Movies

Justin Baldoni’s Legal Battle: From Copyright Infringement to Sexual Harassment Allegations

BBG News

Justin Baldoni and his attorney Bryan Freedman were previously on opposite ends of the courtroom. 

Before enlisting the help of an entertainment attorney based in Los Angeles to navigate my ongoing legal dispute with Blake Lively, I found myself embroiled in a copyright infringement and contract breach case with a different legal professional, Freedman. This conflict stemmed from my directorial debut, Five Feet Apart, a project featuring Cole Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson, where our creative and business interests clashed.

As reported by Us Weekly, based on court records, Freedman once served as the legal representative for an individual diagnosed with cystic fibrosis who filed a lawsuit against Baldoni in September 2021.

Freedman stated that Travis Flores, his client, asserted that Baldoni and the other accused parties had unlawfully used Flores’ screenplay called “Three Feet Distance.” In simpler terms, Flores believes they unfairly took credit for or misappropriated his original work.

In the legal documents, it’s stated that Flores chose not to share his screenplay with Baldoni for two reasons: one, Flores generally keeps his work private, and two, since Baldoni was working on a feature film project, Flores considered it competitive. However, unbeknownst to Flores, Baldoni had an alternative source of information about Three Feet Distance. It was eventually revealed that Baldoni’s movie (later titled Five Feet Apart) would borrow many aspects from Three Feet Distance.

Essentially, according to Bloomberg Law, the federal court in Los Angeles dismissed the copyright infringement lawsuit concerning the movie in March 2022.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Baldoni’s representative for comment. 

In his movie, “Five Feet Apart,” Baldoni honored Claire Wineland, a YouTube personality who served as a paid consultant and documented her experiences living with cystic fibrosis through a collection of candid videos on YouTube.

The movie was a box office hit, earning an impressive $92 million on a $7 million budget. 

At the time it was released, Baldoni informed The Hollywood Reporter that Wineland had tragically passed away right before she could see his director’s cut.

‘It’s something I’m still dealing with,’ he admitted. 

Previously, during Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Awareness Month, he took a moment to reminisce about sharing the movie “Five Feet Apart” with the world through a touching post on Instagram.

He proudly shared a photo compilation, remarking, “This project was a heartfelt endeavor I was privileged to create alongside my cherished friend Claire.” The series included snapshots of their time together in Wineland as well as scenes from the movie.

He went on to say: ‘Claire significantly altered the trajectory of my existence. Her vibrant spirit was contagious, and she had a strong desire to live in a manner that brought her self-respect. She wasn’t exceptional merely because of her illness; rather, it was because of it that she stood out. She showed me how to transform life into a stunning masterpiece, and I sorely miss her.’

Unfortunately, Claire wasn’t able to watch the movie in person because right as I was about to share it with her, she received a call for a double lung transplant. Due to complications following the surgery, she didn’t regain consciousness. Before she passed away, I held her hand and vowed to carry on assisting her work in any capacity I could, he said in conclusion.

He subsequently urged followers to back Claire’s Place Foundation, a remarkable non-profit organization offering both financial aid and community support to kids and their families battling cystic fibrosis, which is managed by an exceptional individual – Claire’s mother.

Sharing the premiere trailer for Five Feet Apart in 2018, Baldoni conveyed his immense pride at launching his directing career and collaborating with the Cystic Fibrosis community.

At the age of eight, my father handed me a broken camera of his, which I’d often pretend to use for making movies. As I grew older, I found myself capturing everything on video… there was an irresistible allure in documenting life that deeply attracted me, as he put it.

Baldoni explained: ‘During high school, I created music videos for girls I admired instead of writing book reports. Later, as a struggling actor, I supplemented my income by directing music videos and eventually commercials. At the age of 25, I chose to abandon acting altogether to produce documentaries that I believed could contribute to healing our world.’

– He subsequently pointed out that it was uncertain whether he would ever direct a major studio movie, as sometimes our aspirations seem incredibly distant.

