In response to Blake Lively’s lawsuit, Justin Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, issued a statement addressing the leaked texts included in the filing. Lively, 37, filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, claiming that he launched a smear campaign aimed at damaging her reputation. To support this allegation, she provided messages exchanged between Baldoni and his team.
Freedman countered these claims, arguing that the leaked texts were taken out of context and misrepresented. He emphasized that the full context of these communications was critical to understanding the true nature of the interactions. The attorney maintains that Baldoni’s actions were not intended to harm Lively, and the messages in question should not be viewed as indicative of the allegations made in the lawsuit.
As the legal proceedings unfold, Baldoni’s team is expected to continue to challenge the claims and provide further clarification on the matter.
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, asserted that the text messages presented in Blake Lively’s lawsuit were taken out of “critical context” and misinterpreted. He also disputed claims that Lively obtained the messages through a subpoena, instead suggesting that they were “leaked,” which contradicts previous reports.
Regarding Baldoni’s crisis management team, The Agency Group PR, Freedman defended their “scenario planning” strategy, which was allegedly intended to help navigate the press tour surrounding It Ends With Us. Freedman suggested that such strategies are common in crisis management and were not meant to tarnish Lively’s reputation but rather to handle the media narrative in a challenging situation.
These statements from Baldoni’s legal team aim to clarify the intentions behind the text messages and the actions of his PR team, while pushing back against the accusations made in Lively’s lawsuit.
Bryan Freedman, Justin Baldoni’s attorney, suggested that Blake Lively’s own behavior, rather than Baldoni’s actions, led to the downfall of her reputation. He explained that the crisis management firm TAG PR, hired by Baldoni, acted in a typical manner when dealing with a client facing threats from powerful individuals. Freedman stated that TAG PR’s “scenario planning” proved unnecessary because audiences reacted negatively to Lively’s behavior, interviews, and promotional efforts during the It Ends With Us press tour. He further criticized the New York Times for publishing the allegedly “leaked” personal text exchanges, claiming that it played into Lively’s own PR tactics, which she accuses Baldoni’s team of employing.
Lively’s legal team responded, clarifying that the messages referenced in her lawsuit were obtained through a subpoena served on Jonesworks LLC, contradicting Freedman’s claims that they were “leaked.” This back-and-forth highlights the ongoing legal dispute over the handling of the situation and the portrayal of each party’s actions during the promotional tour.
