Before representing Justin Baldoni in his ongoing legal battle with Blake Lively, attorney Bryan Freedman found himself involved in a separate case involving the actor.
According to newly surfaced court documents viewed by Us Weekly, Freedman previously represented a person with cystic fibrosis who sued Baldoni, 40, for alleged copyright infringement and breach of contract.
Freedman’s client, Travis Flores, sued Baldoni and other defendants in September 2021 claiming the actor’s 2019 directorial debut, Five Feet Apart, ripped off Flores’ own tear-jerking romance script titled Three Feet Distance.
“Flores kept his screenplay from Baldoni both because Flores had a policy of keeping his work confidential and because Baldoni was working on the feature film project that Flores viewed as competitive,” court documents stated. “Unbeknownst to Flores, however, Baldoni already had a different source to provide him with information about Three Feet Distance. As it turned out, Baldoni’s film — which became titled Five Feet Apart — would copy numerous elements of Three Feet Distance.”
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In March 2022, Bloomberg Law reported that a copyright infringement lawsuit over Five Feet Apart was dismissed by a federal court in Los Angeles.
Us Weekly has reached out to Freedman for comment.
Five Feet Apart, starring Haley Lu Richardson and Cole Sprouse, explores a love story and the real pain and struggle of cystic fibrosis.
The 2019 film, which reportedly earned $92 million on a $7 million budget, was dedicated to YouTuber Claire Wineland, another individual with cystic fibrosis who left Baldoni inspired.
“I hired her as a consultant and she unfortunately passed away just before I could show her my director’s cut,” Baldoni told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019. “It’s something I’m still dealing with.”
More than five years after Five Feet Apart was released, Baldoni now finds himself in another legal situation with one of his It Ends With Us costars.
In December 2024, the New York Times broke the news that Lively sued Baldoni for sexual harassment and for allegedly launching a “social manipulation” campaign against her to “destroy” her reputation.
Baldoni has denied the allegations via Freedman, who called Lively’s accusations “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious” in a statement to Us last month.
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The Jane the Virgin actor has since sued the New York Times for libel and false light invasion of privacy. (A New York Times spokesperson stood by the story saying it was “meticulously and responsibly reported.”)
Baldoni and his legal team also sued Lively for $400 million in damages and accused the actress of being “determined to make Baldoni the real-life villain in her story.”
Lively’s team responded to the suit, saying, “It does not refute the evidence in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and it will fail.” The actress has denied all of Baldoni’s allegations.
