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Blake Lively is not backing down from Justin Baldoni‘s massive legal challenge … and she says his $400 million lawsuit is straight out of the abuser playbook.
Blake’s legal team responded to Justin’s lawsuit Thursday with a scathing statement, saying … “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. This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender.”
Lively’s team says Justin and his production company are pulling out all the stops to try and “overwhelm the public’s ability to understand that what they are doing is retaliation against sexual harassment allegations.”
As we told you … Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios filed a federal lawsuit against Blake, Ryan Reynolds, and Blake’s publicist Leslie Sloane this week, accusing Blake and Leslie of an alleged campaign to smear Baldoni and take control of “It Ends With Us.”
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Blake’s legal team pushes back, saying … “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. 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.”
Back in May 2023 — when the flick first started shooting — Baldoni claims Lively engaged in a “takeover” strategy because she wanted creative control over the movie.
He also mentions a meeting at Blake and Ryan’s NYC penthouse to discuss a script rewrite … a meeting Baldoni views as more of an ambush than collaboration.
Taylor Swift even made an appearance during this alleged meeting, Baldoni claims … and, he’s included a text he says shows Blake Lively comparing herself to Daenerys Targaryen, a major character on “Game of Thrones.”
Baldoni makes other claims, including about his experience during a production meeting where Ryan allegedly went off on him, alleging JB had sexually harassed Blake. Baldoni also mentions a competition where the two costars each cut their own versions of the movie.
He’s suing Lively, Reynolds and Sloane for defamation, civil extortion, interference with contractual relations and a slew of other allegations — and is seeking no less than $400 million in damages.
Bottom line for Blake’s legal team … “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. The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate, it does not refute the evidence in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and it will fail.”