For one that has been going on for months now, the Justin Baldoni-Blake Lively case really took an unexpected turn when a judge recently granted motions to dismiss the former’s countersuit against the latter as well as a $250 million libel lawsuit against The New York Times. But it seems like, despite all of this, this court battle is far from over.
This comes in the wake of the confident and warning statements and comments from Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman, which followed soon after the judge’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit. As it turns out, the actor-director’s attorney isn’t willing to give up just yet, considering how he recently blasted Lively for her ‘false victory tour.’
Justin Baldoni’s lawyer is out with stern warnings for Blake Lively and team
On June 9, Monday, Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit accusing extortion and defamation against Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist. His $250 million libel lawsuit against the outlet The New York Times was dismissed as well. But while this had Lively’s legal team celebrating, the case ain’t closed yet.
If anything, though it may have seemed like the end of the legal beef, the actor-director’s attorney Bryan Freedman recently revealed in an interview with TMZ that this case still has a long way to go, with a scheduled deposition on the way, and that the Gossip Girls actress is currently riding on what he called a ‘false victory tour.’
Per Freedman, Blake Lively is “afraid of the truth,” which will be shown through deposition, which is what’s going to come next in this case. He also added how he really hopes “she doesn’t drop her lawsuit” against Baldoni since the legal process of the same will help him clear his client’s name of the s-xual harassment claims against him.
We’re gonna proceed forward with the case, and we’re going to show that there was no sexual harassment, and we’re going to show that there was no smear campaign. It’s really just that simple. It’s unfortunate to be wrongfully accused here. […] What was Justin’s reaction to it? The same as my reaction to it, which is: It’s not fair. It’s not right.
Judging from his comments, it’s clear that Justin Baldoni and his legal team won’t just back down in this legal case. If anything, Lively might as well brace herself for the deposition, which is scheduled to take place later this month. Not to mention, Freedman also has some claims from the case that can still be amended.
Justin Baldoni’s legal team still has four claims against Blake Lively that they can refile
While Bryan Freedman’s warnings to Blake Lively and her legal team are fierce enough, Baldoni’s lawyer also pointed out that the judge has left open the door for them to amend four of their seven original claims against Lively—which they will ‘of course’ be doing, after the judge basically gave them ‘a roadmap on how to do that.’
These four claims include: “Intention interference with contract, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, negligent interference with prospective economic advantage—[all of which are] against Blake and Ryan; and breach of the implied duty of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, that’s against Blake.”
Fighting for Justin Baldoni, attorney Freedman also went on to share in his interview with TMZ why this case is so important to be resolved and for the truth to come out, candidly confessing:
I think that [Justin]’s a person who wants to be vindicated, and that’s all that he cares about. He knows who he is. He knows what he’s done. He knows what he hasn’t done. And he wants the truth to come out, and he wants to do that in the appropriate way. […] He’s waiting for his day in court, where he can speak out to tell the truth.
Needless to say, this more than just emphasizes the fact that while Baldoni’s legal team may have faced a slight setback in this case with their lawsuit being dismissed, they most certainly will be coming back stronger. That said, instead of ensuing with their ‘premature celebration’, Lively’s legal team might as well brace themselves for impact.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
