31 December 2024: Baldoni, Wayfarer & Others Sue New York Times
Baldoni, Wayfarer, Heath, Sarowitz, Nathan, TAG, Abel, RWA Communications, Wallace and Street Relations filed a $250 million lawsuit against New York Times December 31.
In the color obtained by E!, New York Times was charged with defamation, false light invasion of privacy, promissory note fraud and breach of implied contract for its article about a retaliation campaign the plaintiffs allegedly conducted against Lively after she raised concerns about alleged on-set misconduct.
Saying the report was “false” and based on Lively’s CRD complaint, the plaintiffs denied the allegations and alleged messages cited in the article and complaints were taken out of context.
“Despite his claim to have ‘reviewed these together with other documents(,)’ Times relied almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving story,” the lawsuit said, “removing it almost verbatim while ignoring an abundance of evidence contradicting her claims and revealing her true motives.”
They alleged that “it was Lively, not the plaintiffs, who engaged in a calculated smear campaign.” She denied this.
New York Times said it planned to “vigorously defend itself against the lawsuit.”
“The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead,” it told E!. “Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article.”
