In another interesting step taking place within the "Blake Lively is suing Justin Baldoni for sexual harassment" saga, it has now been revealed that Baldoni intends to file a countersuit against Lively, one that, according to him, "will shock everyone," according to his lawyer.
The Daily Mail reports that Baldoni plans to file his lawsuit as soon as the courts reopen after the New Year holiday. "I’m not going to detail when or how many lawsuits we are filing, but once we file our first lawsuit, it will shock everyone who believed the false manipulations," promised Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman.
"Our lawsuit will be accompanied by real evidence and will tell the true story. In over 30 years of my career, I have never seen such a level of unethical behavior fueled and directed by media manipulations."
According to reports, Baldoni's lawsuit will completely refute Lively's claim, alleging he and his PR team planned a smear campaign against her to ruin her reputation. Instead, it will accuse Lively's PR manager, Leslie Sloane, of doing exactly that to Baldoni.
In a conversation with Deadline on Saturday, Sloane responded to the claims, saying: "It’s clear that Mr. Baldoni and his Wayfarer Associates are suggesting that I originated press stories about HR complaints on set, which is false," she said, before urging people to read both Lively’s complaint and the complaint filed by Jonesworks LLC.
Until Baldoni files his lawsuit and presents the promised evidence, Lively is currently receiving support from many Hollywood stars. "I believe Blake," declared Amy Schumer in a story she posted, and Gwyneth Paltrow announced that she is going out to purchase products from Lively’s skincare line (which, according to Lively, has seen sales drop by tens of percent due to the alleged defamation).
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Director Paul Feig, who directed Lively in the film "A Simple Favor," tweeted: "I’ve now made two movies with Blake and all I can say is she’s one of the most professional, creative, collaborative, talented and kind people I’ve ever worked with. She truly did not deserve any of this smear campaign against her. I think it’s awful she was put through this."
Author Colleen Hoover, whose book "It Ends With Us" was the basis for the film starring Lively and Baldoni, in a post to her Instagram stories, wrote: “@blakelively you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met."