In the latest development for the legal drama “It Ends with Us,” director and actor Justin Baldoni is accused by the New York Times of publishing “false and defamatory articles” about allegations against co-star Blake Lively. A lawsuit was filed against the paper. against him.
The complaint, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleges that the New York Times, in a Dec. 21 article about the Lively lawsuit, relied on “Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative” and “contradicted her claims.” It claims to have ignored a wealth of evidence that Submitted.
“Given the content of the articles and the planned deletion of the articles, it is clear that the Times was secretly collaborating with Mr. Lively’s team for weeks or months,” the complaint says.
Lively accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her on a Sony Pictures film set and of waging a smear campaign against her in the media.
Mr. Baldoni’s lawsuit, first reported by Variety, was filed Tuesday against the New York Times on charges of defamation, false invasion of privacy, promise fraud and breach of implied contract.
There are nine other plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including several of Baldoni’s publicists, “It Ends with Us” producers Jamie Heath and Steve Sarowitz, and the film’s producers. Also included is the company Wayfarer Studios. They are seeking at least $250 million in damages to their reputations, jobs and well-being.
A New York Times spokesperson said in a statement shared with the Los Angeles Times that the company stands behind journalism and intends to vigorously defend the lawsuit in court.
Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni on December 20, accusing him and the film’s producers of inappropriate behavior, including sexual comments and nonconsensual physical contact. Lively says she was pressured to show more nudity than she had consented to. She also accused him of cooperating with the crisis communications team in a retaliatory smear campaign against her.
On December 24, Baldoni’s former publicist Stephanie Jones filed her own lawsuit, accusing Baldoni’s crisis communications team of trying to undermine her and avoid responsibility for the smear campaign against Lively.
The New York Times article, headlined “‘Anyone Can Bury’: Inside Hollywood’s Smear Machine,” relied heavily on text messages between Baldoni and his public relations team that were used as evidence in Lively’s accusations. Ta.
Mr. Baldoni’s new lawsuit accuses the New York Times of excerpting, decontextualizing and intentionally splicing together passages to mislead readers.
“If the Times had truly reviewed the thousands of private letters it claims to have obtained, its reporters would have arguably found that it was Lively, not the plaintiffs, who engaged in a calculated smear campaign. You have seen evidence that this is not the case,” Baldoni’s complaint states.
A New York Times spokesperson issued a statement to the Los Angeles Times saying the story was “reported responsibly and with the utmost care.”
“This is based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including text messages and emails cited accurately and in detail in the article,” the spokesperson said. “So far, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the other subjects of the article and their representatives have not pointed out a single mistake. We have also posted their full statement in response to the allegations in the article. ”
Mr. Baldoni’s lawsuit includes evidence disproving some of the portrayals of Mr. Lively’s accusations contained in the New York Times article.
For example, the New York Times reported that Baldoni insisted on entering her on-set trailer without invitation while Lively was undressed or breastfeeding. However, Baldoni’s complaint includes text messages from Lively inviting her to practice her lines in her trailer while she expressed milk.
Mr. Baldoni also accused the New York Times of omitting important passages when discussing the alleged smear campaign.
The complaint highlights portions of a New York Times article describing an exchange about an unflattering article about Lively published in the Daily Mail.
The Times featured a statement from a publicist saying things like, “You really outdid yourself with this piece,” but according to the complaint, the publication also said, “Damn. There were no articles published that alluded to this.” This is unfair because it’s not me. ”
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