In a court filing, the New York Times asked a federal court to dismiss Baldoni’s lawsuit, saying that he is trying to “drag The Times into their larger feud with Lively.” Attorneys for the paper said that they did nothing but “engage in newsgathering and publishing an Article and Video about the Wayfarer/Lively dispute.”
Attorneys for the New York Times have asked a federal court to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed by Justin Baldoni, who remains embroiled in a high-profile legal battle with colleague and actress Blake Lively.
According to Variety, Baldoni’s lawsuit accuses the New York Times of collaborating with Lively and her P.R. team in the writing of an article entitled, “We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.” The article revealed that Lively had filed a civil rights complaint alleging abuse on the set of “It Ends With Us,” a film directed by Baldoni.
In a court filing, the New York Times asked a federal court to dismiss Baldoni’s lawsuit, saying that he is trying to “drag The Times into their larger feud with Lively.” Attorneys for the paper said that they did nothing but “engage in newsgathering and publishing an Article and Video about the Wayfarer/Lively dispute.”
Baldoni and his co-plaintiffs, said the Times, are attempting to “tell a one-sided tale that has garnered plenty of headlines, but The Times does not belong in this dispute.”
“As our motion shows, this case should never have been brought against The New York Times,” said Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha. “Blake Lively raised serious concerns about the way she was treated on the set and after the movie’s release. We did exactly what news organizations do: we informed the public of the complaint she filed with the California Civil Rights Division.”
“Mr. Baldoni’s misbegotten campaign against The Times—questioning our ethics, attempting to discredit our reporting, filing a baseless lawsuit—will not silence us,” she said.
A spokesperson for Lively released a statement urging the court to dismiss Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit as soon as possible, saying that the Times “correctly calls out Justin Baldoni’s lawsuit for what it is: a shameless P.R. document that has no business in a court of law.”
“For years, Baldoni urged men to listen to and believe women,” the spokesperson said. “But when a woman spoke out about his behavior, he and his billionaire backer Steve Sorowitz used a ‘social media combat plan’ to scorch earth and try to ‘bury’ and ‘destroy’ her, along with the media who reports on it. These bullying tactics will not survive in court, and everyone should see their meritless claims for what they are.”
Baldoni and his legal team claim that metadata on the Times’ website indicates that the paper had obtained a copy of Lively’s civil rights complaint 11 or more days before the article was printed.
The lawsuit was filed on the same day that Lively filed her own claims against Baldoni, his P.R. team, and Wayfarer Studios.
Sources
New York Times Asks Court to Dismiss Justin Baldoni’s Defamation Lawsuit
The New York Times Moves to Dismiss Justin Baldoni’s Defamation Lawsuit
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