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Justin Baldoni Is Preparing To Fight Back With Countersuit Against Blake Lively -- Claims Will ‘Shock Everyone,’ His Lawyer Says!

Justin Baldoni Is Preparing To Fight Back With Countersuit Against Blake Lively -- Claims Will ‘Shock Everyone,’ His Lawyer Says!

The legal battle between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively is about to get messier…

As you know, the actress sued the It Ends With Us director and actor for sexual harassment and launching a smear campaign against her to ruin her reputation. Justin vehemently denied all the claims. And it sounds like he’s not going down without a fight! According to Dailymail.com on Friday, the second that the courts reopen after the New Year on Thursday, the Jane the Virgin alum plans to file a countersuit against Blake, along with his business partner Jamey Heath and publicists named in her lawsuit. Whoa!

The allegations he plans to make against the Gossip Girl alum? For starters, the outlet reported that Blake’s Vision PR team was allegedly the ones responsible for a smear campaign against him — not the other way around as she has claimed in her suit. Leading the charge was her publicist, Leslie Sloane, as she allegedly planted untrue stories to several news organizations, including one that he was the subject of three complaints to his film company’s HR team. Sources even claimed they had a “smoking gun” to prove she was involved in trying to take him down.

Related: Hannah Berner Addresses That Blake Lively Joke After Justin Baldoni Accusations!

Looking back, though, his rep did not take as much of a hit as Blake’s did during the summer! We all saw the damage of his alleged smear campaign against her! She was slammed all over the internet, even being labeled as a Hollywood mean girl when her past interviews resurfaced! Meanwhile, people praised Justin and saw him as the good guy here — despite those reports that he was “borderline abusive” and made Blake uncomfortable on set came out! Goes to show how much his alleged scheme worked…

However, Dailymail.com reported that Justin’s legal team will claim her lawsuit is only a ploy to rebuild her public image after receiving bad press during the promotion for It Ends With Us and argue that the backlash grew online on its own accord. That those past mishaps like her wedding to Ryan Reynolds on a former slave plantation and her rude behavior toward reporter Kjersti Flaa came to light organically — and not because of his team, as the Green Lantern star claimed in her suit.

But here’s the thing. Blake had some pretty damning texs to back her claims about the organized smear campaign. So what does Justin have to say about that? Because those messages don’t help his case here at all! Well, the outlet alleged the WhatsApp messages from the filmmaker’s publicists had been presented out of context and changed their meaning. Huh??? We’ll see about that argument…

A source involved in the situation went on to say:

“Do you seriously think that Blake Lively, married to one of the most powerful men in town and represented by one of the most powerful publicists, is going to sit meekly by if she is sexually harassed on a film set, and then hang on for four months after the film is released before making a complaint? It makes no sense.”

We mean, Blake didn’t “sit meekly.” She had an emergency meeting to make 30 demands because the work environment under Justin became so hostile. That’s the opposite of sitting “meekly by.” Just sayin’! The insider went on to claim Blake weaponized conversations they had together:

“Look, they never got on. Justin is very spiritual and a kind of unusual person. He is what you might call ‘hippie dippie’. He thinks he can talk to dead people. Would he have said that he had spoken to Blake’s dead father? Yes absolutely. Did he harass her? He says not. They rubbed each other up the wrong way. She has taken bits of conversations which they had when he was trying to be her friend, when they were friendly, and weaponised them.”

Hmm…

Already, Blake’s publicist has fired back at upcoming allegations against her. Sloane denied ever originating any press stories about HR complaints on set, telling Deadline on Saturday:

“I was contacted on 8/11 by Sara Nathan (Melissa Nathan’s sister) forwarding an anonymous tip that Page Six received, regarding allegations of HR complaints on the set of It Ends with Us. After that, I was contacted by various press outlets asking about allegations of HR complaints. When contacted, I responded to press questions by referring them to Wayfarer or Sony for information regarding HR complaints. It’s clear that Mr. Baldoni and his Wayfarer Associates are suggesting that I originated press stories about HR complaints on set, which is false. Please read Ms. Lively’s Complaint and the Complaint filed by Jonesworks LLC and Stephanie Jones, which provides the details of the campaign against my client.”

At this time, Justin’s attorney, Bryan Freedom, won’t confirm or deny any of the details from Dailymail.com. But he did pretty much say that a lawsuit is coming soon to Deadline:

“I am not going to speak to when or how many lawsuits we are filing but when we file our first lawsuit, it is going to shock everyone who has been manipulated into believing a demonstrably false narrative. It will be supported by real evidence and tell the true story. In over 30 years of practicing, I have never seen this level of unethical behavior intentionally fueled through media manipulation. It reminds me of what NBC tried to do to Megyn Kelly and Gabrielle Union and we all know how that ended up. Standby.”

Jeez. Buckle up, everyone. From the sounds of it, we have a long road ahead of us when it comes to this nasty legal battle! What do YOU think, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF in the comments.

[Image via Access Hollywood/TODAY/YouTube]

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Dec 28, 2024 11:50am PDT