(NewsNation) — A New York Times article outlining the alleged sexual harassment endured by actress Blake Lively demonstrates “a reckless disregard for truth,” according to Justin Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman.
The legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni
Freedman joined NewsNation’s “CUOMO” on Monday to discuss the ongoing legal battle between Lively and her “It Ends With Us” co-star and director, including what he called “unbelievable” text messages cited by the publication.
It’s important to note that NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo has worked with Freedman before.
“He is my lawyer, and he is a trusted friend and mentor to me,” Cuomo noted before the interview Monday. “I want you to know that going into this.”
Freedman says the evidence in “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,” is primarily text messages and emails — many of which he says were “skewed” or taken out of context, allegedly by Lively’s team.
One example he shared with Cuomo was a claim by Lively that Baldoni walked in on her breastfeeding in her trailer — contradicted by a corresponding text where she informed him she was pumping and that he should come by to practice lines.
“It’s in a text message. They reviewed 1,000 pages,” Freedman said. “Why didn’t they find that one?”
He pointed to the publication’s participation in filing a complaint against Baldoni and other defendants, claiming that the Times had a copy of that complaint before it was filed with the Civil Rights Division and “encouraged them to file the complaint.”
Freedman also said the outlet reached out for comment around 9:50 p.m. on a Friday, right before Christmas, leaving Baldoni’s team only “15 hours, 14 hours” to formulate a response.
That wasn’t enough time, Freedman said, to address the validity of thousands of messages and accusations.
“And it’s shocking, actually, that The New York Times wouldn’t follow up and say, ‘Well, you know, we have text messages saying this, and we’d like to know, are they real? Do you have anything that shows that they’re different?'” Freedman said.
“We live in a digital age. You can’t trust everything that you see. Why couldn’t The New York Times ask that question?” he added.
Freedman told NewsNation he plans to release “what the young kids call receipts” and make the text messages between Baldoni and Lively fully public.
Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni: Lawsuit timeline
,On Dec. 31, Lively sued Baldoni along with several others. The federal lawsuit, filed in New York, alleges harassment and a coordinated smear campaign following her discussion of on-set treatment.
Lively’s suit said that Baldoni, the film’s production company Wayfarer Studios and others engaged in “a carefully crafted, coordinated, and resourced retaliatory scheme to silence her, and others, from speaking out.”
JERSEY CITY, NJ – JANUARY 12: Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively are seen on the set of ‘It Ends with Us’ on January 12, 2024 in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images) 
FILE – Blake Lively poses for photographers upon arrival at the UK Gala Screening for the film ‘It ‘Ends With Us’ on Thursday, Aug, 8, 2024 in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP, File) 
FILE – Justin Baldoni attends the world premiere of “It Ends with Us” at AMC Lincoln Square on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
Her legal action came just hours after Baldoni and other defendants sued The New York Times for libel regarding its story, published Dec. 21, 2024. The Times’ story detailed a sexual harassment complaint against Baldoni, among other on-set allegations.
Just days later, Baldoni was hit with a lawsuit from his former publicist Steph Jones accusing him of defamation and breach of contract
Jones accuses Baldoni of breaching their contract, which required him to pay her $25,000 per month, and for leaving to work with two former employees, Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, who formed their own rival public relations company, reported Variety.
Jones alleges Nathan and Abel launched Lively’s online teardown behind her back, according to the outlet.
The lawsuits are major developments in a story emerging from the surprise hit film that has already made major waves in Hollywood and led to discussions of the treatment of female actors both on sets and in media.
The New York Times responds to Freedman
The New York Times shared the following statement with NewsNation regarding Freedman’s comments:
“The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead.
Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article. Those texts and emails were also the crux of a discrimination claim filed in California by Blake Lively against Justin Baldoni and his associates.
To address some inaccuracies in the lawsuit, when seeking comments from Mr. Baldoni and others who would be mentioned in the article, The Times shared the information that we intended to publish, including references to specific text messages and documents, asked them to identify any inaccuracies, provide additional context and speak with our team.
Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer and the other subjects chose not to have any conversations with The Times or address any of the specific text messages or documents and instead emailed a joint response, which was published in full. (Also, they sent their response to The Times at 11:16pm ET Dec 20th, not at 2:16am ET Dec 21st as the complaint says.)
We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”
NewsNation’s Safia Samee Ali and The Associated Press contributed to this report.