Blake Lively’s Publicist Says She Didn’t Defame Justin Baldoni When She Wrote ‘The Whole Cast Hates Him’ – Variety
By
Gene Maddaus
Senior Media Writer
Blake Lively‘s publicist argued in a legal filing Thursday that it was not defamatory to tell a reporter that the entire cast of “It Ends With Us” hated director Justin Baldoni.
Leslie Sloane, who represents Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, is accused in Baldoni’s lawsuit of spreading the malicious falsehood that he was a sexual predator in order to deflect attention away from Lively’s behavior on set.
Baldoni’s suit quotes text messages between Sloane and a Daily Mail reporter on Aug. 8, in which the reporter sought comment about a “power struggle” between Lively and Baldoni, saying that Lively had been labeled “difficult” on set.
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According to the messages, Sloane denied that the issue had anything to do with Lively, and warned the reporter not to trust Baldoni’s camp: “They are panicking as the whole cast hates him,” Sloane wrote.
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In a motion to dismiss the suit, Sloane’s attorneys argued that saying the cast “hates” Baldoni was a statement of opinion, and therefore cannot be the basis of a defamation claim.
They also argued that the claim was true, and that Baldoni has admitted as much. In his complaint, Baldoni alleged that Lively had succeeded in getting the cast to “shun” him on social media by unfollowing his accounts.
The Daily Mail reported on the Lively-Baldoni feud on Aug. 9, alleging that Baldoni had been “borderline abusive” toward some women on set. Baldoni accuses Sloane of having “planted false and defamatory information about Baldoni to distract from Lively’s numerous missteps.”
In the motion to dismiss, Sloane’s lawyers argue that all she is accused of doing is responding to a story that had been planted by Baldoni’s team.
Baldoni’s suit also quotes a message from the Daily Mail reporter to a Baldoni publicist in December, in which the reporter states “now she’s saying Blake was sexually assaulted.” Baldoni’s team argues this is proof that Sloane was escalating a false narrative against Baldoni.
However, Sloane’s attorneys argue that the reporter was referring to Lively’s civil rights complaint, and not to anything Sloane had said.
Lively sued Baldoni and others in December, accusing him of retaliating against her for lodging sexual harassment complaints by launching a covert “smear campaign” in the press and online. Baldoni countersued, accusing Lively, Reynolds and Sloane of seeking to destroy his career.
In the motion to dismiss, Sloane’s lawyers argue that Baldoni “repeatedly crossed professional boundaries” and engaged in “bizarre and abusive practices” on set.
“Justin Baldoni has spent years profiting off the feminist and #MeToo movements, peddling books, podcasts, TED Talks, and more using slogans about believing survivors, ending victim blaming, and promoting informed consent,” Sloane’s lawyers argue. “His conduct in this dispute is therefore sheer hypocrisy, beginning with his egregious sexual harassment of multiple employees, and continuing with his ongoing campaign to discredit and blame his victims and punish anyone who speaks out against him.”
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