Justin Baldoni Recordsdata Response to Blake Full of life’s Movement to Dismiss His Countersuit

Justin Baldoni has filed a response to Blake Full of life’s movement to dismiss his $400 million lawsuit in opposition to her.

Baldoni sued Full of life for defamation and different claims on Jan. 16, a couple of month after Full of life filed a lawsuit that accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and orchestrating a retaliatory smear marketing campaign over their behind-the-scenes fallout whereas filming It Ends with Us. The film, which was launched in theaters on Aug. 9, 2024, starred Full of life and Baldoni, who additionally directed. The actor’s lawsuit additionally named Full of life’s husband, Ryan Reynolds.

Full of life’s legal professionals, Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, filed the movement to dismiss on March 20, calling Baldoni’s claims “vengeful and rambling” and an abuse of the authorized system. Particularly, they stated the newly enacted California Civil Code Part 47.1 prohibits retaliatory lawsuits tied to public disclosures of sexual harassment.

Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, responded to the movement within the Southern District of New York on Thursday, April 3, per courtroom paperwork obtained by PEOPLE.

Freedman states that Full of life requested to dismiss the lawsuit for “failure to state a declare.” She additionally requested for attorneys’ charges, prices, damages and punitive damages.

Nevertheless, Freedman says Baldoni’s grievance supplies particulars of “Full of life’s calculated efforts first to extort and manipulate” Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios manufacturing workforce, “into ceding complete management over the movie It Ends with Us after which to defame and scapegoat them when her plan backfired.”

They add that Baldoni’s grievance supplies particular claims of defamation in opposition to Full of life which are “adequate to defeat dismissal.” Baldoni’s lawyer additionally claims that, even when a dismissal is granted, Full of life is just not owed attorneys’ charges and damages.

The response alleges Blake’s try to dismiss Baldoni’s lawsuit is her method of asking the courtroom “to seek out that she is immune from any culpability for her wrongful acts.”

Addressing California Civil Code Part 47.1, Freedman says imposing it will require the courtroom to find out “that she acted alone and with out malice and that she had an inexpensive foundation for her claims.”

“Ms. Full of life and her circle of Hollywood elites can not stop my purchasers from exercising their constitutional proper to petition the courtroom to clear their names from her false and dangerous claims,” Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman tells PEOPLE in an announcement on Thursday.

He added of Full of life’s movement to dismiss: “What Ms. Full of life is making an attempt to do is to set a harmful precedent by barring the courthouse doorways to my purchasers and punishing them for having their day in courtroom, a proper protected by the First Modification.”

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“This proper protects not solely Mr. Baldoni and the Wayfarer events on this explicit case, however all Individuals sooner or later who’ve false accusations levied in opposition to them and search reduction from our justice system,” Freedman continues. “This should cease right here, and we’ll proceed to combat in opposition to this blatant try to dam entry to the courtroom system and to weaken our nation’s Structure to serve those that are within the place of energy.” 

PEOPLE reached out to Full of life’s representatives for touch upon Thursday.