Justin Baldoni to Sue Blake Energetic ‘Quickly’ in Response to Sexual Harassment Allegations

Virtually per week after Blake Energetic accused her It Ends with Us co-star Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment and launching a retaliatory smear marketing campaign in opposition to her, Baldoni’s authorized group has confirmed plans to file a countersuit. The actor/director intends to take authorized motion in opposition to Energetic within the coming days.

Legal professional Bryan Freedman spoke to NBC Information in an interview that aired Thursday, January 2, revealing Baldoni’s intentions. “Completely … sure,” Freedman responded when requested if his shopper would sue Energetic. He added, “We plan to launch each single textual content message between the 2 of them. We wish the reality to be on the market. We wish the paperwork to be on the market. We wish folks to make their dedication primarily based on receipts.”

Sources inform PEOPLE that the authorized motion will embrace Baldoni, his manufacturing firm Wayfarer Studios (behind It Ends with Us), his publicist Jennifer Abel, and disaster PR specialist Melissa Nathan. The swimsuit may also identify Energetic, her publicist Leslie Sloane, and Baldoni’s former publicist Stephanie Jones. Notably, Jones filed a lawsuit in opposition to Baldoni, Wayfarer, Abel, and Nathan on December 24. Freedman didn’t present a selected date for the countersuit however confirmed it could be filed “quickly.”

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This countersuit is in response to Energetic’s December 20 criticism, the place she accused Baldoni of inflicting her “grief, worry, trauma, and excessive anxiousness” throughout the manufacturing of It Ends with Us and its promotion. Her allegations embrace Baldoni displaying her express pictures and movies, probing her private intercourse life, and trying to introduce intimate scenes into the movie with out her consent. Energetic additionally claimed that Baldoni, alongside Abel and Nathan, manipulated social media and the press to damage her status.

On December 31, Baldoni took additional authorized motion, submitting a libel lawsuit in opposition to The New York Instances in response to its December 21 article titled “‘We Can Bury Anybody’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.” The lawsuit accuses the newspaper of utilizing “cherry-picked” and altered communications taken out of context to mislead readers concerning Energetic’s allegations and the It Ends with Us set drama. Baldoni’s lawsuit additionally names Wayfarer Studios, producers Jamey Heath and Steve Sarowitz, publicists Abel and Nathan, and others as plaintiffs.

The New York Instances has defended its reporting, stating that the article was “meticulously and responsibly reported.” In a press release, Energetic shared her stance with the paper: “I hope that my authorized motion helps pull again the curtain on these sinister retaliatory techniques to hurt individuals who communicate up about misconduct and helps defend others who could also be focused.”

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In response to Energetic’s California criticism, Baldoni’s lawyer Freedman issued a press release to PEOPLE, claiming that Energetic’s allegations had been designed to “repair her damaging status” and calling the claims “false, outrageous and deliberately salacious with an intent to publicly damage.”

Energetic has since filed a federal criticism in New York in opposition to Wayfarer Studios and others concerned within the It Ends with Us manufacturing. “Nothing on this lawsuit modifications something concerning the claims superior in Ms. Energetic’s California Civil Rights Division Grievance,” her attorneys stated in a press release on December 31. “Whereas we won’t litigate this matter within the press, we do encourage folks to learn Ms. Energetic’s criticism in its entirety. We stay up for addressing every one in all Wayfarer’s allegations in court docket.”

Since Energetic’s criticism, she has obtained help from her well-known buddies, together with A Easy Favor director Paul Feig and her Sisterhood of the Touring Pants co-stars America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel, and Amber Tamblyn.

Baldoni, however, has been dropped by his company, WME, which continues to signify Energetic. His Man Sufficient podcast co-host additionally introduced her departure from the present on December 23.

Freedman additionally spoke to PEOPLE on December 29, saying that Baldoni’s countersuit could be “a deliberate pursuit of fact.” He added, “This lawsuit will uncover and expose the false and damaging narrative that was deliberately engineered by a trusted media publication who relied upon nefarious sources and uncared for an intensive fact-checking course of to substantiate the validity of those texts.”