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Justin Baldoni is suing Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds for $400million amid the ongoing battle over It Ends With Us.
The Jane the Virgin actor served as director and star of the drama last year, alongside the Gossip Girl actress – based on the successful novel of the same name by Colleen Hoover.
Despite the box office success, the flick was plagued by rumors of tension between the cast on set, which ramped up in December when the 37-year-old began legal proceedings against the filmmaker, alleging that he behaved inappropriately on set and accused him of ‘repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior’.
After denying the claims, the 40-year-old’s team has now reportedly filed a multi-million-dollar lawsuit in the Southern District of New York today, on his behalf – as well as producer Jamey Heath, publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis publicist Melissa Nathan.
According to People Magazine, they allege that Lively, who starred as Lily Bloom, attempted to gain control of the movie by taking certain measures.
He is said to be suing on grounds of ‘civil extortion, defamation, false light invasion of privacy and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing’ – as well as ‘Intentional interference with contractual relations, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage’.
‘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,’ a statement given to People by Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman reads.
‘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.
‘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.’
Lively and Reynolds have not yet addressed the lawsuit, or the fresh claims, publicly.
In the court documents, obtained by TMZ, it was alleged that Lively was ‘determined to make Baldoni the real-life villain in her story’, with their ‘battle for creative control’ over It Ends With Us. starting in May, 2023.
His team claimed that he met with his co-star and her husband, Reynolds, at their home to discuss her re-writes of a ‘critical’ rooftop scene, which he felt became an ‘ambush’ – the Deadpool actor reportedly praised her efforts, while her friend Taylor Swift also stopped by to applaud her version.
TMZ reports that the pair battled about her character’s wardrobe during filming, while Baldoni alleged that Lively hadn’t read the novel that It Ends With Us is based on.
‘She even tried to Google the color of her character’s hair rather than pick up the book,’ he claimed.
In Lively’s original complaint, she alleged that the atmosphere on set became so uncomfortable that an all-staff meeting was called to try and work through the problems creating a hostile set, where Baldoni obliged by cast and crew demands – including a request for him to stop showing her nude videos and images of women, and stop talking about sexual interactions in front of her.
Although he conceded on most of the demands, he said that she continually threatened to torpedo the film unless she was able to cut her own version of the film, which he claimed scored worse than his own in tests.
Lively’s cut was eventually released instead, but Baldoni was allegedly ostracized from the cast during promotion, red carpet events and interviews.
At the time, the public picked up on the apparent tension, sparking a huge backlash against the Sisterhood of Traveling Pants actress, as people complained about her light-hearted approach to promoting the movie, while also unpacking previous interviews.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's fallout timeline
January 2023
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are announced as the leads of It Ends With Us, based on the Colleen Hoover book of the same name. They are cast as characters Lily and Ryle, who's idealic romance turns into an abusive relationship.
Baldoni is also chosen to be the director and his production company Wayfarer Entertainment secured rights to the book.
Initially, there is excitement around the actors coming on board with Hoover calling it a 'dream'.
May 2023
Filming begins for the movie in New Jersey but is quickly halted just weeks later due to the writers' strike in the US.
Things only get started again in January 2024 and the scheduled release date is pushed back from February 9 to June 21 and then August 9. Some pictures later emerge from the set, with fans convinced the actors look tense while communicating.
August 2024
The press tour for It Ends With Us gets underway, and fans quickly spot that something doesn't seem right. When the film premiered in New York, it was noted that Baldoni spent little to no time with any of the cast and crew, nor did he take any photos with them. This apparent rift was compounded at the screening in which the film was introduced by Blake and Colleen. Again, he was no way to be seen.
Lively and Baldoni keep their interviews separate, and seem to strike a different tone. While Baldoni highlighted the reality of domestic abuse, Lively was the centre of huge backlash as people complained about her seemingly light-hearted approach to promoting a film that includes heavy themes such as domestic violence.
However, the discussion rapidly turned from the film promotion to unearthing old interviews with Lively or generally criticising her style, personality, and life.
Despite the hints of backstage fracture, Baldoni complimented Lively in some interviews. While speaking to Movies.ie, Baldoni spoke about how great it was to work with Lively, describing her as an ‘all-encompassing creative who makes everything she touches better’.
He added: ‘I believe she gave the performance of a lifetime, and I can’t wait for people to see how great she is in this film.’
December 21 2024
In an 80-page legal document Lively accused Baldoni of ‘repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behaviour’.
Lively’s complaint claims that during filming, the atmosphere on set became so uncomfortable that an all-staff meeting was called to try and work through the problems creating a hostile set.
The studio behind the romantic drama is also accused of embarking on a ‘multi-tiered plan’ to damage Lively’s reputation.
In the complaint for damages, which precedes a lawsuit, Baldoni, his publicists and Wayfarer Studios are listed among the defendants. Baldoni and his team deny the allegations.
Unearthed texts reportedly from Baldoni’s publicist to the studio,
Columbia Pictures Wayfarer Studios’ publicist, claim he ‘wants to feel like [Ms. Lively] can be buried’ were obtained through a subpoena as part of the case.
