Weeks after Blake Lively sued Justin Baldoni, the It Ends With Us director issued a counter lawsuit against her, Ryan Reynolds and publicist Leslie Sloane for $400 million.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's legal battle just got even more intense.
The director has filed a $400 million countersuit against his It Ends With Us costar for Jan. 16, as well as her husband Ryan Reynolds and publicist Leslie Sloane, nearly a month after she sued him for allegedly sexually harassing her on the set of the 2024 movie.
In Baldoni's latest filing, submitted to the Southern District of New York court and obtained by E! News, the director alleges that Lively was “determined to make Baldoni the real-life villain of her story,” and “falsified stories” of his sexual harassment noting that the Gossip Girl alum’s tarnished reputation following the release of It Ends With Us was “of her own making,” and not a smear campaign, as her own lawsuit alleges.
“Though Lively claimed Baldoni was the one smearing her, the reality is that it was Lively and her team who carefully planned and implemented a vile smear campaign against Baldoni and Wayfarer to deflect attention and blame for Lively’s disastrous misjudgments,” the lawsuit alleges, saying a smear campaign stemmed from Baldoni and Wayfarer’s “refusal” to publish a public apology to Reynolds and Lively.
It continues, "Lively, working with her husband, her publicist, and Jones, among others, set out on a campaign to tar and feather Plaintiffs in the press.”
The lawsuit adds, “They conspired and worked in concert with the New York Times to put out a blockbuster news report as devastating as it was false.”
Baldoni’s suit further alleges that Lively “set out to destroy Plaintiffs’ livelihoods and businesses if they did not bend to her incessant demands, and when they refused to give way, she did exactly that, accusing them of foul and reprehensible sexual misconduct.”
Elsewhere in the lawsuit, Baldoni alleges that Lively “had a reputation of being difficult to work with,” and “almost immediately” began “inserting herself into the production process in intrusive ways well beyond the scope of her contractual entitlements.” This included examples of Lively’s control over her character’s wardrobe and rewriting scripts.
Further, Baldoni alleges that Lively had “refused” to read Colleen Hoover’s text as well as meet with domestic violence partner organization No More, which caused her “tone-deaf” press tour for It Ends With Us.
In a statement to E! News, Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman claimed Lively “was either severely misled by her team or intentionally and knowingly misrepresented the truth.”
He added, “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.”
E! News has reached out to Lively and Reynolds' rep for comment on Baldoni's lawsuit against the actress and has not heard back.
Baldoni’s recent suit marks the latest in several legal filings made in connection to Lively and Baldoni's dispute. Their rift was confirmed Dec. 20 following months of rumors of tensions between them when the Gossip Girl alum submitted a complaint about him—nearly identical to her formal lawsuit—to the California Civil Rights Department.
Through his lawyer, Baldoni has denied the allegations Lively had made in her filings against him.
They include accusations that he "improvised gratuitous sexual content and/or scenes involving nudity" into It Ends With Us without her consent, "intrusively asking" her a question about her sex life with Reynolds and entering her makeup trailer uninvited while she was undressed—including when she was breastfeeding her and the Deadpool actor's fourth baby.
The New York Times was the first to report about her original administrative complaint, and on Dec. 31, the same day she filed her subsequent formal lawsuit against Baldoni, he filed a $250 million libel suit against the newspaper.
In that particular filing, he alleged that the outlet, which cited in its coverage subpoenaed private text exchanges about the actress between him and PR reps, relied on "'cherry-picked' and altered communications stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead," arguing that the newspaper's allegations were "false, outrageous and intentionally salacious."
The New York Times had said in a statement that their story was "meticulously and responsibly reported" and that they "plan to vigorously defend against" Baldoni's lawsuit.
Lively's attorneys previously told E! News that nothing in his libel suit "changes anything about the claims advanced in Ms. Lively's California Civil Rights Department Complaint, nor her federal complaint."
