The It Ends With Us authorized battle continues as star Blake Full of life has requested a choose to dismiss a countersuit filed by her co-star Justin Baldoni, calling his claims “vengeful and rambling,” after she filed a lawsuit in opposition to him for sexual harassment and retaliation.
On Thursday, Full of life’s legal professionals wrote in papers filed in Manhattan federal courtroom that Baldoni and his manufacturing firm’s claims they have been defamed have been a “profound abuse of the authorized course of.”
“The legislation prohibits weaponizing defamation lawsuits, like this one, to retaliate in opposition to people who’ve filed authorized claims or have publicly spoken out about sexual harassment and retaliation,” the legal professionals stated.
“The proper to hunt authorized redress and the proper of the press to report on it are sacred rules which can be protected by a number of privileges, together with the litigation and truthful report privileges, that are absolute,” they added.
Full of life’s authorized group additionally referred to Baldoni’s lawsuit as a part of a “sinister marketing campaign to bury and destroy” her for talking out about sexual harassment in opposition to him.
Her legal professionals invoked a California legislation that protects sexual harassment accusers, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed, in response to defamation lawsuits introduced on throughout the #MeToo motion. Full of life’s legal professionals stated the legislation entitles her to say authorized charges and damages from Baldoni as soon as his go well with is thrown out.
“In different phrases, in an epic self-own, the Wayfarer Events have created extra legal responsibility for themselves by their malicious efforts to sue Ms. Full of life ‘into oblivion,’” the movement states.
Full of life sought unspecified damages when she sued Baldoni in late December for alleged sexual harassment and retaliation. He countersued for $400 million, accusing Full of life and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, of defamation and extortion.
In a press release on Thursday, Full of life’s legal professionals, Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, stated Full of life “suffered significantly” by talking up in regards to the alleged harassment.
“The painful actuality is that Ms. Full of life shouldn’t be alone in being sued for defamation after talking up about being sexually harassed at work,” Full of life’s legal professionals stated. “Whereas Ms. Full of life has suffered significantly by talking up and pursuing authorized claims, it’s important for different individuals to know that they’ve protections and that there’s a particular legislation that expressly protects them from being silenced or financially ruined by a defamation lawsuit as a result of they’d the braveness to talk up.”
Baldoni’s legal professionals have been fast to answer Full of life’s try and dismiss his lawsuit in opposition to her, referring to her actions as “abhorrent.”
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“Ms. Full of life’s current movement to dismiss herself from the self-concocted catastrophe she initiated is among the most abhorrent examples of abusing our authorized system,” Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, stated in a press release.
“Stringent guidelines are put into place to guard the harmless and permit people to rightfully defend themselves. Legal guidelines usually are not meant to be twisted and curated by privileged elites to suit their very own private agenda,” Freedman added.
Freedman stated they may “proceed to carry Ms. Full of life accountable for her actions of pure malice, which embrace falsely accusing my purchasers of harassment and retaliation.”
“Her fantastical claims might be swiftly debunked as discovery strikes ahead, simply disproved with precise, evidentiary proof,” Freedman stated.
Full of life’s newest movement comes days after legal professionals for Reynolds filed papers within the countersuit requesting to be dismissed from Baldoni’s $400 million civil extortion and defamation criticism.
Baldoni was dropped by his company, WME, which additionally represents Full of life. His go well with alleges that Reynolds was chargeable for this after he approached a WME govt on the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere and “expressed his deep disdain for Baldoni, suggesting the company was working with a ‘sexual predator.’”
“The whole lot of plaintiffs’ defamation declare seems to be primarily based on two occasions that Mr. Reynolds allegedly known as Mr. Baldoni a ‘predator,’” the submitting learn. (International Information has not independently reviewed the paperwork.)
“However, the FAC alleges no believable info that recommend Mr. Reynolds didn’t imagine this remark to be true; as a substitute, the related FAC allegations recommend that Mr. Reynolds genuinely, maybe passionately, believes that Mr. Baldoni’s habits is reflective of a ‘predator,’” the submitting added.
Reynolds’ authorized group questioned the actor’s relevance to the go well with past his function as “a supportive partner who has witnessed firsthand the emotional, reputational and monetary devastation Ms. Full of life has suffered.”
Freedman responded to Reynolds’ submitting in a press release supplied to CNN. “After lighting a match, Mr. Reynolds now seeks to run from the flames. It gained’t work,” Freedman stated.
“Mr. Reynolds was a key participant within the scheme, defaming Justin round Hollywood, strong-arming WME into dropping Justin as a shopper, and attempting to destroy Justin’s profession nonetheless attainable,” the assertion stated.
“His fingerprints have been throughout this smear marketing campaign in opposition to Justin and the Wayfarer group since day one. Mr. Reynolds now makes an attempt to cut back plainly cognizable claims to ‘damage emotions,’ sending a transparent message that bullying is suitable,” Freedman continued.
“Mr. Reynolds can seem on as many sketch reveals as he needs and feebly attempt to make gentle of his present scenario, however we won’t cease till he’s held accountable for his actions,” the assertion added, seemingly referencing Reynolds’ look on the fiftieth anniversary particular of Saturday Night time Stay in February.
Baldoni sued his co-star Full of life, 37, and Reynolds, 48, for defamation in January. That lawsuit got here the identical day that Baldoni sued the New York Instances for libel, alleging the paper labored with Full of life to smear him.
Because the authorized battle started, Baldoni’s authorized group made textual content messages from Full of life and Reynolds public on an internet site, titled The Lawsuit Data, created to assist defend himself.
On the web site, revealed in early February, Baldoni, 41, additionally shared an amended criticism in his case in opposition to Full of life, Reynolds, Full of life’s PR agency and the New York Instances, in addition to a 168-page doc known as, “Timeline of related occasions,” associated to the case and the manufacturing of the movie.
The timeline consists of emails and textual content messages that have been allegedly despatched main as much as and throughout the film’s filming.
Full of life and Baldoni’s case headed to courtroom on Feb. 3, because the Gossip Lady actor’s authorized group started to debate a possible gag order.
A U.S. choose reminded legal professionals for Baldoni and Full of life to not publicly talk about the actors’ competing civil lawsuits.
At a listening to in Manhattan federal courtroom, Gottlieb, Full of life’s lawyer, complained to Decide Lewis Liman that Freedman, Baldoni’s lawyer, violated skilled ethics guidelines for legal professionals by accusing Full of life of “bullying.”
“It’s very arduous to un-ring the bell,” Gottlieb stated, arguing that such statements may taint the jury pool for the scheduled March 9, 2026 trial.
Freedman steered that his feedback to Individuals journal and in a podcast look have been a response to the Dec. 21, 2024 New York Instances article that “fully devastated” Baldoni.
“This has not been a one-way avenue,” he stated.
Liman adopted a New York state rule barring most out-of-court statements that might have an effect on a case’s consequence, besides for safeguarding a shopper from prejudicial hostile publicity.
The choose may sanction legal professionals for violations. Neither Gottlieb nor Freedman objected.
— With information from The Related Press
