Blake Lively is pointing out the obvious about Justin Baldoni filing a $400 million lawsuit against her.
In fact, one could argue that he’s already made her point for her.
According to Lively, Baldoni’s initial smear campaign was retaliation for her speaking out about his misconduct on set.
Now, his massive lawsuit appears to be more of the same. Is he defending himself or silencing an accuser?
Blake Lively is pointing out that Justin Baldoni is fitting a pattern
Like Joe Jonas before him, Justin Baldoni seems to be learning that smear campaigns can backfire.
His $400 million lawsuit against her, Ryan Reynolds, and Leslie Sloane (Blake’s publicist) doesn’t seem to be doing him any favors, either.
“This is an age-old story,” Blake Lively characterized in a statement on Thursday, January 16.
“A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation,” Lively’s statement continued.
“And,” she described, “the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim.”
Lively concluded: “This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender.”
Additionally, Blake Lively’s legal team is calling out Justin Baldoni
TMZ reports that Lively’s team says that both Baldoni and his production company are clearly desperate to “overwhelm the public’s ability to understand that what they are doing is retaliation against sexual harassment allegations.”
The statement continued: “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.”
Remember, Baldoni has alleged that Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, “ambushed” him with rewrites. And that Lively’s schemes, rather than Baldoni’s behavior, is why other members of the It Ends With Us cast have seemed to distance themselves from the director.
“The evidence will show that the cast and others had their own negative experiences with Mr. Baldoni and Wayfarer,” Blake Lively’s legal team asserted.
“The evidence will also show that Sony asked Ms. Lively to oversee Sony’s cut of the film,” the statement noted, “which they then selected for distribution and was a resounding success.”
Presumably, there are records of things like Sony entrusting Blake Lively with this task. Just as there are presumably records or other evidence of a meeting in which Baldoni allegedly agreed to cease his on-set sexual misconduct.
What’s the lawsuit about again?
Justin Baldoni is suing Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and Leslie Sloane for defamation alongside a series of other allegations.
He is essentially saying that Lively’s allegations are doing massive damage to his reputation. Which, to be fair, is arguably true.
But the crux of the issue is whether her allegations are true. And, as Lively is noting, filing a massive defamation lawsuit to silence an accuser is a familiar tactic. Hopefully, evidence will allow both the courts and public opinion to come down on the side of truth. But that has not, historically, always been how things play out.
Leave a Reply