Will Smith’s confession about the perils of star life is the very reason why Justin Baldoni’s past lawsuits shouldn’t play a factor in his legal battle against Blake Lively. The ongoing legal battle between the two It Ends With Us co-stars is getting heated with each day.
As a result, both of them and the people around them have been constantly under public scrutiny for the past couple of months. Inevitably, old skeletons, and lawsuits in Baldoni’s case, have been dug up and brought to the spotlight.
However, as per Will Smith, facing various lawsuits comes with being in the public eye all the time. Something, he seems to be well acquainted with if an old interview is anything to go by.
Will Smith believes facing lawsuits comes with being in the spotlight all the time
Will Smith is inarguably one of the most influential actors of recent time. His life in the spotlight, though, began when he debuted as a rapper back in the 1980s. After almost four decades of public scrutiny, he has become well acquainted with the pleasures and privileges as well as the perils of the high life.
Although he has garnered overwhelming acclaim in his career with four Grammys, one BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Academy Award each, he has also been wracked with multiple scandals throughout his career.
However, that is not even the worst of it. The King Richard star once revealed in a video on his official YouTube channel that as much as he enjoys “being famous”, “there’s definitely the other side”.
I get sued probably 15 times a year. I have lawyers on a monthly retainer, just because you get sued so much when you’re famous. There are absolutely painful aspects of this life.
However, Will Smith tries not to let it get to him so much, as he believes, “You have to learn how to fight and defend yourself from predators, without letting your heart go dark”.
Although it seems to be an exceedingly difficult balance as more of these cases pile up, he manages the feat with impossible ease all the same.
Will Smith’s confession shows why Justin Baldoni’s previous lawsuits shouldn’t be a factor in his current legal battle against Blake Lively
There were suspicions of a growing feud between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni for months following It Ends With Us’ promotion and release. However, things came to a head in December when Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni citing s*xual harassment, retaliatory behavior, and fueling online hate campaigns against her.
Things have only gotten worse from there with the director filing a $400 million countersuit against the actress, and her husband Ryan Reynolds. However, with the ongoing debacle in full swing, many details of both parties’ pasts have come to light.
While Lively and Reynolds continue to face public scrutiny for their alleged past behaviors, and comments, Baldoni has been facing backlash for the past two lawsuits filed against him.
For context, Justin Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios have previously been sued by a former employee with allegations of racial discrimination, retaliation as well as breach of contract as per Celebchai.
However, UniCourt records state that the case was settled out of court and was voluntarily dismissed shortly after. Baldoni faced another lawsuit of copyright infringement due to his 2019 rom-com film Five Feet Apart.
The movie starred Cole Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson in the leading roles and was based around two cystic fibrosis patients and their fight for their budding romance.
Regardless, trouble brewed when late screenwriter Travis Flores sued the director and his company accusing them of plagiarizing his script Three Feet Distance for the movie (E! News).
Interestingly, Flores was being represented by Bryan Freedman during the case, the lawyers who are representing Baldoni in his current court fight against Lively.
In any case, Freedman filed a motion for dismissal of the lawsuit in 2022, as he maintained to US Weekly, “I learned that they did absolutely nothing wrong and that there was no liability on their part whatsoever”.
Baldoni, for his part, noted that his movie was inspired by YouTuber Claire Wineland, who also happens to suffer from the same illness and has previously collaborated with Justin Baldoni in his My Last Days docuseries (The Hollywood Reporter).
As it stands, both of the actor’s previous lawsuits resulted in dismissal, with no remaining effects impacting his career currently.
Moreover, as Will Smith noted, being a public figure comes with every part of your life getting scrutinized, which might lead to misguided accusations from time to time. As such, judging the current dilemma Baldoni is facing in the Blake Lively case with his previous lawsuits might be unwise.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
