Justin Baldoni has spoken out against the reported gag order that Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are attempting to get against Baldoni’s lawyer, calling it nothing more than a scare tactic.
Baldoni’s counsel and associates released a letter on Thursday (via THR) that explained why they released several videos from the set of It Ends With Us, calling them necessary to protect Baldoni against allegations of sexual harassment made by Lively.
When it came to the gag order, the letter said that trying to invoke one was an “intimidation tactic,” and was outrageous. “Having publicly made ruinous allegations that the Wayfarer Parties can prove are false, the Lively Parties now invoke attorney disciplinary rules as an intimidation tactic,” the letter states. “The Lively Parties’ desire to force the Wayfarer Parties to defend themselves privately against allegations made publicly is not a proper basis for a gag order.
It is tactical gamesmanship, and it is outrageous.” The gag order ask came from Lively’s team, and seeks to have Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, stop releasing things related to the case, as Baldoni’s team did with a batch of It Ends With Us videos this past week.
The gag order ask accuses the legal team for Baldoni of continuing to try and smear Lively’s name in the press. “All Justin wants to do,” according to the source, is “release videos and text messages to prove the allegations are false.” The source adds, it’s “unbelievable that Blake Lively would go on a takedown campaign against Justin and then immediately turn around and say she wants a gag order so that Justin can’t defend himself.” The video came courtesy of Baldoni’s legal team, which released a selection of behind-the-scenes footage from the filming of It Ends With Us.