Justin Baldoni’s attorney in his ongoing legal conflict with Blake Lively is explaining why he chose to represent the actor-director — even though he previously worked for a client who sued Baldoni.
In a Los Angeles Times profile on Baldoni, 41, and the ever-evolving legal situation between him and his It Ends with Us costar Lively, 37, the outlet noted that Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedmanpreviously represented writer Travis Flores, who filed a lawsuit against Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Entertainment, alleging that they used elements of a 2010 screenplay he wrote when Baldoni made his 2019 movie Five Feet Apart.
Flores ultimately voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit against Wayfarer and Baldoni with prejudice in March 2022 and no determination of liability was made in his copyright claim. The writer died in 2024 from complications of cystic fibrosis at age 33.
“Over the years, I have learned what great people Justin and Wayfarer are,” Freedman said in statement about why he chose to represent Baldoni. “The [Flores] case was resolved without any determination of liability on Justin’s or Wayfarer or any other defendant’s part. Since then, it has been further confirmed to me that Justin and Wayfarer are exceedingly honorable and highly ethical.”
For Baldoni’s part, a spokesperson for the actor-filmmaker and Wayfarer Studios told the the Los Angeles Times that he was “absolutely not” familiar with Flores’ screenplay before he made Five Feet Apart.
Justin Baldoni on Dec. 13, 2023.
Dia Dipasupil/Getty
Freedman has been Baldoni’s lawyer since Lively first filed a sexual harassment complaint against Baldoni in December 2024. Baldoni later sued The New York Times over its reporting on the alleged smear campaign against Lively and her lawsuit and counter-sued Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds.
On Feb. 18, Lively filed an updated version of her original December 2024 lawsuit, claiming that two unidentified female It Ends with Us costars “will testify” about Baldoni’s allegedly inappropriate behavior on the movie’s set. Freedman called the amended complaint “underwhelming” and “filled with unsubstantial hearsay of unnamed persons who are clearly no longer willing to come forward or publicly support her claims” in a statement.
Attorneys for both Lively and Baldoni opted out of “inappropriate” and “premature” pre-trial mediation in February; both cases in Lively v. Wayfarer Studios et al. are currently scheduled to go to trial in March 2026.
