Dec.
31,
2024:
Baldoni,
Wayfarer
&
Others
Sue

The
New
York
Times

Baldoni,
Wayfarer,
Heath,
Sarowitz,
Nathan,
TAG,
Abel,
RWA
Communications,
Wallace
and
Street
Relations

filed
a
lawsuit
against

The
New
York
Times Dec.
31.

In
the
lawsuit
obtained
by
E!
News,

The
New
York
Times
is
accused
of
libel,
false
light
invasion
of
privacy,
promissory
fraud
and
breach
of
implied-in-fact
contract
for
its
article
about
a
retaliatory
smear
campaign
the
plaintiffs
allegedly
conducted
against
Lively
after
she
voiced
concerns
about
purported
misconduct
on set.

Saying
the
report
was “false”
and
based
on
Lively’s
CRD
complaint,
the
plaintiffs
denied
the
accusations
and
alleged

messages
cited
in
the
article
and
complaint
were
taken
out
of
context.

“Despite
its
claim
to
have ‘reviewed
these
along
with
other
documents[,]’
the

Times
relied
almost
entirely
on
Lively’s
unverified
and
self-serving
narrative,”
the
lawsuit
says, “lifting
it
nearly
verbatim
while
disregarding
an
abundance
of
evidence
that
contradicted
her
claims
and
exposed
her
true
motives.”

They
also
allege “it
was
Lively,
not
Plaintiffs,
who
engaged
in
a
calculated
smear
campaign.”
She
has
denied
this.

The
New
York
Times
said
it
plans
to “vigorously
defend
against
the
lawsuit.”

“The
role
of
an
independent
news
organization
is
to
follow
the
facts
where
they
lead,”
it
stated
to
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.”