Justin Baldoni's lawyer in Blake Lively dispute once represented client who sued him

In Justin Baldoni's contentious legal battle with Blake Lively, the It Ends With Us actor-director is being represented by high-profile Hollywood attorney Bryan Freedman — but the two men haven't always been on the same side.

Less than four years ago, Freedman represented a client who sued Baldoni for alleged copyright infringement, claiming that Baldoni stole ideas from a screenplay he wrote, according to court documents reviewed by Entertainment Weekly.

The plaintiff was Travis Flores, a cystic fibrosis patient who appeared in Baldoni's documentary series My Last Days. Flores accused the Jane the Virgin actor of copying a number of concepts and elements from his unproduced screenplay Three Feet Distance and using them in the 2019 film Five Feet Apart.

The case was dropped in 2022.

Related: A complete timeline of It Ends With Us costars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's legal battle

Freedman said in Thursday in a statement provided to EW, "In the copyright infringement case, I learned what great people Justin and [his production company] Wayfarer were. I learned that they did absolutely nothing wrong and that there was no liability on their part whatsoever. As a result, the case was resolved without any liability on Justin's or Wayfarer or any other defendants part. This only further confirmed to me that Justin and Wayfarer are exceedingly honorable and highly ethical."

EW has reached out to representatives for Baldoni for comment. Flores died in 2024 from complications of cystic fibrosis.

Flores' complaint, filed in September 2021, said that he started writing Three Feet Distance, a romantic drama about a teen with cystic fibrosis, around 2010. The complaint alleged that Baldoni had access to Flores' screenplay when he began developing Five Feet Apart as his directorial debut in 2017, despite Flores intentionally withholding information about his project from Baldoni because he viewed FFA as "competitive."

The complaint outlined several alleged similarities between the two projects, including the mood ("tear-jerking romance stories"), themes ("the importance of touch in relationships," "emotional barriers to connecting with other people," "the importance of living in the here and now"), and setting ("a group environment where a number of chronically-ill teens have come together").

Related: Justin Baldoni's lawyer claims Ryan Reynolds mocks actor in Deadpool & Wolverine: 'No question'

Perhaps more striking were the accusations surrounding the projects' characters and plots. The suit claimed that both projects heavily revolved around the protagonist's unseen dead sister; involved awkward relationships with the protagonist's platonic best friend; and included surprise parties, drug-induced confessions, and skinny dipping.

Freedman submitted a request for the court to dismiss the case in March 2022, suggesting that the matter had been settled out of court.

Related: Justin Baldoni's Blake Lively lawsuit includes photos of him allegedly 'being held' in basement at It Ends With Us premiere

Five Feet Apart hit theaters in March 2019, starring Haley Lu Richardson and Cole Sprouse. It earned $92 million at the worldwide box office, on a $7 million budget.

Baldoni is currently in the midst of a multipronged, highly public legal dispute with Lively, his costar in the recent romantic drama It Ends With Us. She has accused him of sexual harassment and organizing a smear campaign against her during the production and promotion of the film. Lively sued Baldoni, his production company, and his publicists in late December.

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Baldoni fired back with a countersuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, last week. He's also suing the New York Times, which broke the news of Lively's allegations against him.

Additionally, Baldoni parted ways with his agency and one of his podcast cohosts amid the controversy, and has been sued by his former publicist.

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