Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are speaking out after the jaw-dropping update in their It Ends With Us lawsuit battle!
As we previously reported, the filmmaker scored a massive win in court on Thursday when a judge tossed out her sexual harassment claims ahead of their trial in May. That means only three claims remain — breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting in retaliation.
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Now, Justin’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, is celebrating the huge victory. He told TMZ on Friday morning:
“Since the first day of this case, when Justin and the other defendants were blindsided by these allegations, the legal team on the ground from the beginning have worked extremely long days and nights defending this case through transparency by releasing the actual truthful text messages, and by welcoming and facilitating the release of all documents exhibiting the truth. The defendants were not afraid of the truth. The plan was not only to speak the truth but to also show that same truth over and over again through the presentation of actual evidence. Neither Justin Baldoni, Jamey Heath nor any of the other defendants have engaged in the sexual harassment of Blake Lively.”
Freedman insisted Justin and the other defendants are “good people” who never engaged in sexual harassment while working on IEWU, and he is glad the “ruling confirms” that:
“Despite our clients being accused of DARVO (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender) in defending these claims and despite our client being referred to in writing as a predator, what I said, on behalf of our client’s day one and every day since then is true. Our clients are very good people who have not engaged in this sexual harassment as alleged. As such, they have deserved a vigorous defense which was led through transparency. It is gratifying to see that the courts ruling confirms what the legal team believed from day one.”
Blake has also since addressed her huge loss. The Gossip Girl alum’s attorney, Sigrid McCawley, argued to TMZ on Thursday that the case has always been about the “retaliation” Blake faced after voicing her concerns:
“This case has always been and will remain focused on the devastating retaliation and the extraordinary steps the defendants took to destroy Blake Lively’s reputation because she stood up for safety on the set and that is the case that is going to trial. For Blake Lively, the greatest measure of justice is that the people and the playbook behind these coordinated digital attacks have been exposed and are already being held accountable by other women they’ve targeted. She looks forward to testifying at trial and continuing to shine a light on this vicious form of online retaliation so that it becomes easier to detect and fight.”
McCawley also noted that the decision is not based on the merits of the sexual harassment claims — but only because Blake was not considered an employee:
“Sexual harassment isn’t going forward, not because the defendants did nothing wrong, but because the court determined Blake Lively was an independent contractor, not an employee.”
An important distinction to make…
The pair is still set to go to trial on May 18. We’ll see how things play out, but we expect an intense showdown next month.
What are your thoughts about the decision and upcoming trial, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments (below).
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources.
[Image via Late Night with Seth Meyers/TODAY/YouTube]
