolds’ company Vanzan had nothing to do with this case and they knew it. This sham lawsuit was designed to obtain subpoena power without oversight or scrutiny, and in doing so denied my clients the ability to contest the propriety, nature, and scope of the subpoena.”
Bryan’s filed Doe lawsuits in the past, but he doesn’t think there’s anything “normal” about Blake’s use of this tactic:
“There is nothing normal about this. Officers of the court have a duty of candor to the court and an obligation not to file fictitious lawsuits that have no basis in fact or law. A party with no connection to these proceedings asserting a breach of contract against another party they claim not to be able to identify does not qualify. This was done in bad faith and constitutes a flagrant abuse of process.”
Oof!
Meanwhile, the actress’ team Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb clapped back, telling the outlet:
“There is nothing untoward here — just conscientious and thorough investigation.”
They added:
“The Lively parties acted upon reliable information, and employed common tools such as Doe lawsuits and civil subpoenas that are entirely lawful and appropriate for pursuing claims and uncovering the identity of unknown perpetrators of unlawful activities.”
They continued:
“This lawsuit unearthed the Wayfarer Parties’ documented plan — in their own words, in their own text messages — to ‘destroy’ Blake Lively, a plan which they executed without transparency, disclosure, or notice to Ms. Lively or the public, instead acting in a way they thought would be ‘untraceable’. We have absolutely nothing to hide — Ms. Lively voluntarily disclosed the subpoena in her first filing knowing that it would ultimately be produced to the Wayfarer Parties in discovery, and that is precisely what will happen as Ms. Lively’s claims move forward in the proper litigation process.”
Hmm…
Do y’all really think Blake’s team did nothing shady?? Should Justin have been given a heads up about that first suit? Sound OFF (below)!
[Image via Mario Mitsis/WENN & CBS/YouTube]
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