In the wake of the ongoing legal dispute between the two, Baldoni's career has also been brought into the spotlight. Soon after Lively filed her first legal complaint, their once-mutual talent agency WME dropped him as a client, the New York Times reported citing WME executive Ari Emanuel.
In his lawsuit against the New York Times, he alleges that at the premiere for Deadpool & Wolverine last July, Reynolds approached the director's agent and demanded he drop Baldoni. WME denies this.
"Baldoni’s former representative was not at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere," the agency said to The Hollywood Reporter in a Jan. 1 statement, “nor was there any pressure from Reynolds or Lively at any time to drop Baldoni as a client."
For Reynolds' part, he has not yet addressed the allegation (E! News has reached out to reps for Reynolds but has not yet heard back.)
Keep reading to untangle the ongoing legal battles between Baldoni and Lively…
Dec. 20, 2024: Blake Lively Files CRD Complaint Against Justin Baldoni and His Wayfarer Associates
Four months after the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's book It Ends With Us debuted in theaters, Blake Lively filed a California Civil Rights Department (CRD) complaint against her costar Justin Baldoni and his associates on Dec. 20, according to The New York Times.
In the complaint obtained by E! News, Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer Studios (Wayfarer), its CEO Jamey Heath, its cofounder Steve Sarowitz, Baldoni's publicist Jennifer Abel, her company RWA Communications, crisis communications specialist Melissa Nathan, her company The Agency Group PR LLC (TAG), contractor Jed Wallace and his company Street Relations Inc. were listed as defendants.
Lively alleged in her complaint that Baldoni and his Wayfarer associates "embarked on a sophisticated press and digital plan in retaliation" for her voicing her concerns about purported misconduct on set—with her saying she and other cast and crew members "experienced invasive, unwelcome, unprofessional and sexually inappropriate behavior" by Baldoni and Heath.
The actress added the alleged campaign against her caused "substantial harm" to her personally and professionally.
The accusations listed in the complaint include sexual harassment; retaliation; failure to investigate, prevent and/or remedy harassment; aiding and abetting harassment and retaliation; breach of contract; intentional infliction of emotional distress; negligence; false light invasion of privacy and interference with prospective economic advantage.
Dec. 21, 2024: The New York Times Publishes Report About the Alleged Smear Campaign Against Lively
The next day, The New York Times published a report about a retaliatory smear campaign Baldoni and his associates allegedly waged against Lively—citing her CRD complaint. In its article, the outlet quoted messages sent from Baldoni and his team—including publicist Abel and crisis communications specialist Nathan—that were part of her complaint. Readers could also scroll through the court documents on The New York Times' website.
“I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct," Lively told the outlet, "and helps protect others who may be targeted.”
Baldoni and Wayfarer’s Attorney Responds to Lively’s CRD Complaint
After news of Lively’s complaint broke, Bryan Freedman—the attorney for Baldoni, Wayfarer and its representatives—slammed Lively’s allegations.
“It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions,” he said in a statement on The New York Times website. “These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”
Freedman also defended Wayfarer’s decision to hire a crisis manager, saying this was done before the marketing campaign of the movie.
"The representatives of Wayfarer Studios still did nothing proactive nor retaliated, and only responded to incoming media inquiries to ensure balanced and factual reporting and monitored social activity,” he later added. “What is pointedly missing from the cherry-picked correspondence is the evidence that there were no proactive measures taken with media or otherwise; just internal scenario planning and private correspondence to strategize which is standard operating procedure with public relations professionals.”
Baldoni Is Dropped by Talent Agency
Talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME) dropped Baldoni after The New York Times’ article was published on Dec. 21, Ari Emanuel, CEO of the agency’s parent company Endeavor, confirmed to the outlet.
However, WME denied that Lively's husband Ryan Reynolds was to blame for the agency's parting of ways with Baldoni, which the It Ends With Us director later allege in his lawsuit filed against The New York Times (more on that below).
"In Baldoni’s filing there is a claim that Reynolds pressured Baldoni’s agent at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere. This is not true,” WME—which also represents Reynolds and Lively—said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter Jan. 1. "Baldoni’s former representative was not at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere nor was there any pressure from Reynolds or Lively at any time to drop Baldoni as a client."
