Blake Lively’s legal team clapped back at Justin Baldoni’s $400 million defamation and extortion lawsuit against the actress and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, regarding the production of “It Ends With Us.”
“This latest lawsuit from Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its associates is another chapter in the abuser playbook,” the “Gossip Girl” alum’s attorneys said in a statement to Page Six Thursday.
“This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim.”
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14 They continued, “This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender.”
Lively’s legal team further accused Baldoni’s production company, Wayfarer Studios, of filing “meritless lawsuits” in order to “overwhelm the public’s ability to understand that what they are doing is retaliation against sexual harassment allegations.”
“They are trying to shift the narrative to Ms. Lively by falsely claiming that she seized creative control and alienated the cast from Mr. Baldoni,” they added.
“The evidence will show that the cast and others had their own negative experiences with Mr. Baldoni and Wayfarer. “The evidence will also show that Sony asked Ms. Lively to oversee Sony’s cut of the film, which they then selected for distribution and was a resounding success.”
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14 The actress’ team also accused Baldoni of responding to Lively’s sexual harassment allegations by blaming her.
“Their response to sexual harassment allegations: she wanted it, it’s her fault. Their justification for why this happened to her: look what she was wearing. In short, while the victim focuses on the abuse, the abuser focuses on the victim,” they said.
“The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate, it does not refute the evidence in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and it will fail.”
Reps for Baldoni, 40, were not immediately available to Page Six for comment.
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14 Earlier on Thursday, the “Jane the Virgin” alum filed a bombshell lawsuit against Lively, 37, and Reynolds, 48, amid the ongoing “It Ends With Us” feud.
In the lawsuit obtained by Page Six, Baldoni accuses Lively of using the “Deadpool & Wolverine” star and her BFF Taylor Swift to persuade him to accept her rewrites of the script adapted from Colleen Hoover’s best-selling book.
The “Five Feet Apart” director claims he was invited to the couple’s penthouse in New York City, where “a famous, and famously close, friend,” alluded to as Swift, was present.
During the meeting, Reynolds and the friend allegedly raved over Lively’s rewrites of the “rooftop scene” between her character, Lily, and Baldoni’s character, Ryle.
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14 After leaving the penthouse, Baldoni allegedly texted Lively, saying, “I really love what you did. It really does help a lot. Makes it so much more fun and interesting. (And I would have felt that way without Ryan or Taylor).”
The “Simple Favor” star allegedly responded to Baldoni, writing that she wants him to “win” as both an actor and director and reminding him they are a team.
Lively also allegedly said that her husband and Swift, 35, were “absolute titans” and “dragons,” saying she was “so lucky to have them as creative barometers” and her protectors.
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14 In his filing, Baldoni claims he “felt obliged to text Lively to say that he had liked her pages and hadn’t needed Reynolds and her megacelebrity friend to pressure him.”
“The message could not have been clearer. Baldoni was not just dealing with Lively. He was also facing Lively’s ‘dragons,’ two of the most influential and wealthy celebrities in the world, who were not afraid to make things very difficult for him,” the lawsuit reads.
Baldoni then accuses Lively of “inserting herself into the production process in intrusive ways well beyond the scope of her contractual entitlement,” including by taking full control of her character’s wardrobe.
Baldoni also responds to Lively’s sexual harassment allegations — mentioned in her Dec. 21 complaint and lawsuit on Dec. 31 — which accused the filmmaker of discussing his past porn addiction.
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14 Per Baldoni’s lawsuit, Lively allegedly prompted the discussion about porn, saying she’s never watched the explicit videos, so he decided to share his experience.
He also denies allegations that he walked into Lively’s trailer while she was breast-feeding, claiming she “freely breastfed in front of him during meetings.”
Baldoni further claims Lively made “derogatory comments” toward him, saying he should get a nose job.
Elsewhere in the complaint, Baldoni calls out Reynolds, alleging he became angry during a meeting with cast members, where Baldoni was reprimanded for allegedly fat-shaming Lively.
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