00:00The It Ends With Us legal saga may never end because now a new lawsuit has been filed in
00:05connection to the bombshell case. Page Six has exclusive details from the latest court
00:10documents.
00:10This time it's not Lively vs. Baldoni. This latest filing is between showbiz reporter
00:15James Vitushka and his former employer, the Daily Mail.
00:18Court docs revealed that Vitushka was named in the high-profile case after he discussed
00:23the It Ends With Us fallout with both Lively's longtime publicist and Baldoni's representatives.
00:28After his texts were used in court papers, Vitushka wanted to hire legal representation
00:33to defend himself, but claims the Daily Mail discouraged him from doing that. He says in
00:37the filing that the mail pressured him to sign a declaration he was not comfortable with
00:41where he said he regretted his actions. Now the mail is firing back saying they categorically
00:46denied the allegations and their former employees' account of what went down. In a statement
00:51at Page Six, the mail called it, quote, an inaccurate account of the circumstances surrounding the
00:55declaration he signed in connection with the Lively Baldoni litigation. The lawsuit, which Vitushka
01:00filed Monday in the Manhattan Supreme Court, alleges whistleblower retaliation, sex and disability
01:06discrimination, sexual harassment, interference with protected rights, and wrongful termination.
01:12Vitushka is seeking damages that include lost wages, emotional distress, and punitive damages.
01:17In the court docs, Vitushka says he was covering the It Ends With Us case as a senior entertainment
01:22reporter when he alleges that the Daily Mail tried to control him. While covering the case,
01:27Vitushka texted Baldoni's crisis PR rep Melissa Nathan, but those texts later ended up in Baldoni's
01:33legal filings. After those texts were included, Vitushka was subpoenaed by the court to provide
01:38documents and testimony, which created drama with the Daily Mail over how he should respond.
01:43That included the declaration he felt pressured to sign. Vitushka says in the end he suffered employer
01:48retaliation claiming his work supervision changed before he was fired by the Daily Mail in June of
01:53last year. In a statement to Page Six, Vitushka tells us, I became a journalist to find the truth
01:58and have the courage to tell it. I spent two decades building my career and reputation through ethical
02:03reporting, integrity, and hard work, and I never imagined that refusing to compromise those principles
02:09could cost me everything I had built. He went on, this lawsuit is about accountability and standing up for
02:14the basic principle that journalists should never be punished for protecting their integrity. His lawyer
02:19told us in a separate statement, quote, we intend to hold the Daily Mail accountable for the way our
02:23client was treated. We'll have to wait and see how this latest lawsuit plays out and if the it ends
02:28with
02:28us legal drama will ever actually end. After two long years, Blake and Justin settled their lawsuit in
02:33May. But whose side were you on? Let us know in the comments.
