Justin Baldoni’s Lawyer Clarifies Why He Referred to as Blake Vigorous a ‘Sufferer’

Justin Baldoni’s lawyer is clarifying his “sufferer” remark amid the authorized battle together with his shopper’s It Ends With Us costar Blake Vigorous. 

Bryan Freedman, who represents Baldoni, 41, within the case heading to trial in March 2026, appeared on The City podcast with host Matthew Belloni on Thursday, March 13. 

The 2 mentioned points within the ongoing authorized battle, which started when Vigorous, 37, filed sued Baldoni, plus his PR workforce and members of his Wayfarer Studios firm, alleging sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear marketing campaign, which he denies. The director filed a countersuit towards Vigorous, her husband Ryan Reynolds and their PR workforce, alleging defamation and extortion.

Throughout a March 6 pre-trial convention with federal Choose Lewis J. Liman, Vigorous and Reynolds’ lawyer Meryl Conant Governski stated, in response to Deadline, that either side’ impulse to leak info to the media outweighs complying with a court docket’s gag order, necessitating an “Legal professional’s Eyes Solely” order. Freedman responded, as host Belloni reminded him of their podcast interview, that nobody “has any intent of harming Ms. Vigorous in any means.”

“My purchasers have a proper to defend themselves,” added Freedman in court docket. “That’s on no account abusing the sufferer.”

“It’s fascinating you stated ‘not abusing the sufferer,’ ” Belloni instructed the lawyer. “Does that imply you agree that Blake is a sufferer right here?”

“I truly suppose that lots of people are victims right here,” responded Freedman. “I believe Justin is a sufferer right here, I believe Melissa Nathan is a sufferer. I believe Jed Wallace is a sufferer. I believe Jen Abel is a sufferer, I believe Steve Sarowitz is. Jamey Heath is.”

Urgent him, Belloni stated, “However you probably did say Blake is a sufferer in a court docket listening to.”

“What I stated is, ‘This isn’t attacking the sufferer,’ ” clarified Freedman. When Belloni stated he had “put scare quotes” across the phrase “sufferer,” Freedman stated, “Yeah. Effectively, ‘sufferer’ might be within the eye of the beholder.”

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Vigorous’s authorized workforce has characterised their shopper as a sufferer in a number of statements.

In January, they criticized Baldoni’s lawsuit, saying, “That is an age-old story: A girl speaks up with concrete proof of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser makes an attempt to show the tables on the sufferer. That is what specialists name DARVO. Deny. Assault. Reverse Sufferer Offender.”

As we speak, Liman partially granted Vigorous her request for stricter safeguards to forestall non-public communications throughout the Hollywood neighborhood from leaking to the media. Limiting the scope of the restrictions she sought, the court docket dominated that an “Attorneys’ Eyes Solely” designation can solely be utilized if their disclosure is “extremely prone to trigger a major enterprise, business, monetary or privateness harm.”