New York Times Asks Court to Dismiss Justin Baldoni’s Defamation Lawsuit

variety.com:

Justin Baldoni‘s defamation suit against the paper for its role in publishing a bombshell report that ignited his legal battle with Blake Lively.

Baldoni has accused the Times of working in coordination with Lively and her PR team on the Dec. 21 article entitled “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine” that revealed the actress had filed a civil rights complaint accusing her “It Ends With Us” director and co-star of misconduct.

The piece also contained allegations that Baldoni and his representatives engaged in an elaborate effort to tarnish Lively’s reputation in retaliation after she raised her concerns about his on-set behavior.

In its filing, the Times accuses Baldoni, his company Wayfarer and his PR team of trying “to drag The Times into their larger feud with Lively” and claims that the paper merely “engage[d] in newsgathering and publishing an Article and Video about the Wayfarer/Lively dispute.” In the conclusion to the filing, the paper argues that, Baldoni and fellow plantiffs’ suit “tells a one-sided tale that has garnered plenty of headlines, but ‘The Times’ does not belong in this dispute.” In a statement, Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokesperson for the Times, said, “As our motion shows, this case should never have been brought against The New York Times.