Justin Baldoni has included his former publicist in his high-profile legal battle against Blake Lively. He alleges that she handed over a phone that contained sensitive messages to the actress.
At the center of Lively’s lawsuit against the 41-year-old actor and director are the text messages in question. These messages played a significant role in a sympathetic article by The New York Times that was published last December. The article initially disclosed the 37-year-old actress’ accusations of sexual assault against Baldoni.
Among them are exchanges between Baldoni’s publicists that appear to show them waging a negative publicity campaign against the mom-of-four.
Baldoni’s legal team asserts that the messages were altered and presented out of context. In response, the actor’s attorneys have released the full conversations to the public as part of his $400 million legal counteraction against Lively and her spouse, Ryan Reynolds.
According to the new papers, which were filed in Los Angeles on Friday, Lively’s team were able to get their hands on the messages thanks to his ex-publicist Stephanie Jones, head of Jonesworks PR,
The filings claim she seized a work phone belonging to her former partner Jennifer Abel which gave her access to conversations between Abel and crisis publicist Melissa Nathan – both of whom were working for Baldoni’s production company Wayfarer at the time.
Justin Baldoni has added former publicist Stephanie Jones as another defendant in his blockbuster lawsuit against Blake Lively, claiming she leaked his texts to the actress
Stephanie Jones (left) is accused of helping Lively’s team get their hands on the text messages between Baldoni and his reps
Both women are part of Baldoni’s suit and say Lively’s decision to include their conversations in her initial suit led to them being bombarded with abuse and death threats.
In a statement released to DailyMail.com, Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman said: ‘It is undeniable that Stephanie Jones initiated this catastrophic sequence of events by violating the most basic of privacy rights, as well as any remaining trust her clients held.
‘No stranger to stirring up crisis scenarios for departing clients, Ms. Jones maliciously turned over communications from the phone she wrongfully took from her own partner to her cohort [Lively’s publicist] Leslie Sloane, immediately after Ms. Jones was terminated for cause by Wayfarer due to her own wrongful behavior.’
Shortly after Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni in December, Jones also lodged her own lawsuit against the actor, as well as his company Wayfarer Studios, Nathan, and Abel.
Abel represented Baldoni while working for Jonesworks, but was allegedly fired last summer after Jones discovered she was ‘stealing documents and client information’ from the firm in aid of a plot to start a rival company, according to a copy of Jones’ lawsuit obtained by DailyMail.com.
The latest salvo in the titanic legal battle between Baldoni and Lively comes just two days after the actress filed a motion to have her co-star’s $400million cross-complaint dismissed.
A legal memorandum filed in New York says the case should be dismissed based on an obscure California law that prohibits retaliation against victims of sexual assault.
Many of the messages included in the complaint show exchanges between publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis management expert Melissa Nathan
Baldoni also appears to wade in at times and suggest his own tactics to discredit Lively
In her complaint, Lively accused Baldoni of working with his publicist Jennifer Abel (pictured) and crisis PR expert Melissa Nathan to tarnish her reputation
Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman (pictured in November) told DailyMail.com on Friday that it’s ‘undeniable’ Jones ‘initiated this catastrophic sequence of events’
The filing reads: ‘The Court should dismiss all claims against Ms. Lively with prejudice, deny leave to amend, and award Ms. Lively all relief sought.’
It goes on: ‘The law prohibits weaponizing defamation lawsuits, like this one, to retaliate against individuals who have filed legal claims or have publicly spoken out about sexual harassment and retaliation.’
Baldoni’s team later hit back, describing the move as ‘abhorrent’.
Freedman added: ‘Stringent rules are put into place to protect the innocent and allow individuals to rightfully defend themselves.
‘Laws are not meant to be twisted and curated by privileged elites to fit their own personal agenda.’
The new round of legal wrangling comes after months of claims and counter claims with both Lively and Baldoni maintaining low profiles while their lawyers slug it out.
Many of the revelations that have emerged have proved highly embarrassing, not least Lively memorably comparing herself to Game of Thrones character Khaleesi and referring to Reynolds and pal Taylor Swift as ‘my dragons’.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ attorney Michael J. Gottlieb (right) stands in front of Justin Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman inside the United States District Court in Manhattan as they both argue with Judge Lewis J. Liman during a trial conference on February 3
Some of her more lurid claims also came under scrutiny, not least her assertation that Baldoni had sexually harassed her by nuzzling her neck during a scene and commenting on how she smells – none of which was recorded due to microphones being turned off.
But footage first published DailyMail.com revealed that it did have audio which picked up a full account of the conversation and revealed that it had been about the smell of Lively’s fake tan.
She also faced criticism for serving legal papers to Baldoni’s team in the middle of the devastating wildfires that ripped through Los Angeles in early January.
Freedman, who lived in Pacific Palisades, was among the unlucky people whose homes were burned to the ground.
Other revelations from the initial complaint included Lively’s alleged failure to read the novel on which It Ends With Us is based until long after filming had begun and that she allegedly orchestrated a negative publicity campaign of her own with the connivance of her publicist Sloane and the New York Times.
Baldoni’s cross-complaint also revealed that he and his family had been forced to spend the premiere of It Ends With Us sitting in a basement because Lively refused to allow him to be in the same room as her.
