Blake Lively Files Formal Lawsuit Against Justin Baldoni Over “Severe Emotional Distress”

Bryan Freedman, a lawyer for Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs, told E! News in a statement that the Times “cowered to the wants and whims of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elites, disregarding journalistic practices and ethics once befitting of the revered publication by using doctored and manipulated texts and intentionally omitting texts which dispute their chosen PR narrative.”

Regarding the suit against the NYT, Lively’s attorney tells E! News in a statement, “Nothing in this lawsuit changes anything about the claims advanced in Ms. Lively’s California Civil Rights Department Complaint, nor her federal complaint, filed earlier today.”

“This lawsuit is based on the obviously false premise that Ms. Lively’s administrative complaint against Wayfarer and others was a ruse based on a choice ‘not to file a lawsuit against Baldoni, Wayfarer,'” they continue, “and that ‘litigation was never her ultimate goal.’ As demonstrated by the federal complaint filed by Ms. Lively earlier today, that frame of reference for the Wayfarer lawsuit is false. While we will not litigate this matter in the press, we do encourage people to read Ms. Lively’s complaint in its entirety. We look forward to addressing each and every one of Wayfarer’s allegations in court.”

E! News has reached out The New York Times for comment on the lawsuit and has not heard back.