Blake Lively accuses Justin Baldoni's lawyer of attempting to 'torpedo' actress's career 'for good'
2025-01-28
Category: entertainment

Actress Blake Lively has "growing concerns" about co-star Justin Baldoni's legal team, specifically the alleged "continued extrajudicial misconduct" of Baldoni's main counsel, Bryan Freedman, according to documents obtained by Fox News Digital. Lively, 37, claimed that Freedman has "made it clear that his priority is to 'torpedo Blake Lively’s career for good,'" nearly one month after she sued Baldoni, his Wayfarer studio and former PR reps. The same day Lively filed her suit, Baldoni, 41, filed a $250 million suit against the New York Times for a December article about the alleged smear campaign.&nbsp; On Jan. 16, Baldoni then named Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, in a separate defamation lawsuit and accused the Hollywood power couple of attempting to hijack his "It Ends with Us" film and create their own smear campaign against him. Baldoni requested $400 million in damages. JUSTIN BALDONI CLAIMS UNEDITED ‘IT ENDS WITH US’ FOOTAGE REFUTES BLAKE LIVELY'S SEXUAL HARASSMENT ACCUSATIONS  "The irony continues to be rich for team Lively/Reynolds," Freedman told Fox News Digital. "Our intention with the upcoming website is to do the exact opposite of what they themselves did when they gave provably false information to the New York Times. JUSTIN BALDONI FIRES BACK AT BLAKE LIVELY'S GAG ORDER ATTEMPT, CALLING IT ‘TACTICAL GAMESMANSHIP’ "We will not be selective, we will not cherry-pick and we will not doctor text messages. Both Ms. Lively and Mr. Reynolds do not yet understand that there isn’t one rule for them and one rule for everybody else. If they want to unethically gag the truth by threatening to wield their power in Hollywood, we will fight it every step of the way. We are not scared of them, we will not be silenced by them. Defending ourselves is not retaliation, it is a human right." Representatives for Lively did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. WATCH: JUSTIN BALDONI RELEASES UNEDITED 'IT ENDS WITH US' FOOTAGE FEATURING BLAKE LIVELY  LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS In the letter filed Monday, Lively's legal team claimed that Freedman has "made it apparent that he is engaging in this extrajudicial campaign to influence these proceedings and the public perception of legal filings to this Court, and there already is a serious risk that his misconduct is tainting the jury pool." "He further has made it clear that his priority is to ‘torpedo Blake Lively’s career for good’ by, among other things, creating a website to release strategically selected documents and communications between Ms. Lively and Mr. Baldoni," the filing stated. Lively's team alleged that a planned website where Baldoni would release "full unedited WhatsApp, text and email exchanges between Lively and Baldoni" would be "incomplete, biased, and prejudicial by design."  "The endless stream of defamatory and extrajudicial media statements must end," the documents stated. "It will not stop without this Court’s intervention. The Wayfarer Defendants’ efforts are being financed by a billionaire who has pledged to spend $100 million to ruin the lives of Ms. Lively and her family. Mr. Freedman is using that money, his roster of current and former clients, and a blatant media and social media strategy to assassinate Ms. Lively’s character in advance of trial."&nbsp; Judge Lewis J. Liman ordered a trial set for March 9, 2026. An originally scheduled pretrial conference for Feb. 12 was rescheduled for Feb. 3. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER Lively detailed allegations of sexual harassment, retaliation, intentional affliction of emotional distress, negligence and more made by Baldoni and film producer Jamey Heath in a complaint first filed with the California Civil Rights department and later in federal court. Some of the issues allegedly addressed at an "all-hands" meeting before filming began included no more showing nude videos or images of women to Lively, no more mention of Baldoni’s previous "pornography addiction," no more discussions about personal experiences with sex, no more descriptions of their own genitalia, no more adding sex scenes outside what was in the original script, no more discussions about Lively’s weight or deceased father and more.  However, Baldoni insisted Lively "falsely" accused him in an attempt to repair her reputation after the fallout around the movie's press tour after she took control of the film. Baldoni's legal team claimed Lively had no evidence of a deliberate smear campaign and instead worked to repair her reputation by accusing the actor and others of sexual harassment. Fox News Digital's Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP