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The legal battle between It Ends With Us director-actor Justin Baldoni and actress Blake Lively continues to escalate. Now, Lively’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, is squarely in the middle of it. Baldoni, 41, is refusing to let Leslie Sloane, who represents Hollywood heavyweights like Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, off the hook. Despite Sloane’s attempt last month to get herself removed from the lawsuit, PEOPLE reports, Baldoni’s team just filed paperwork on March 6 opposing her motion to dismiss.
According to Baldoni’s legal team, Sloane and her company, Vision PR, were more than just bystanders. The new filing alleges: “The Sloane Parties played an active and integral role in a conspiracy to inflict harm on the Wayfarer Parties.” Baldoni’s lawyers claim Sloane worked alongside Lively, Reynolds, and even The New York Times to make Baldoni and his team the scapegoats for Lively’s public fallout. “In a desperate effort to salvage Lively’s reputation and to escape her wrath,” they wrote, “the Sloane Parties conspired… to make scapegoats of the Wayfarer Parties.”
Baldoni’s team, in their new filing in the Southern District of New York argues that Sloane allegedly spent months leaking false, damaging stories to the media: “On information and belief, the Sloane Parties worked for months to drop breadcrumbs and hints of sinister allegations to the public while secretly feeding defamatory falsehoods to any reporter who would listen.” They say this strategy caused “damage beyond measure” to Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios.
In response to the filing Solane’s attorney, Sigrid McCawley, fired back in a statement, saying: “Leslie Sloane and her company Vision PR were dragged into this lawsuit in an attempt to distract from serious allegations of sexual harassment and systematic retaliation.”
“The irony is not lost on us that Baldoni and his team have wrongfully accused Leslie Sloane of engaging in the very same misconduct for which they stand accused.”
Blake Lively earlier addressed the audience’s reaction to her new film Another Simple Favor, which premiered at the SXSW festival in Austin. The film premiered amid her ongoing legal case with her It Ends With Us co-star and director, Justin Baldoni. Back in December, the Gossip Girl star sued Baldoni for “misconduct,” accusing him of “launching a smear campaign” against her and creating a “hostile” working environment on set. In return, Baldoni countersued her and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for defamation.
On Tuesday, the actor went all out on Instagram, uploading pictures from the premiere event with her co-stars Anna Kendrick and Michele Morrone. “Watching @asimplefavor opening night @sxsw felt like a rock concert,” she captioned the carousel of photographs on her page. “Thank you to the very best audience. Texas turns it out,” Lively continued.
Putting all feud rumors to rest, especially ones resurfacing around her new movie and alleged bad blood with Anna Kendrick—Lively said the movie itself was a gift for her and that she loved every element of it. “Making this movie was already the gift, every element of it,” Lively, 37, added. “To share it with you all and feel the love returned to us was the best feeling. Thank you for having us, Austin.”
The actor was dressed in a pink latex gown from Renée Masoomian, paired with Christian Louboutin sandals. Decked in Lorraine Schwartz jewelry, her long blonde locks were styled half-up.
The movie, which is a sequel to the 2018 hit A Simple Favor, sees Blake Lively and her co-star Anna Kendrick back in their roles as Emily Nelson and Stephanie Smothers. Another Simple Favor also marks Lively’s first movie premiere since her ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni kicked off. The SXSW premiere was her first big red carpet moment amid all the legal drama.
The movie also stars Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Elizabeth Perkins, Michele Morrone, Elena Sofia Ricci, Henry Golding, and Allison Janney in key roles. Another Simple Favor, directed by Paul Feig and produced by Laura Fischer, will be available for worldwide distribution on Amazon Prime.
That said, Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, did step out for Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary special back in February. Reynolds made a reference to it during SNL50.
Click for more updates and latest Hollywood News along with Bollywood and Entertainment updates. Also get latest news and top headlines from India and around the World at The Indian Express.
