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Justin Baldoni's attorney is sharing his take on Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds returning to the spotlight together amid the ongoing It Ends With Us legal battle.
At the star-studded live taping of SNL50: The Anniversary Special held Sunday, Feb. 16 in New York City, Reynolds, 48, and Lively, 37, posed on the red carpet together and took in the show from the audience.
In one moment during the show, Reynolds seemingly referenced their headline-making lawsuits with Baldoni when he was asked from the stage, "How's it going?" and the actor, with Lively seated beside him, responded, "Great, why? What have you heard?" before moving on with the bit.
While on an episode of Hot Mics with Billy Bush recorded Feb. 17, Baldoni's attorney Bryan Freedman called the couple's public appearance the "latest move" from her team.
"I'm unaware of anybody, frankly, whose wife has been sexually harassed and has made jokes about that type of situation," said Freedman. "I can't think of anyone who's done anything like that. It surprised me."
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Freedman added that Baldoni, 41, is "hopeful" about the situation and said he wouldn't classify the star's recent trip to Hawaii with his wife and kids as "vacation."
"I wouldn't call it vacation. I don't think anybody who has been accused of heinous, arguably what are crimes is on 'vacation,' " said Freedman. "I think he is trying to gather with his family and get some semblance of peace."
In December, Lively sued her It Ends With Us director and costar Baldoni, plus his PR team and members of his Wayfarer Studios company, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation, which he denies. Baldoni responded with a lawsuit of his own in January, suing Lively, Reynolds, their publicist and The New York Times, alleging defamation and extortion.
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Her lawyers have called his lawsuit "meritless" and said, in part, "This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim."
They added at the time, "In short, while the victim focuses on the abuse, the abuser focuses on the victim. The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate, it does not refute the evidence in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and it will fail."