A Daily Mail reporter admitted to wrongfully characterizing Blake Lively’s claims of sexual harassment as sexual assault on the set of “It Ends With Us” in a declaration filed Thursday.
As the Lively-Baldoni legal plot thickens, reporter James Vituscka was subpoenaed by lawyers for Lively’s publicist Leslie Sloane to turn over text messages in which he incorrectly framed the “Gossip Girl” star’s sexual harassment claims as assault.
“In those text messages, my use of the phrase ‘sexually assaulted’ was a mistake. I meant to say, ‘sexually harassed.’ I regret this error,” Vituscka’s declaration read. “Ms. Sloane never told me that Ms. Lively was sexually harassed or sexually assaulted by Justin Baldoni or anyone else.”
Representatives for Sloane said that after being “wrongfully dragged into this litigation” the Daily Mail reporter’s statement fully vindicates the publicist.
“Leslie Sloane has repeatedly stated that she never used the phrase ‘sexually assaulted’ which formed the basis of Baldoni’s meritless defamation claim against her and today she is fully vindicated by the declaration of James Vituscka that admits she never said those words,” Sigrid McCawley, managing partner of Boies Schiller Flexner, said in a statement obtained by TheWrap.
“The declaration also makes clear that the Wayfarer Parties never even bothered to attempt to confirm whether the outrageous allegations they were launching at Ms. Sloane were true and they were not,” the statement continued.
Sloane’s representatives continued to characterize the text messages as the Wayfarer team’s attempts to “ruin Ms. Sloane’s reputation with this vicious and wrongful attack and she has consistently told the truth and justice has prevailed.”
On Tuesday, a judge granted Lively’s request to remove claims of emotional distress from her legal action against her “It Ends With Us” co-star and director Justin Baldoni. Judge Lewis Liman denied Baldoni’s motion to compel because “the parties have agreed to dismiss Ms. Lively’s 10th and 11th causes of action” without prejudice, meaning the court “will preclude Lively from offering any evidence of emotional distress” in the future.
The post Daily Mail Reporter Subpoenaed by Blake Lively’s Publicist Says He Mistakenly Used the Phrase ‘Sexually Assaulted’ appeared first on TheWrap.
