Experts reflect on Justin Baldoni’s libel lawsuit

Justin Baldoni has locked horns with a noted newspaper after it published what the actor called an article favouring Blake Lively after her allegations against him.

In his libel lawsuit against The New York Times, media lawyers who have previously dealt with cases like these believed that winning against the prestigious newspaper may be tough, but it could sway public opinion in his favour.

The bombshell story titled We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine was published on Dec 21 and expanded on Blake Lively’s sexual harassment claims against the It Ends With Us’s lead star.

Along with Justin, a group of people sued the Times for relying “almost entirely” on what it described as “Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative” and said the newspaper disregarded “an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives.”

Through his libel suit, media lawyers told Business Insider that Justin Baldoni’s legal team aimed to secure other advantages.

As his lawyer, Bryan Freedman told NBC News that they had planned to sue Blake, Desiree Moore, a partner at Venable LLP, believed the discovery in the Times case could help his expected case against the Green Lanter actress.

“There is value for him potentially in simply getting his story out and presenting a counter-narrative,” the expert noted. 

“Any time we’re working with high-profile clients, we look at the long-term narrative. To the extent you can control some of it, you want people to look back and say, there was more than one narrative,” she concluded.