Amid Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively’s feud, the former has filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times for libel after it carried an article in December titled “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.” The lawsuit alleged that the publication wrote the article based on the actress’ unverified account and ignored other evidence.
It accused the publication of putting out defamatory claims against Baldoni. His legal team also claimed that the article relied on cherry-picked and manipulated communications.
Baldoni’s attorney further accused Lively and New York Times for conducting a vicious smear campaign and using manipulated texts.
In response to this, a spokesperson of the New York Times said, “The role of an independent news organization is to follow facts where they lead. Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”
The lawsuit includes co-plaintiffs such as publicist Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel and producers Jamey Heath and Steve Sarowitz.
The feud between them began when Blake Lively filed a lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment and claiming that he attempted a smear campaign against her.
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