Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively’s ongoing legal battle continues to take various turns, with the latest coming as Baldoni and his legal team fight to keep The New York Times involved in the lawsuit.
Why does Justin Baldoni want The New York Times involved in his lawsuit?
According to a recent memorandum of law in opposition filed in New York City this past week (via Deadline), Baldoni and his legal team are looking to keep The New York Times involved in their lawsuit. The reason why is due to Baldoni’s original suit, which alleges that The New York Times took part in adding validity to what Baldoni claims are false accusations made against him by Lively.
“A pietistic bastion of the media establishment, the NYT has long presumed itself beyond accountability,” reads the memo. “Not here. The NYT went past merely reporting on Plaintiff Blake Lively’s (“Lively”) California Civil Rights Department Complaint (“CRD Complaint”) and actively vouched for the veracity of its false narrative. The fair report privilege the NYT seeks to hide behind does not protect it from liability for maliciously colluding with Lively and her cohort to publish a false and defamatory hit piece about the Wayfarer Parties, wrongly casting them as villains and making them scapegoats for Lively’s well-publicized media missteps.”
The New York Times article in question was published on December 21, 2024, titled “We Can Buy Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.” It details Lively’s original legal complaint filed against Baldoni. The article itself continues a variety of reporting on Lively’s claims, including that Baldoni took part in a concentrated smear campaign to try and turn social media against Lively.
The New York Times has filed a motion to be removed from the lawsuit
This isn’t the first time that The New York Times has come up in the pair’s legal disputes. The publishing company itself recently filed a motion to be removed from the lawsuit, claiming that it didn’t belong in the dispute simply for reporting things.
Speaking on the matter earlier this month, a spokesperson for Lively agreed with the Times, saying that they are correctly calling out Baldoni and his lawsuit for what it is, nothing but “a shameless PR document.”
“In its motion to dismiss, the New York Times correctly calls out Justin Baldoni’s lawsuit for what it is: a shameless PR document that has no business in a court of law. For years, Baldoni urged men to listen to and believe women. But when a woman spoke out about his behavior, he and his billionaire backer Steve Sorowitz used a social media combat plan’ to scorch earth and try to ‘bury’ and ‘destroy’ her, along with the media who reports on it. These bullying tactics will not survive in court, and everyone should see their meritless claims for what they are.”
