In the latest chapter of the It Ends With Us drama, Justin Baldoni‘s team is preparing to launch a website that promises to “directly quash” Blake Lively‘s sexual harassment claims and Lively’s team is not having a bar of it.
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, “Justin and team have the right to defend themselves with the truth,” he told Us Weekly.
The upcoming website is set to be a digital arsenal of correspondence and videos designed to challenge Lively’s allegations. It will contain “all correspondence as well as relevant videos that directly quash [Lively’s] claims”.
This is the latest move in the legal battle has escalated dramatically, with Baldoni filing a massive $400 million lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist.
The proposed website comes after Baldoni’s team released a 10-minute video from the film’s set, which they claim demonstrates “respect and professionalism” during filming. The video shows the co-stars during a slow dance scene, with Baldoni’s team arguing it proves no inappropriate behaviour occurred.
However, Lively’s legal team isn’t backing down claiming it actually corroborates her original allegations of unwanted touching and inappropriate behaviour.
“Justin Baldoni and his lawyer may hope that this latest stunt will get ahead of the damaging evidence against him, but the video itself is damning,” said Lively’s legal team in a statement to Us Weekly.
See the video for yourself:
In response, Lively and Reynolds legal team have sent a letter to a federal judge. According to Variety, the letter argues that Freedman “violated the New York Rules of Professional Conduct by litigating their dispute in the press”.
Lively’s lawyers want Judge Lewis J. Liman to set a hearing to “address the appropriate conduct of counsel”.
This letter is technically not requesting a gag order — which would stop Freedman talking to the press altogether. However, Lively’s team wants to make sure Baldoni’s camp is following the rule against making public statements that have a likelihood of prejudicing the jury. Lively’s lawyers also want a protective order that would stop the release of discovery materials in the case, which may bring Baldoni’s plans for his website to a halt.
This isn’t the first time Lively’s team has been (formally) unimpressed with Baldoni’s lawyers. Her lawyers sent two cease-and-desist letters to Freedman in December, arguing that his statements exacerbate the retaliation campaign against Lively for filing her initial harassment complaint.
Sources close to Baldoni told Us Weekly that he simply wants to “release videos and text messages to prove the allegations are false”, viewing the website as a crucial tool in defending his reputation in the public eye.
It’s definitely a a significant move to focus so heavily on the court of public opinion before Lively and Baldoni even step into court, but I’ve come to expect the unexpected with this never ending drama between the pair.
So stay tuned, because there will 100 per cent be another chapter in this bonkers tale very soon!
Lead image: Getty images
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