Blake Lively is spitting back at Jutin Baldoni just as the latter received a very unexpected backing.
In a statement shared with US Weekly on Thursday, April 10, Lively’s lawyers, Esta Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, called out Baldoni’s hypocrisy of creating his brand around feminism while trying to “tear down laws that protect women who come forward about sexual assault, harassment, and discrimination.”
The attorneys highlighted California’s sexual harassment privilege, which prevents the accused from suing the accuser “into oblivion” for defamation.
“The chilling message scorched earth litigation sends to victims is stay silent or be destroyed,” the statement continued, pointing to Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit against Lively and The New York Times.
The statement comes just a day after convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein offered his two cents in a statement to TMZ, sharing that he empathised with Baldoni’s case against The New York Times.
“They did the same thing [to me],” said Weinstein, “cherry-picked what fit their story and ignored critical context and facts that could have challenged the narrative.”
But as headlines circulated about the disgraced movie producer “siding” with Baldoni, Weinstein’s reps cleared the air in a statement with Vanity Fair.
“Please note that Harvey is not taking sides in the Baldoni-Lively matter. He is not familiar with the details and has only ever had the kindest, warmest interactions with both Blake and Ryan,” the spokesperson said.
“His comments were solely related to The New York Times and its handling of the story about him…” they hadded.
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