Blake Lively's Lawyers Call Justin Baldoni's Lawsuit ‘Another Chapter in the Abuser Playbook’

Blake Lively’s team is firing back after Justin Baldoni filed a lawsuit against the actor, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, publicist Leslie Sloane, and Sloane’s PR firm on January 16. The suit is the latest development in the messy back-and-forth that began on the set of It Ends With Us, which Baldoni directed and costarred in opposite Lively.

In a statement published by People, Lively’s legal team referred to the $400 million suit as “desperate” and “another chapter in the abuser playbook.”

“This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim,” the statement reads. “This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender.”

Baldoni’s attorneys filed the lawsuit on claims extortion and defamation, among other allegations, on behalf of the actor/director as well as producer Jamey Heath, publicist Jennifer Abel, crisis publicist Melissa Nathan, and Baldoni’s production company, Wayfarer Studios.

A reminder: Earlier this month, Lively sued the above parties for alleged sexual harassment and for allegedly coordinating a smear campaign intended to damage her reputation. (These lawsuits are not to be confused with Baldoni’s action against The New York Times, whom he is suing for libel to the tune of $250 million.)

In their statement, Blake Lively’s lawyers refer to Baldoni’s lawsuit as “meritless” and a distraction tactic.

“[They] are trying to shift the narrative to Ms. Lively by falsely claiming that she seized creative control and alienated the cast from Mr. Baldoni,” the statement continues. “The evidence will show that the cast and others had their own negative experiences with Mr. Baldoni and Wayfarer. The evidence will also show that Sony asked Ms. Lively to oversee Sony’s cut of the film, which they then selected for distribution and was a resounding success.”

The statement concludes with a scathing characterization of Baldoni’s latest lawsuit: “Their response to sexual harassment allegations: she wanted it, it’s her fault…Their justification for why this happened to her: look what she was wearing. In short, while the victim focuses on the abuse, the abuser focuses on the victim. The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate, it does not refute the evidence in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and it will fail.”