Dec. 31, 2024: Baldoni, Wayfarer & Others Sue The New York Times
Baldoni, Wayfarer, Heath, Sarowitz, Nathan, TAG, Abel, RWA Communications, Wallace and Street Relations filed a lawsuit against The New York Times Dec. 31.
In the lawsuit obtained by E! News, The New York Times is accused of libel, false light invasion of privacy, promissory fraud and breach of implied-in-fact contract for its article about a retaliatory smear campaign the plaintiffs allegedly conducted against Lively after she voiced concerns about purported misconduct on set.
Saying the report was âfalseâ and based on Livelyâs CRD complaint, the plaintiffs denied the accusations and alleged messages cited in the article and complaint were taken out of context.
âDespite its claim to have âreviewed these along with other documents[,]â the Times relied almost entirely on Livelyâs unverified and self-serving narrative,â the lawsuit says, âlifting it nearly verbatim while disregarding an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives.â
They also allege âit was Lively, not Plaintiffs, who engaged in a calculated smear campaign.â She has denied this.
The New York Times said it plans to âvigorously defend against the lawsuit.â
âThe role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead,â it stated to E!. âOur 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.â
Read the full article here