Justin Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, previously represented a man who sued the director over his “Five Feet Apart” script.
According to newly surfaced court docs obtained by Page Six, Travis Flores accused Baldoni in 2021 of copyright infringement and breach of contract over the movie, which allegedly ripped off his script titled “Three Feet Distance.”
Flores claimed in the court documents that he began writing “Three Feet Distance” in 2010 after being diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. The title was allegedly “based on medical guidance that [cystic fibrosis] patients should never get closer to each other than three feet because they are prone to spreading harmful bacteria to each other.”
However, by 2016, Flores claimed he emailed “a copy of that screenplay to several Ambry [Genetics] representatives, including Defendant Caleb Remington,” after they expressed interest in his script and agreed to keep it confidential.
The following year, CBS Films announced it had begun developing an untitled film with Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Entertainment, about teens with [cystic fibrosis]. By 2018, Baldoni also had Flores to appear in his documentary series called “My Last Days” about young people with terminal illnesses.
“Flores agreed, but made a concerted effort to avoid disclosing any portion of ‘Three Feet Distance’ to Baldoni,” the suit read.
“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.”
“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.’”
The activist claimed in the lawsuit that he believed Remington “provided the script, or large portions thereof, to Baldoni.”
However, by March 2022, the lawsuit was dismissed by a federal court in Los Angeles with the settlement terms remaining undisclosed.
Flores unfortunately died in May 2024 due to complications from the genetic disease.
Page Six has reached out to Baldoni’s rep and Freedman for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Freeman is now representing Baldoni as he battles his “It Ends With Us” co-star Blake Lively’s sexual harassment claims.
In December 2024, the “Gossip Girl” alum sued Baldoni, claiming he sexually harassed her on the set of the 2024 movie and engaged in “social manipulation” to “destroy” her reputation.
Freedman previously told Page Six in response to the allegations, “It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations.
“These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”
Last week, Baldoni filed a $400 million defamation and extortion lawsuit against Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and her publicist, Leslie Sloane, claiming the Hollywood couple tried to gain control over the production of the film while refuting claims that he acted inappropriately on set.
The “Jane the Virgin” alum’s team also released raw footage from his and Lively’s time filming a slow dance scene in “It Ends With Us” in an attempt to disprove her sexual harassment allegations.
In response to the video footage, the mom of four’s legal team said it “corroborates” Lively’s sexual harassment allegations detailed in her suit.
“The video shows Mr. Baldoni repeatedly leaning in toward Ms. Lively, attempting to kiss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, flicking her lip with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and talking with her out of character,” Lively’s legal team said in a statement to Page Six.
“Every moment of this was improvised by Mr. Baldoni with no discussion or consent in advance, and no intimacy coordinator present. Mr. Baldoni was not only Ms. Lively’s co-star, but the director, the head of studio and Ms. Lively’s boss.”
Lively and Reynolds, 48, also requested that a gag order be implemented against Freedman after he released unedited footage.
Last month, Baldoni also filed a $250 million libel lawsuit against the New York Times, claiming the newspaper did not provide “necessary context” in their article about Lively’s sexual harassment allegations. The NYT said that they stand by their reporting.
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