Blake Lively’s publicist has just been cleared of a major allegation in Justin Baldoni’s explosive defamation lawsuit.
On Thursday, June 5, Daily Mail journalist James Vituscka filed a sworn declaration admitting Lively’s publicist Leslie Sloane never told him Baldoni “sexually assaulted” Lively, People magazine reported.
The controversy began when Vituscka claimed in a private text message that Sloane told him Baldoni “sexual assault” Lively, a claim that not even Lively herself has made. This damning text became a key piece of evidence in Baldoni’s $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively’s team.
Now, Vituscka admits he made an oversight.
“In those text messages, my use of the phrase ‘sexually assaulted’ was a mistake,” he wrote.
He continued, “I regret this error…This phrase was not in reference to any conversation that I had with Leslie Sloane.”
The bombshell admission corroborates what Sloane has maintained from the start — that she never claimed Baldoni “sexually assaulted” Lively. In fact, in March, she filed a motion for her name to be dismissed from the lawsuit.
“Today she is fully vindicated,” says Sloane’s attorney Sigrid McCawley in a June 6th statement.
Baldoni’s legal team had accused Sloane, Lively, and Ryan Reynolds of launching a “character assassination plot.”
Lively filed her harassment lawsuit in December 2024. Baldoni denied the allegations and responded with accusations of extortion and defamation.
Their trial is set to begin in March 2026.
