Blake Lively says Justin Baldoni’s “vengeful and rambling” defamation suit against her should be tossed because it is against the law.
Baldoni’s $400 million suit against Lively is illegal because it aims to punish the actress for speaking out about the alleged sexual harassment she suffered, her lawyers argued in a Manhattan federal court filing Thursday.
The “vengeful and rambling lawsuit against Blake Lively, 37, is a profound abuse of the legal process,” her attorneys wrote, about the bombshell case filed by Baldoni, 41, and production company Wayfarer Studios.
The law prevents Baldoni from “weaponizing” the legal system to retaliate against Lively for coming forward and filing her own suit alleging she was sexually harassed by the director on the set of “It Ends With Us,” her attorneys argued.
Lively was “legally entitled” to bring her case and give an interview to the New York Times, revealing her sensational claims against Baldoni — the director and her co-star in the flick.
Stay up to date on the latest Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively saga
Baldoni’s counterclaims — which he only filed after Lively brought her suit — amounts to a “blunt public relations” tool and is part of the actor and Wayfarer Studios’ “sinister campaign to ‘bury’ and ‘destroy’ her for coming forward,” the court papers allege.
His bid to “sue Ms. Lively ‘into oblivion’” only puts him on the hook for more liability as she seeks legal fees and damages from him, her attorneys claimed.
The filing came after the “Gossip Girl” star’s husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, on Tuesday asked the judge to toss Baldoni’s claims against him.
Reynolds, 48, argued in court papers that he couldn’t have defamed Baldoni because he “genuinely believes Mr. Baldoni is a predator” — and saying an opinion is constitutionally protected by the First Amendment.
Baldoni cited Reynolds once privately calling him a “sexual predator.”
Lively filed a $250 million suit against Baldoni in December launching a legal saga that has spawned cases in California, New York and Texas.
She claims he sexually harassed her on the set of the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel of the same name and then, with his publicists, launched a smear campaign against her.
Baldoni, an alum of show “Jane the Virgin,” and his press team have denied her allegations and accused her and Reynold of extortion — claims which the Hollywood couple deny.
Lawyers for Baldoni didn’t return a request for comment Thursday.
— Additional reporting by Peter Senzamici
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