Justin Baldoni‘s lawyer Bryan Freedman appeared on an episode of “The Megyn Kelly Show” where the former Fox News host played an alleged voice message Baldoni sent to his team in which he claims he was “sent to the basement” during the “It Ends With Us” premiere because Lively allegedly did not want him anywhere near the movie’s cast.
The “It Ends With Us” premiere was held at New York City’s AMC Lincoln Square Theater on August 6, 2024. Baldoni did not take any photos with Lively or the “It Ends With Us” cast at the event, which is what originally escalated rumors online of an apparent feud between Baldoni and Lively.
“On what could have been one of the most beautiful nights of my life career-wise, I literally was sent to the basement with all my friends and family for over an hour because I wasn’t allowed to be seen, she didn’t want me anywhere near her or the rest of the cast,” Baldoni is heard telling his team in the alleged voice message.
“So they ushered me off the carpet and sent us down to the basement, we were down there together, my friends and family, the people that love me the most,” he continues. “We start laughing because of the ridiculousness of this whole thing and I realize like on a night that was supposed to be so materialistically joyful, I was in the basement with the people that love me the most and we were all joyful and laughing cause none of that shit matters, none of it.
He concludes, “That’s not why we’re in the business … to attend a premiere and be celebrated like that, we’re in it because we’re artists and we believe in what we do and because we want to create art that touches people’s souls and can move people. And that’s what we did, that’s what you both did and I believe that will follow us, the truth will prevail and light and love will win.”
Variety reached out to Blake Lively‘s representative for comment and was directed to an earlier statement her legal team stating that Lively’s “serious claims of sexual harassment and retaliation” against Baldoni are “backed by concrete facts.”
Lively filed a complaint at the end of December accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment on set of “It Ends With Us” and of mounting a smear campaign to tarnish her reputation during the film’s release. Baldoni then filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times, the publication that first ran Lively’s complaint in full and reported in depth on Baldoni’s alleged smear campaign against her.
Neither Kelly nor Freedman revealed how the alleged voice note was obtained. Freedman previously told NBC News that he’s “more than willing to take every single text message that exists out there, leave them out, put them on a website for the world to see, have them see the truth, and determine the truth for themselves.” He shared the same sentiment with Kelly during their interview together.
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, stated in a video interview with NBC News that Baldoni “absolutely” plans to sue Lively herself over her accusations against him.
Lively’s lawyers’ statement alludes to Freedman’s recent interviews by saying “media statements are not a defense to Ms. Lively’s legal claims” and “we will continue to prosecute her claims in federal court, where the rule of law determines who prevails, not hyperbole and threats.”
“This is not a ‘feud’ arising from ‘creative differences’ or a ‘he said/she said’ situation,” the statement, originally issued Jan. 6, reads. “As alleged in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and as we will prove in litigation, Wayfarer [Studios] and its associates engaged in unlawful, retaliatory astroturfing against Ms. Lively for simply trying to protect herself and others on a film set. And their response to the lawsuit has been to launch more attacks against Ms. Lively since her filing.”
“Sexual harassment and retaliation are illegal in every workplace and in every industry,” the statement continues. “A classic tactic to distract from allegations of this type of misconduct is to ‘blame the victim’ by suggesting that they invited the conduct, brought it on themselves, misunderstood the intentions, or even lied. Another classic tactic is to reverse the victim and offender, and suggest that the offender is actually the victim. These concepts normalize and trivialize allegations of serious misconduct. These concepts normalize and trivialize allegations of serious misconduct.”
