Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds request gag order for Justin Baldoni's lawyer
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds requested a gag order for Justin Baldoni's lawyer after the latter released a series of video takes during the production of It Ends with Us to refute the sexual harassment allegations against him and announced plans to launch a website containing "all correspondence" with her and "relevant videos."
E! News reported that Lively and Reynolds' lawyers wrote a letter to Judge Lewis Liman asking to impose the order on Bryan Freedman.
They said that since Lively filed a civil complaint against Baldoni in December, Freedman, "virtually every day," has "given television interviews, appeared on podcasts, issued inflammatory written statements, and leaked information (including, remarkably, documents as banal as document preservation demands to third parties) to the Hollywood press and tabloid media."
Their lawyers also noted that since Lively issued a cease-and-desist order against Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios amid an alleged online harassment campaign before her civil complaint, many of Freedman's public statements “not only continue the campaign of retaliation that was the subject of Ms. Lively’s first cease-and-desist, but they contain numerous new false statements about Ms. Lively and others.”
They gave several examples of Freedman's statements, alleging that these statements were "surely incomplete."
They also pointed out that Freedman's ongoing public comments violate New York State’s Rules of Professional Conduct regarding trial publicity.
“As Ms. Lively’s counsel have attempted, repeatedly, to caution Mr. Freedman, federal litigation must be conducted in court and according to the relevant rules of professional conduct,” they said. “His conduct threatens to, and will, materially prejudice both the Lively Case and the Wayfarer Case by tainting the jury pool, because his statements are deliberately aimed at undermining the 'character, credibility, [and] reputation' of numerous relevant parties.”
Three-take video
Baldoni's team dropped three takes from the movie's slow-dance sequence, showing his and Lively's character falling in love. It was an attempt to debunk Lively's sexual harassment allegations against him.
The video also showed Lively and Baldoni disagreeing on how to portray the scene. At one point, Baldoni goes in for a kiss and Lively hesitates, saying, “I think we should be talking. I think it’s more romantic if we’re like dancing and talking.”
Baldoni then compares his marriage to Lively's, saying she and Reynolds “talk all the time,” while he and his wife Emily will sometimes just stare at each other. “I think you would find it terrifying,” he says, to which she responds, “I’d be like, ‘Oh no, I found a sociopath.'”
The video also seemingly showed Lively's objection as stated in her lawsuit, as Baldoni referred to her smelling good. In the take, Baldoni can be seen nuzzling Lively’s neck and asks, “Am I getting beard on you today?” She laughs and says, “I’m probably getting spray tan on you," to which he responds, "It smells good."
In response to Baldoni's move, Lively's team told Entertainment Tonight that the video fully corroborates her account, noting she can be seen leaning away while Baldoni tries to kiss her and caress her.
Her team said the release of the video was a “stunt” and “an unethical attempt to manipulate the public.”
Lively, in her suit, objected to Baldoni's conduct during the filming of the sequence. She alleged that he “leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said, ‘It smells so good.'”
She also alleged that “Mr. Baldoni was caressing Mr. Lively with his mouth in a way that had nothing to do with their roles.” Following her objections, Baldoni allegedly told her, “I’m not even attracted to you.”
It Ends with Us row
Lively and Baldoni's legal saga stemmed from her filing a sexual harassment complaint against Baldoni and Jamey Heath, chief executive officer of Wayfarer Studios. She also accused them of running a smear campaign against her.
In her complaint, Lively accused Baldoni and Heath of telling her about their past sexual relationships and "previous porn addiction."
Heath also allegedly showed Lively a video of his wife naked and giving birth.
Baldoni and Heath likewise supposedly entered Lively's makeup trailer without permission, "including when she was breastfeeding her infant child."
Lively also recalled Baldoni claiming he could communicate with the dead, including her father, Ernie Lively. She found it "off-putting and violative."
Following Lively's complaint, the New York Times published a report titled 'We Can Bury Anyone': Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine. The report used excerpts from alleged text messages and emails that she obtained through a subpoena and detailed the work of crisis management firm TAG PR for Baldoni, including allegedly planting negative stories in the media.
'Categorically false'
Freedman has called the accusations against his client "categorically false." He also said that a crisis manager was hired ahead of the film's marketing campaign "due to the multiple demands and threats made by Ms. Lively during production."
Baldoni claimed that Lively threatened him not to show up on set and promote the film.
His legal team also alleged that Lively's camp had "planted negative and completely fabricated and false stories with media."
On Jan. 1, Baldoni filed a $250 million (P14.5 billion) lawsuit against the Times—plus 10 other plaintiffs, including publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel—for libel, false light invasion of privacy, promissory fraud, and breach of implied-in-fact contract for its We Can Bury Anyone report.
The Times defended its article as "meticulously and responsibly reported."
Baldoni's $400 million (P23.4 billion) complaint against Lively and Reynolds alleges her of hijacking the production of It Ends with Us and that she defamed him. He also accused her and Reynolds of extorting him.
