Posted on 02/20/2025 7:03:19 PM PST by nickcarraway
Allegedly false statements from Leslie Sloane of Vision PR include assertions that the "whole cast doesn't like Justin" and that "Blake was sexually assaulted." She says they aren't defamatory.
Blake Lively‘s public relations representative is arguing that she should be dismissed from the legal standoff between the actress and Justin Baldoni because she never defamed the It Ends With Us director.
Leslie Sloane of Vision PR, in a motion filed in New York federal court on Thursday, says that the allegedly false statements cited in Baldoni’s lawsuit are opinions that can’t be subject to a defamation claim. She also argues that the assertions are largely true, pointing to the absence of an explicit denial from Baldoni that he sexually assaulted Lively.
By Sloane’s thinking, Baldoni isn’t denying the majority of misconduct for which he’s accused but is instead trying to contextualize the behavior. She claims she was “dragged” into the criss-crossing lawsuits “as a smoke and mirrors exercise to distract from their own sexual harassment and systemic retaliation.”
Baldoni has consistently challenged all of the allegations detailed in Lively’s lawsuit, including accusations of sexual assault. He accuses Sloane of orchestrating a smear campaign to portray him as a sexual predator by planting false stories, mainly at the Daily Mail.
Among the many reasons the high-profile dispute has fixated Hollywood is the ensnaring of public relations firms that typically stay behind the scenes.
The alleged defamation concerns statements from Sloane that the “whole cast doesn’t like Justin,” “the whole cast hates him” and “Blake was sexually assaulted.” Some were made in response to a press inquiry about a story she says Baldoni’s team planted days earlier over Lively causing problems on the set of the movie.
Sloane argues that the first two assertions are “hyperbolic personal sentiments” incapable of being proven true or false, meaning that they can’t be subject to a defamation claim.
“The statement ‘Blake was sexually assaulted,’ likewise amounts to inactionable opinion given the context in which it was made,” writes Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer for the PR rep, in the filing, which stresses that the accusation is the Daily Mail reporter’s characterization of details included in Lively’s administrative complaint filed with the California Civil Rights Department that sparked the feud and “not any words Ms. Sloane ever said.”
Regardless of whether the statements can be understood as opinions, Sloane also argues that the statements are substantially true. She cites details in Baldoni’s lawsuit that the cast “shun[ned] the director to side with Lively, going as far as “refusing to attend [the premiere] if” the director was present.
“Nor do the Wayfarer Parties meaningfully deny the truth of the underlying facts for the alleged statement that ‘Blake was sexually assaulted,'” the filing states. “For instance, Ms. Lively alleges that Baldoni engaged in sexual contact without her consent, including by ‘bit[ing] and suck[ing]’ on her ‘lower lip during a scene in which he improvised numerous kisses on each take.’ The Wayfarer Parties do not expressly deny this conduct, and merely argue that Baldoni did not need Ms. Lively’s ‘permission’ to ‘improvis[e]’ because he was purportedly ‘in character’ and this behavior was apparently acceptable on the show ‘Jane the Virgin.'”
Part of the court’s analysis could involve an examination of the legal meaning of sexual assault. Baldoni’s unwanted sexual conduct likely falls within New York’s definition of the term, claims Sloane’s legal team, which cites a court case in which a person who caressed a co-worker’s foot and hugged her from behind were sufficient to allege “forcible touching.”
Other arguments Sloane, who seeks legal fees from Baldoni under a New York law that allows for the early dismissal of lawsuits intended to chill free speech, advances revolve around the director failing to allege actual malice, a necessary component to a public figure such as the director advancing a defamation claim. It requires proof that the accused made defamatory statements with knowledge they were false or were recklessly indifferent to their truth.
Sloane’s move to dismiss herself from Baldoni’s lawsuit comes after Lively filed a revised lawsuit in which she says that two other actresses on the set of the film are prepared to testify over their own allegedly uncomfortable experiences with Baldoni. Sources have indicated the two women are Jenny Slate and Isabela Ferrer. Slate is a veteran comic and actress known for roles in Parks and Recreation and Everything Everywhere All at Once. Ferrer is a newcomer to the industry and was only around 23 at the time of filming, when she played the younger version of Lively’s character.
Justin Baldoni is the wokest person in Hollywood.
He has a podcast about how masculinity is toxic, men are bad, and women do not lie.
If Blake Lively had made the exact same accusations against anyone else, he would be leading the charge against that person.
He should not be a hypocrite and accept the accusations, whether they are true or not. After all, that's what he believes. Why should their be different standards for him, than any other man.
I have no sympathy for him, he can reap what he sows.
That doesn't mean I like Black Lively or Ryan Reynolds. But the fact that so many people are supporting this woke jerk and his beliefs is disturbing.
Why are conservatives supporting this wokist?
He may have started off woke but he will be conservative by the end of it given how these liberal frauds have treated him.
Blake Lively weaponized feminism and MeToo against him in the most hypocritical, narcissistic fashion.
Her husband, who recently spoke at an Obama foundation event, weaponized his Hollywood elite connections to steal Baldoni’s movie.
So much more to unpack but can’t in this thread alone. 🙄But read the lawsuits they’re online.
Think Amber Heard and anti Trump warfare.
How can anyone “support” someone they never heard of.
Blake was too fat during the movie and Justin hinted she could lose weight. I think she was too fat. Blake, who doesn’t take criticism well because she thinks she is God’s gift to men, had a huge meltdown and exaggerated that Justin did something wrong.
Guess what Blake? Movie stars have been told for years to lose the blubber.
Especially since conservatives and other non-woke people have supported him so much, and not criticized him a drop.
If anything, this may end up as a lesson to people that they should be woke.
Baldoni’s lawyer is also Megyn Kelly’s…and he is suing The NY Times for horrible bias and defamation.
Actually, that is her story. His story is that she worried about her weight, but he said she looked great. He did ask for her weight, since he has a bad back, and he has to pick her up in the movie.
Ben Shapiro and Candace Owen’s and Brett Cooper and numerous other conservative personalities acknowledge Baldoni’s persona but are still team Justin.
But Candace Owens, Megyn Kelly, and many others are supporting him non-stop.
#metoo was supposed to mean believe women, and that evidence didn't matter. So, now, if you are woke you get a free pass? The rest of us men will not have that luxury, no matter how innocent we might be.
You don’t think he’s getting what he deserves?
They showed her at the Super Bowl last year (she was standing next to Taylor Swift) and she looked pretty skinny to me.
Lively was in The Shallows, a movie where she does battle with a shark.
And that matters.
I guess we should make this message clear to young people. Then they will no what to do.
He said women never lie and men are guilty. That’s the truth.
I have never heard of Justin Baldoni.
Who are these people, anyway?
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