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BLAKE Lively's legal team has hit back at Justin Baldoni’s $400m countersuit, branding it an "age-old story".
Baldoni, 40, who co-starred with Lively, 37, in It Ends with Us, filed a lawsuit accusing her and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, 48, of attempting to “destroy” his career and reputation yesterday.
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His production company, Wayfarer Studios, is seeking $400 million in damages from Lively and her publicist Leslie Sloane.
Wayfarer Studios produced It Ends With Us, the romantic drama that Baldoni wrote and directed.
In response, Lively's legal representatives criticized his claims.
Her lawyers said in a statement: “This latest lawsuit from Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its associates is another chapter in the abuser playbook.
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"This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation, and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim.
"This is what experts call DARVO. Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim Offender."
The film's behind-the-scenes tension sparked months of speculation about drama between the two leading stars until Lively filed a lawsuit accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment last month.
Lively accused Baldoni and his team of orchestrating a smear campaign to ruin her reputation - but Baldoni has now flipped the tables in a new federal lawsuit.
Baldoni is accusing Lively and Sloane of creating an alleged campaign to smear the actor, according to court documents obtained by The U.S. Sun.
The docs claim Lively set out to make Baldoni the "real-life villain in her story."
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal battle will drag on ‘for years’ and he will ‘never get anything close to $400m’
Baldoni accused Lively and Sloane of scheming against him to deflect from the actress being seen as "tone-deaf" during the press tour for the movie.
The actor said his co-star promoted her hair care and alcohol lines while doing press for the movie, which is about domestic violence.
In the suit, Baldoni said he and Lively started battling for creative control over the movie once they started shooting in May 2023. He included emails from the time to prove his point.
Baldoni claimed Lively organized a "takeover strategy" so she could have the final word in the movie, which is based on the book by Colleen Hoover.
He also called out Lively's husband Ryan Reynolds and close friend Taylor Swift for getting involved in the project.
He said he was ambushed by the two A-listers when they praised Lively's decisions regarding a re-write of an important scene in the movie.
Baldoni also claimed Lively forced the director and his family to miss the film's premiere in August when she demanded he didn't attend.
He said security at the premiere escorted Baldoni's group to the theater's basement.
Baldoni also claimed Lively didn't read Hoover's book when they were working on the script together.
Statement from Justin Baldoni's lawyer
Bryan Freedman, who represents Justin Baldoni, shared the following statement about the new lawsuit with The U.S. Sun.
“This lawsuit is a legal action based on an overwhelming amount of untampered evidence detailing Blake Lively and her team’s duplicitous attempt to destroy Justin Baldoni, his team and their respective companies by disseminating grossly edited, unsubstantiated, new and doctored information to the media," Freedman claimed.
"It is clear based on our own all out willingness to provide all complete text messages, emails, video footage and other documentary evidence that was shared between the parties in real time, that this is a battle she will not win and will certainly regret.
"Blake Lively was either severely misled by her team or intentionally and knowingly misrepresented the truth.
"Ms. Lively will never again be allowed to continue to exploit actual victims of real harassment solely for her personal reputation gain at the expense of those without power.
"Let’s not forget, Ms. Lively and her team attempted to bulldoze reputations and livelihoods for heinously selfish reasons through their own dangerous manipulation of the media before even taking any actual legal action.
"We know the truth, and now the public does too. Justin and his team have nothing to hide, documents do not lie.”
The document said Blake "even tried to Google the color of her character's hair rather than pick up the book."
He said the two stars also argued over Lively's character's wardrobe, further pointing to the actress' "takeover" of the movie.
Bryan Freedman, the lawyer representing Baldoni, said in a statement to The U.S. Sun that the lawsuit is "based on an overwhelming amount of untampered evidence."
"It is clear based on our own all out willingness to provide all complete text messages, emails, video footage and other documentary evidence that was shared between the parties in real time, that this is a battle she will not win and will certainly regret," Freedman said.
BLAKE'S SIDE OF THE STORY
Meanwhile, Lively claimed in a lawsuit that Baldoni fat-shamed her, showed her nude videos and pictures, and spoke about a previous alleged porn addiction while on set.
She also claimed to have asked for "no more adding of sex scenes, oral sex or on camera climaxing outside the scope of the script approved when signing onto the project."
Statement from Blake Lively's legal team
Blake Lively's legal team shared the following statement with The U.S. Sun in response to Justin Baldoni's newest lawsuit.
“This latest lawsuit from Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its associates is another chapter in the abuser playbook," Lively's legal team said.
"This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim. This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender.
"Wayfarer has opted to use the resources of its billionaire co-founder to issue media statements, launch meritless lawsuits, and threaten litigation to overwhelm the public’s ability to understand that what they are doing is retaliation against sexual harassment allegations.
"They are trying to shift the narrative to Ms. Lively by falsely claiming that she seized creative control and alienated the cast from Mr. Baldoni.
"The evidence will show that the cast and others had their own negative experiences with Mr. Baldoni and Wayfarer. The evidence will also show that Sony asked Ms. Lively to oversee Sony’s cut of the film, which they then selected for distribution and was a resounding success.
"Their response to sexual harassment allegations: she wanted it, it’s her fault. Their justification for why this happened to her: look what she was wearing.
"In short, while the victim focuses on the abuse, the abuser focuses on the victim.
"The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate, it does not refute the evidence in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and it will fail.”
The actress said Baldoni's actions caused her and her family “severe emotional distress."
A statement shared with The U.S. Sun on Lively's behalf said Baldoni's newest lawsuit is "another chapter in the abuser playbook.
"This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim. This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender."
The statement continued to say Baldoni's accusations of Lively taking creative control are attempting to "shift the narrative."
Baldoni has denied all of Lively's accusations.
He sued the New York Times for $250 million over the paper's article alleging he coordinated a smear campaign against Lively.
The actor hired Freedman, who also represents the Menendez brothers' family, after Lively filed her lawsuit against him.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
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