Justin Baldoni, through his attorney Brayan Freedman, is fighting back against Blake Lively’s sexual harassment lawsuits. Freedman filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times, accusing the publication of collaborating with Lively and her PR team to spread false narratives against Baldoni. This move comes after Baldoni filed a $400 million defamation and extortion lawsuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. As part of his defense, Freedman released a 10-minute video showing Baldoni and Lively during a scene, claiming that their interaction appeared consensual and should dispel harassment allegations.
Interestingly, Freedman has previously represented another client in a case against Baldoni. In a settled lawsuit, he represented Travis Flores, a person with cystic fibrosis, who accused Baldoni of stealing the concept for his film Five Feet Apart from Flores’ original script, Three Feet Distance. Flores claimed that Baldoni’s film, which centered on young lovers with cystic fibrosis, had been developed after his script was shared with Baldoni. The case highlighted copyright-infringing similarities between the two projects. Ultimately, Five Feet Apart went on to earn $92 million on a $7 million budget, and the case was settled out of court.