Justin Baldoni‘s wife Emily broke her silence to wish him a happy 41st birthday – amid his legal fight against Blake Lively.
Emily shared a sweet snap of her and Justin with their two children: Maiya, nine, and Maxwell, seven.
‘Happy birthday my love. Celebrating the man, husband, and father that you are. I’d choose you again and again.’
The family of four have been on holiday in Hawaii, and it appears the photo is from their current vacation.
In the snap, Emily and Justin share a kiss as he holds Maxwell on his shoulders and Maiya cuddles them.
The sweet note comes after his lawyers hit back at Blake and her husband Ryan Reynolds’ gag order and claims she started a ‘media feeding frenzy’ – amid their lawsuits.
Justin Baldoni’s wife Emily broke her silence to wish him a happy 41st birthday – amid his legal fight against Blake Lively
The legal fight erupted just before Christmas when the glamorous blonde, 37, sued It Ends With Us co-star Baldoni, 41 for sexual harassment.
At the same time, the New York Times released a story based on Lively’s legal filing that accused him of orchestrating a negative publicity campaign against her and put the small claim front and center.
In turn, Baldoni sued the Times for defamation and launched a $400m lawsuit against Lively and her husband Reynolds that accused her of using her celebrity power to hijack his film and attempt to torpedo his career.
After Lively and Reynolds asked for a protective order Tuesday against Baldoni’s legal team, the same day a bombshell video was released by lead attorney Bryan Freedman, Baldoni’s attorney Kevin Fritz has branded the proposed order an ‘intimidation tactic.’
In a letter dated January 23 and obtained by People, Fritz asks for the judge to deny the order, writing Lively’s ‘desire to force the Wayfarer Parties to defend themselves privately against allegations made publicly is not a proper basis for a gag order. It is tactical gamesmanship, and it is outrageous.’
Fritz says Baldoni and his colleagues at Wayfarer Studios have been ‘exiled from polite society and suffered damages totaling hundreds of millions of dollars’ as a result of Lively’s lawsuit.
They say Baldoni faced ‘utterly calamitous fallout, and they ‘instantly became objects of public scorn and contempt.’
Fritz claims Lively ignited a ‘media feeding frenzy’ by allegedly giving the New York Times a copy of her complaint for their article.
Emily shared a sweet snap of her and Justin with their two children: Maiya, nine, and Maxwell, seven; seen together December 9, 2019 in LA
This comes after DailyMail.com revealed Lively and Reynolds will be subpoenaed for all texts, emails, and messages sent about Baldoni and the film It Ends With Us ‘imminently’.
The high-flying Hollywood couple were both named as defendants in a blockbuster lawsuit filed by the actor earlier this month, which could see them facing a $400million payout if he prevails.
Both Lively and Reynolds along with their PR supremo Leslie Sloane, are also being hit with deposition requests which will see the pair ordered to provide hours of testimony and be quizzed by Baldoni’s lawyers.
A source familiar with the proceedings told DailyMail.com: ‘Unequivocally yes, all parties should be aware that they will be subpoenaed and deposed imminently’.
The impending subpoenas are a further sign that the gloves are coming off in the epic legal battle between glamorous blonde Lively and saturnine director Baldoni.
They claimed Freedman is ‘violating court rules that stop a lawyer from making statements to the press that are irrelevant to a case and might prejudice the jury.’
They specifically mention the release of the unedited footage.
Sources close to Baldoni told DailyMail.com they believe it’s ‘grossly unfair to impose a gag order after Justin has been defamed by the New York Times in an article that they say has cost him three jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars.
‘All Justin wants to do is release videos and text messages to prove the allegations are false.
‘It is unbelievable that Blake Lively would go on a takedown campaign against Justin and then immediately turn around and say she wants a gag order so that Justin can’t defend himself.’
This comes after Lively broke her silence on the unedited footage.
‘Justin Baldoni and his lawyer may hope that this latest stunt will get ahead of the damaging evidence against him, but the video itself is damning,’ her legal team shared in a statement with DailyMail.com.
The sweet note comes after his lawyers hit back at Blake and her husband Ryan Reynolds’ gag order and claims she started a ‘media feeding frenzy’ – amid their lawsuits
Her team claims the video ‘shows Mr. Baldoni repeatedly leaning in toward Ms. Lively, attempting to kiss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, flicking her lip with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and talking with her out of character.’
‘Every frame of the released footage corroborates, to the letter, what Ms. Lively described in Paragraph 48 of her Complaint.’
Lively’s lawyer also added that none of the intimacy shown in the video from the film — which Baldoni directed and starred in alongside Lively — was choreographed.
‘Every moment of this was improvised by Mr. Baldoni with no discussion or consent in advance, and no intimacy coordinator present.’
‘Mr. Baldoni was not only Ms. Lively’s co-star, but the director, the head of studio and Ms. Lively’s boss.’
Lively’s legal team claims that her ‘leaning away’ from Baldoni during the scene was not acting, and that the clips shows her ‘repeatedly asking for the characters to just talk.’
‘Any woman who has been inappropriately touched in the workplace will recognize Ms. Lively’s discomfort.’
‘They will recognize her attempts at levity to try to deflect the unwanted touching. No woman should have to take defensive measures to avoid being touched by their employer without their consent.’
The legal fight erupted just before Christmas when Lively, 37, sued It Ends With Us co-star Baldoni, 41 for sexual harassment
Her team claims that releasing the video to the media ‘is another example of an unethical attempt to manipulate the public’ and ‘a continuation of their harassment and retaliatory campaign.’
‘We are continuing our efforts to require Mr. Baldoni and his associates to answer in court, under oath, rather than through manufactured media stunts,’ her lawyer stated.
It was one of the biggest bombshells in a lawsuit packed full of them – that Baldoni sexually harassed Lively while filming a dance scene by dragging his lips down her neck and telling her ‘it smells so good’.
In her civil rights complaint filed last month, the actress insisted nobody overheard the comment because the romantic montage was silent and the microphones were switched off.
But DailyMail.com has exclusively obtained an explosive video where Baldoni’s sound equipment was switched on, showing all three takes.
The tapes show how friendly the two stars were before it all went so wrong. They laugh and joke around – even joshing about the size of Baldoni’s nose and talk about how they spend their time with their spouses.
They include a complete record of the conversation in question at around the seven-minute mark that makes clear the comment about her smelling so good was in response to Lively talking about her spray tan as they film a romantic dance.
Baldoni tells Lively he’s probably getting his beard on her and she responds by saying she’s probably getting spray tan on him. Then he quips back ‘it smells good’ before both laugh and she tells him the scent actually comes from her body makeup.
After Lively and Reynolds asked for a protective order Tuesday against Baldoni’s legal team, Baldoni’s attorney branded the proposed order an ‘intimidation tactic’; Lively seen in 2024
And while the montage does indeed show Baldoni nuzzling Lively’s neck as part of the scene in which they play lovers, the conversation between them is all business with the pair spending most of it talking about lighting and their other halves.
The clip, which is raw footage shot while filming It Ends With Us, comes complete with audio and was passed to DailyMail.com by the actor’s production company Wayfarer and his lawyer Bryan Freedman who has previously said Baldoni has ‘nothing to hide’.
DailyMail.com’s exclusive footage is the latest revelation in a lengthy saga that began with rumors of rancor behind the scenes of It Ends With Us when it was released last August.