He’s been eagerly anticipating this for a long time, and he couldn’t hide his excitement about it. (I’m confident that his mother would confirm that she had a feeling this would come true.)

This month, Baldoni filed a lawsuit worth $400 million against actress Rachel Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, their representative Leslie Soane, claiming defamation, civil extortion, false light intrusion into privacy, and other charges.

His current case is a continuation of a previous lawsuit he initiated, which aimed for $250 million, targeting the New York Times due to their coverage of allegations made by Lively concerning sexual harassment and a coordinated defamation campaign against her.

The drama between the former co-stars has continued to unfold since then.

The tale kicked off in August, as whispers about discord backstage during the release of It Ends With Us started surfacing.

Last month, Lively initially lodged a complaint against Baldoni, claiming he instigated sexual harassment and organized a defamatory campaign against her. Subsequently, she decided to sue him, as well as others, asserting they carried out harassment and a planned attack on her reputation in retribution for her disclosing the mistreatment she experienced on set.

Initially, Lively’s criticism sparked a strong reaction against Justin, eventually leading him to sue The New York Times for their coverage of the issue. Before that legal action, he also filed lawsuits against Blake, his wife, and their publicist, Sloane.

Recently, Baldoni’s legal representative disclosed a stunning video featuring both parties on the set of “Ends With Us,” which contradicts Lively’s accusation that he sexually harassed her during the shooting of that specific scene.

DailyMail.com shared an exclusive video that captured three different takes of a dance sequence involving Lively (age 37) and Baldoni. This footage suggested they were in good spirits prior to the allegations made by Lively regarding his alleged sexual harassment.

Upon the release of the clip, Lively vigorously responded by stating that it demonstrated her discomfort during the scene.

The actress maintains that the series of videos, solely published by DailyMail.com and containing all three attempts at a dance sequence with Baldoni, clearly demonstrates her discomfort throughout the scene.

Justin Baldoni and his attorney might be attempting to preempt potential harmful evidence through their recent actions, however, the video itself appears to be incriminating, according to his legal team’s statement to DailyMail.com.

According to their assertion, the video apparently depicts Mr. Baldoni repeatedly making advances towards Ms. Lively, such as attempting to kiss her on the lips, kissing her forehead, brushing his face and mouth against her neck, lightly touching her lip with his thumb, caressing her, complimenting her scent, and engaging in conversation that seemed unusual for him.

Each frame of the broadcasted video material fully supports, in every detail, the account that Miss Lively provided in paragraph 48 of her Grievance.

Additionally, it was clarified by Lively’s legal representative that the affectionate scenes depicted in the movie, where Baldoni both directed and acted with Lively, were not rehearsed or pre-planned.

At every instance throughout it, Mr. Baldoni made things up as he went along without any prior discussions or agreements, and there was no intimacy consultant on set.

In addition to sharing the screen with Ms. Lively, Mr. Baldoni also held multiple roles in the production – he directed the project, ran the studio, and was Ms. Lively’s supervisor on set.

Lively’s lawyers argue that her actions of leaning away from Baldoni during the scene were genuine responses, not part of the script, and that the footage clearly indicates her requesting for their characters to engage in a conversation instead.

A woman who has experienced inappropriate touching at work is likely to empathize with Ms. Lively’s unease.

‘People will understand that she’s trying to lighten the mood to avoid inappropriate touching. It’s unfair for any woman to feel compelled to use precautions to prevent an employer from touching them without permission.’

As a die-hard supporter, I can’t help but feel outraged when my team alleges that their actions in disseminating the video to the press constitute yet another underhanded effort to sway public opinion. It’s more than just manipulation; it seems like an extension of their relentless harassment and retaliatory campaign against us.

As a committed supporter, I’m persistently pushing for the legal process, ensuring that Mr. Baldoni and his colleagues are compelled to testify truthfully in court, under oath, instead of relying on contrived media spectacles.

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2025-01-23 08:19

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