Justin Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman was grilled over Baldoni and Blake Lively’s dueling lawsuits at length in a new interview on Matt Belloni’s The Town podcast Thursday, during which the host suggested he was “spreading unflattering information about Blake Lively” in their “s--t show” of a case, as Belloni called it.
Belloni kicked things off by all but accusing Freedman of “leaking” information about Lively, as she seeks a stronger protective order in the case.
“That’s what they’re afraid of,” Belloni said, “that you are going to get in there, get some private information about Blake Lively, her husband, her business, and you are going to leak it. Seems like a rational fear on their part.” Freedman disagreed, countering that “there’s so much that’s already been out in the public in this case.”
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Belloni was insistent, however, that “a lot of it is stuff you put out,” he told Freedman. “I mean, you have a whole website you set up designed to spread unflattering information about Blake Lively during the case. So don’t you think they have a right to be concerned about how you might handle this information?” he went on. Freedman was resolved that isn’t the case. “Let me just correct you because obviously you haven’t spent much time on the website,” he said, insisting that Baldoni’s website is simply a culmination of public pleadings” that are already “publicly accessible.”
The veteran entertainment journalist was not appeased however, as he brought up the now infamous behind-the-scenes video of Baldoni and Lively on set of It Ends With Us that he said shows one of the conversations Lively used as evidence in her complaint that Baldoni had “sexually harassed” her. In the clips, Lively also insults Baldoni’s nose in a moment that has reflected poorly on the movie star. “In every media story discussing their scene, the video says right on it, ‘Courtesy of Bryan Freedman,’” Belloni said Thursday, “so you are putting out this unflattering video of her in an attempt to court public opinion.”
Lively’s public persona has taken a major hit since the press tour for It Ends With Us saw social media users turn on her for her fluffy responses to interview questions about the domestic violence film. Lively faced controversy as recently as this past week’s SXSW premiere of Another Simple Favor, as she faced a protestor at the festival who disputes her claims against Baldoni, and her co-star Anna Kendrick appeared to shade her as rumors of a feud between the co-stars swirled online.
As far as his part of how Lively is being perceived, Freedman said releasing “facts that were on [Baldoni’s] side” was necessary after Lively’s New York Times exposé on her allegations. “This is in direct response to that because the minute the New York Times story came out, Justin was done for all intents and purposes, and the court of public opinion was against him,” Freedman explained. “There were no facts on his side. Nobody was willing to listen, and so it was really important to come out with real, true facts.”
Belloni then pounced on a comment Freedman made at a hearing for the case: “You said, ‘My clients have a right to defend themselves. That is in no way abusing the victim,’” he said. “It is interesting you said ‘not abusing the victim.’ Does that mean you agree that Blake is a victim here?”
Freedman hedged a bit before conceding, “Well, ‘victim’ can be in the eye of the beholder.’” He added later, “Whether she felt harassed or not is one thing,” but “from a legal perspective, the question really is, was there harassment?”
Equally tense was the pair’s exchange over Baldoni’s lawsuit against the New York Times for partnering with Lively before she filed her complaint against him. Belloni said he has a “harder time seeing” the NYT piece as defamatory, explaining, “There are documents. They didn’t make them up,” and the Times had “fair reporting privilege” to cover a publicly filed document.
Freedman said the issue is the timing of the Times report. “If you help to construct the filing, if you then start to report about the thousands of pages of text messages that you reviewed, are you then reporting on the documents that you actually reviewed?” He added, “One day, somebody is going to be a media outlet again. And one day, a court of appeal is going to overturn something and say, ‘It’s not OK.’ And they’re going to ratchet back that law.”
“You and Donald Trump will be very excited on that day,” Belloni shot back. Unconvinced that Baldoni’s lawsuit will make it to a trial, Belloni asked Freedman what “number” would it take to settle the “circus.”
However, Freedman disagreed with the characterization of the very public spat.
“The reality is, this is not a circus when you go through an experience like this,” said Freedman. “Justin has been destroyed by this, the company, and the individuals of the company. This is a really serious thing.”
He added, “In this day and age, the only way that you can truly get back is to prove your innocence.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated to amend the headline and add further details from the interview.
