Justin Baldoni’s legal team is refusing to remove Leslie Sloane, a publicist who works with Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, from his lawsuit. On March 6, the 41-year-old actor and director, known for It Ends With Us, filed a response to Sloane’s request from February 20 to be taken off the lawsuit.
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Baldoni’s lawyer responds to Sloane’s request for removal from lawsuit
Filed in the Southern District of New York, the response from Bladoni’s attorney claimed, “The Sloane Parties played an active and integral role in a conspiracy to inflict harm on the Wayfarer Parties.” In the filing, the lawyer also alleged, “In a desperate effort to salvage Lively’s reputation and to escape her wrath, the Sloane Parties conspired with Lively and consolidated defendants Ryan Reynolds and The New York Times Company to make scapegoats of the Wayfarer Parties for Lively’s woes,” as reported by People.
The Jane The Virgin actor’s legal team went on to claim, “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 also added, “As a direct result of the actions of the Sloane Parties and their co-conspirators, the Wayfarer Parties have been damaged beyond measure. These are the facts underpinning the Wayfarer Parties’ allegations against the Sloane Parties, and this is what the evidence will prove at trial.”
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Sloane’s lawyer issued a response
In a statement, reported by People magazine, Sloane’s lawyer Sigrid McCawley, managing partner at Boies Schiller Flexner said, “As our motion to dismiss makes clear, 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.”
McCawley continued, “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. The claims against Leslie Sloane were brought as a baseless finger-pointing exercise.” He added, “We look forward to setting the record straight on our grounds for dismissal and removing Leslie Sloane from this litigation, putting the rightful focus on the serious issues and allegations before the court.”
Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, his publicists, producer Jamey Heath, Wayfarer Studios, and co-founder Steve Sarowitz, accusing them of sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign to damage her reputation, which Baldoni denies. Sloane and Vision PR were later included in the legal battle, with the publicist’s February filing arguing that they were brought in as part of a “smoke-and-mirrors exercise” to distract from the 37-year-old’s accusations. Sloane denied any involvement in planting “malicious stories” or launching a smear campaign.
In their motion to dismiss, Sloane’s attorneys also defended Lively, rejecting Baldoni’s claim that the case was a creative dispute over It Ends With Us. The filing read, “Baldoni’s allegations about the creative issues are irrelevant and tellingly sexist. Because Ms Lively — an executive producer on the film — dared to offer input on the script, wardrobe and editing, Baldoni blasts her as ‘tyrannical’ and ‘aggressive,’ among other coded terms.” The legal case between Lively and Baldoni is scheduled for a trial in March 2026.
