Blake Lively scored a authorized victory after a decide dismissed allegations that her legal professional threatened to leak Taylor Swift‘s texts within the “It Ends With Us” case.
The actress had earlier sued Justin Baldoni for sexual harassment, prompting his $400M countersuit involving her and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
Taylor Swift, subpoenaed as a witness, denied involvement within the film, with Blake Full of life’s camp blasting Justin Baldoni’s workforce’s techniques as a publicity stunt.
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Decide Strikes ‘Irrelevant’ Claims In opposition to Blake Full of life By Justin Baldoni’s Attorneys
On Thursday, Might 15, Decide Lewis J. Liman granted Full of life’s movement to strike allegations that her legal professional, Michael Gottlieb, had threatened to launch Swift’s personal textual content messages except the singer publicly supported the actress within the “It Ends With Us” case.
The movement was accredited simply hours after Gottlieb refuted the claims, which had been submitted by Baldoni’s legal professional, Bryan Freedman, in a letter based mostly on statements from an unnamed supply.
Full of life’s authorized workforce had filed the request the day prior to this, urging the courtroom to dismiss the damaging letter from the document.
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Within the official order obtained by the New YorkPublish, Decide Liman known as the submitting “improper” and “irrelevant,” stating that it served no authorized goal and was as a substitute an try and “promote public scandal by advancing inflammatory accusations, on data and perception, in opposition to Full of life and her counsel.”
The decide additional famous that the doc appeared crafted to spark “press uproar by suggesting that Full of life and her counsel tried to ‘extort’ a well known movie star.”
He made it clear that permitting the letter to stay on the docket wouldn’t profit the courtroom and would scale back the document to a “reservoir of libelous statements for press consumption.”
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The Actress’s Lawyer Slammed ‘Categorically False’ Claims Involving Taylor Swift
Baldoni’s legal professional stirred controversy after alleging that not solely did Gottlieb threaten to leak Swift’s text messages, however that Full of life additionally requested Swift to delete their conversations, claims supposedly gotten from an nameless supply.
Gottlieb wasted no time in rejecting the accusations, calling them “categorically false.” Chatting with NYP on Wednesday, he stated, “We unequivocally deny all of those so-called allegations, that are cowardly sourced to supposed nameless sources, and fully untethered from actuality.”
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The lawyer went on to criticize the authorized techniques of Baldoni’s workforce, saying, “That is what we now have come to count on from the Wayfarer events’ legal professionals, who seem to like nothing greater than taking pictures first, with none proof, and with no take care of the individuals they’re harming within the course of. We are going to imminently file motions with the courtroom to carry these attorneys accountable for his or her misconduct right here.”
Following the decide’s swift ruling, a spokesperson for Full of life added: “It took the courtroom lower than 24 hours to see via Mr. Freedman’s irrelevant, improper, and inflammatory accusations, strike them, take away them from the courtroom, and warn Mr. Freedman that additional misconduct could also be met with sanctions.”
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Justin Baldoni’s $400M Authorized Battle With His Co-Star
Full of life first filed a lawsuit in opposition to Baldoni in December, accusing him of sexual harassment through the manufacturing of the 2024 movie “It Ends With Us” and of orchestrating a marketing campaign to wreck her popularity.
In response, Baldoni, who directed and starred within the movie alongside Full of life, launched a $400 million countersuit in opposition to the actress and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. His authorized claims embrace defamation, civil extortion, and false mild invasion of privateness, amongst others.
Each events have denied one another’s allegations, however the authorized battle just lately pulled Swift, after the Grammy-winning artist, who’s godmother to Full of life and Reynolds’s three daughters, was subpoenaed as a witness.
She was talked about repeatedly in Baldoni’s countersuit, which alleges that she and Reynolds have been current at an important assembly between Full of life and Baldoni on the couple’s New York penthouse.
In a weird twist, the countersuit additionally claims Full of life referred to herself as “Khaleesi” in a textual content change with Baldoni and dubbed Reynolds and Swift “my dragons,” referencing characters from “Recreation of Thrones.”
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Taylor Swift’s Reps Blasted The Subpoena From Justin Baldoni’s Group
In response to Baldoni’s workforce subpoenaing Swift, a consultant for the singer dismissed the notion of her involvement.
“She didn’t rating the movie, she by no means noticed an edit or made any notes on the movie, she didn’t even see It Ends With Us till weeks after its public launch, and was touring across the globe throughout 2023 and 2024, headlining the largest tour in historical past,” Swift’s rep shared.
In addition they emphasised that the pop star’s solely reference to the film was permitting the showrunners to make use of her music “My Tears Ricochet.”
Blake Full of life’s Authorized Group Additionally Slammed The Taylor Swift Subpoena
Full of life’s authorized workforce condemned the subpoena in an announcement to Individuals Journal, criticizing the opposing aspect for treating a severe case like a spectacle.
“Mr. Baldoni, Mr. [Steve] Sarowitz, and the workforce proceed to show a case of sexual harassment and retaliation into leisure for the tabloids,” the assertion learn.
It continued, “Going so far as suggesting that they promote tickets to a live performance venue— Madison Sq. Backyard—to witness Ms. Full of life’s deposition, to subpoenaing Taylor Swift, a girl who has given a voice to hundreds of thousands all around the world. It is a very severe authorized matter, not Barnum & Bailey’s Circus.”
