Justin Baldoni has reportedly filed a lawsuit alleging libel against The New York Times over its bombshell reporting on accusations of sexual harassment against him by Hollywood co-star Blake Lively.
Baldoni’s lawsuit accused the newspaper of relying "almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative, lifting it nearly verbatim while disregarding an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives."
The Times, the lawsuit asserted, "did not care.”
Lively accused her “It Ends With Us” director and co-star of sexually harassing her on set and then later trying to “destroy” her reputation. Lively said Baldoni improvised unwelcome kissing and talked about his sex life, according to the Times report. She said Baldoni also repeatedly entered her makeup trailer — uninvited — as she was undressed, including while she breastfed.
Baldoni's lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, accused the Times and Lively of coordinating a smear campaign against him and nine other plaintiffs.
ALSO READ: Merrick Garland's last task and the explosive evidence that could save America
The Times stood by its reporting and said it would defend against the lawsuit.
"The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead. Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article. To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the other subjects of the article and their representatives have not pointed to a single error. We published their full statement in response to the allegations in the article as well. We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit," the statement said, according to Variety.
Variety reported Tuesday that at the center of the dispute is the Times' reporting and characterization of text messages — including the breastfeeding exchange — between the two, including one in which Lively texted Baldoni that she didn't receive updated script pages, and her assistant didn't realize the pages were new.
“New pages can always be sent to me as well please," she sent, signing the text with an "X," often shorthand for a kiss. She sent another message saying, "I’m just pumping in my trailer if you wanna work out our lines.”
Baldoni responded: “Copy. Eating with crew and will head that way.”
