New York Times Asks Court to Dismiss Justin Baldoni’s Defamation Lawsuit

The New York Times is asking a federal judge to dismiss Justin Baldoni‘s defamation suit against the paper for its role in publishing a bombshell report that ignited his legal battle with Blake Lively. Baldoni has accused the Times of working in coordination with Lively and her PR team on the Dec. 21 article entitled “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine” that revealed the actress had filed a civil rights complaint accusing her “It Ends With Us” director and co-star of misconduct. The piece also contained allegations that Baldoni and his representatives engaged in an elaborate effort to tarnish Lively’s reputation in retaliation after she raised her concerns about his on-set behavior.

In its filing, the Times accuses Baldoni, his company Wayfarer and his PR team of trying “to drag The Times into their larger feud with Lively” and claims that the paper merely “engage in newsgathering and publishing an Article and Video about the Wayfarer/Lively dispute.” In the conclusion to the filing, the paper argues that, Baldoni and fellow plantiffs’ suit “tells a one-sided tale that has garnered plenty of headlines, but ‘The Times’ does not belong in this dispute.”

In a statement, Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokesperson for the Times, said, “As our motion shows, this case should never have been brought against The New York Times. Blake Lively raised serious concerns about the way she was treated on the set and after the movie’s release. We did exactly what news organizations should do: we informed the public of the complaint she filed with the California Civil Rights Department. Mr. Baldoni’s misbegotten campaign against The Times – questioning our ethics, attempting to discredit our reporting, filing a baseless lawsuit – will not silence us.”

A spokesperson for Baldoni did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Earlier this month, Baldoni’s team amended their initial complaint to argue that metadata on the Times’ website shows that the paper had access to Lively’s civil rights complaint at least 11 days before its initial story. Baldoni’s initial $250 million suit against the Times was filed on the same day that Lively sued Baldoni as well as his publicists and Wayfarer. On Jan. 16, Wayfarer countersued. Two weeks later, it added The Times as a defendant.

Released last summer, “It Ends With Us,” a drama about a florist who falls into an abusive relationship with neurosurgeon, became one of the year’s biggest hits, earning more than $350 million.