On Dec. 31, hours before Lively filed her lawsuit, Wayfarer, Baldoni, Heath, Sarowitz, Nathan, Abel, The Agency Group and others filed a libel lawsuit against The New York Times for its report about an alleged smear campaign against Lively based on her CDR complaint. In their suit against The New York Times, which was obtained by E! News, the plaintiffs alleged messages cited in the report were taken out of context and that “the Times relied 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.”
However, The New York Times stands by its report.
“We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit,” the outlet in a statement obtained by E! News Jan. 1. “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.”
Lively’s attorneys also told E! News “nothing in this lawsuit changes anything about the claims” in her CRD or federal complaints and this “lawsuit is based on the obviously false premise” that she would not file a lawsuit against Baldoni or Wayfarer.
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