One exchange between public relationship executives said to be involved in the campaign depicts them gleefully discussing how ‘easy’ it was to turn people online against Lively.
After feedback from Baldoni’s team, Melissa Nathan — who worked with Johnny Depp during the Amber Heard trial — allegedly said: ‘We can’t write we will destroy her.’
In a statement through her attorney at the time of filing, Lively said: ‘I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.’
Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman said in a statement provided to Just Jared: ‘TAG PR operated as any other crisis management firm would when hired by a client experiencing threats by two extremely powerful people with unlimited resources.
‘The standard scenario planning TAG PR drafted proved unnecessary as audiences found Lively’s own actions, interviews and marketing during the promotional tour distasteful, and responded organically to that which the media themselves picked up on.
‘It’s ironic that the New York Times, through their effort to ‘uncover’ an insidious PR effort, played directly into the hands of Lively’s own dubious PR tactics by publishing leaked personal text exchanges that lack critical context — the very same tactics she’s accusing the firm of implementing.’
He also added: ‘These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.’
The New York Times publish an article entitled ‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine. The report includes the allegations that Baldoni and his team set out to try to create a negative portryal of Lively.
December 31 2024
10 plaintiffs – including Baldoni, Heath, Nathan and Abel – sue The New York Times for $250 million (£199 million) in a complaint lodged in a court in Los Angeles. They accuse the newspaper of libel and false light invasion of privacy (this tort protects people from having misleading or damaging information about them made public) over the article about Lively’s allegations, claiming that journalists ‘cherry-picked’ information and ‘altered communications stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead’.
A representative for the publication insisted the story was ‘meticulously and responsibly reported’ and they plan to ‘vigorously defend’ the lawsuit.
Baldoni claims that Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds ‘berated’ him during a meeting held at their home on January 4, which was also attended by It Ends With Us producers and a representative of Sony. Baldoni alleges that Reynolds ‘aggressively’ accused him of ‘fat shaming’ Lively.
‘They arrived eager to discuss plans for the next day’s filming, prepared with their production materials. Instead, they were blindsided by Lively and Reynolds, who presented a list of grievances that were both unanticipated and troubling,’ the legal document reads, the Daily Mail reports.
Baldoni also says that he was asked to apologise for actions against Lively that he believes were mischaracterised and demonstrably false. He claims that he’s ‘never been spoken to like that in his life’ and his refusal to express regret further enraged Deadpool actor Reynolds.
Further claims include that Lively took over the movie project from him, she wouldn’t allow him attend an It Ends With Us premiere, and refused to walk the red carpet with him. He also says Reynolds approached Baldoni’s agent at William Morris Endeavor and demanded that the agent ‘drop’ him.
Tactics were employed by Lively and Reynolds to damage him, Baldoni summarised.
On the same day, Lively officially filed a lawsuit against Baldoni in a federal court in New York. In court documents obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, the star claimed Baldoni, his studio Wayfarer, and his public relations managers Nathan and Abel, orchestrated a campaign against her as retaliation for speaking out over alleged sexual misconduct on the set.
She is asking for both ‘punitive’ and ‘compensatory’ damages and a jury trial. She is claiming that defendants Baldoni, his publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis PR Melissa Nathan have caused her ‘mental pain and anguish,’ as well as ‘severe and serious emotional distress’ and ‘lost wages.’
In the complaint, Lively alleged she had told producers that she was concerned about Baldoni's behaviour on set and claimed that he improvised 'physical intimacy' scenes without rehearsal or an intimacy coordinator.
She also alleged Baldoni attempted to add a graphic sex scene to It Ends with Us without any discussion.
Elsewhere, Lively claimed she had inappropriate interactions with Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath, with her reporting that they entered her trailer unannounced while she was getting ready on multiple occasions.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants star also alleged she reported Baldoni and Heath's behaviour to superiors, but her concerns weren't taken further.
Attorneys for Blake Lively shared a statement regarding the lawsuits with Metro: ‘Nothing in this lawsuit [against New York Times] changes anything about the claims advanced in Ms. Lively’s California Civil Rights Department Complaint, nor her federal complaint, filed earlier today.
‘This lawsuit is based on the obviously false premise that Ms. Lively’s administrative complaint against Wayfarer and others was a ruse based on a choice “not to file a lawsuit against Baldoni, Wayfarer,” and that “litigation was never her ultimate goal.”
‘As demonstrated by the federal complaint filed by Ms. Lively earlier today, that frame of reference for the Wayfarer lawsuit is false. While we will not litigate this matter in the press, we do encourage people to read Ms. Lively’s complaint in its entirety. We look forward to addressing each and every one of Wayfarer’s allegations in court.’
Previously, lawyer Bryan Freedman denied all of Lively's claims against his client, Baldoni.
He then alleged that her PR team, headed up by Sloane, then attempted to ‘frame her as a martyr and pin the blame’ on himself.
This comes after Lively started legal proceedings of her own, alleging that he treated her like a ‘sexual object’ and that he embarked on a ‘multi-tiered plan’ to damage her reputation – claims he has denied.
In a statement through her attorney at the time of filing, she said: ‘I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted reps for Baldoni, Lively and Reynolds for a comment.
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