It Ends With Us Cast Members and More Stars React to Lively’s Allegations Against Baldoni
In the days following Lively's CRD filing and The New York Times article, several famous figures shared their reactions to her allegations against Baldoni—including It Ends With Us author Hoover.
"@blakelively, you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met," she wrote on Instagram Stories Dec. 21, linking out to The New York Times. "Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt."
Jenny Slate, who played the sister of Baldoni's character Ryle, also noted she stood with Lively.
“As Blake Lively’s castmate and friend, I voice my support as she takes action against those reported to have planned and carried out an attack on her reputation,” Slate said in a Dec. 23 statement to Today. “Blake is a leader, loyal friend and a trusted source of emotional support for me and so many who know and love her.”
“What has been revealed about the attack on Blake is terribly dark, disturbing, and wholly threatening," she added. "I commend my friend, I admire her bravery, and I stand by her side.”
In addition, Brandon Sklenar—a love interest for Lively's character Lily Bloom—shared a screenshot of the complaint published to The New York Times' website and linked out to the outlet writing, "For the love of God read this."
Plus, Lively's Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants costars America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel and Amber Tamblyn wrote they "stand with her in solidarity."
Dec. 23, 2024: Baldoni and Heath's cohost on The Man Enough Podcast Liz Plank Leaves Show
Liz Plank also announced her departure from The Man Enough Podcast, which she cohosted with Baldoni and Heath, on Dec. 23.
"I'm writing to you today to let you know that I have had my representatives inform Wayfarer that I will no longer be co-hosting The Man Enough podcast," she wrote on Instagram at the time. "Thank you for trusting me with your hearts and stories, for holding space for mine, and for making this show what it was. I will miss you, the listeners, so much. I love what this community created together with every fiber of my being, and that's because of you."
While Plank did not give a reason for her exit from the podcast, it came days after Lively's complaint against Baldoni and his Wayfarer associates.
"As this chapter closed for me, I remain committed to the values we've built together," the author continued in her message to her followers. "Thank you for being here, for trusting me, and for being by my side for the last four years. We all deserve better, and I know that together, we can create it."
She added, "I will have more to share soon as I continue to process everything that has happened. In the meantime, I will continue to support everyone who calls out injustice and holds the people standing in their way accountable."
Dec. 24, 2024: Baldoni's Former Publicist Sues Him, Abel, Nathan and Wayfarer
Baldoni's former publicist Stephanie Jones and her agency Jonesworks LLC filed a lawsuit against him, his company Wayfarer, his current publicist Abel and crisis communications specialist Nathan in New York Dec. 24.
"Defendants Abel and Nathan secretly conspired for months to publicly and privately attack Jones and Jonesworks, to breach multiple contracts and induce contractual breaches, and to steal clients and business prospects," the lawsuit obtained by NBC New reads. "Behind Jones’s back, they secretly coordinated with Baldoni and Wayfarer to implement an aggressive media smear campaign against Baldoni’s film co-star, and then used the crisis as an opportunity to drive a wedge between Jones and Baldoni, and to publicly pin blame for this smear campaign on Jones—when Jones had no knowledge or involvement in it."
Per Abel's LinkedIn profile, she worked at Jonesworks until last summer. The lawsuit alleges Abel and Nathan "continue to point the finger falsely at Jones now that their own misconduct is coming to light," and "defame and attack" her in the industry.
As for Baldoni and Wayfarer, who are no longer Jonesworks clients, the suit alleges they "repudiated their contractual obligations with Jonesworks and rebuffed Jones’s efforts to settle this dispute privately in arbitration."
E! News reached out to the defendants for comment.
Lively's attorneys told Variety in a Dec. 23 piece that they obtained the texts featured in The New York Times article via a subpoena to Jonesworks. Freedman—who represents Nathan and Abel in addition to Baldoni and his Wayfarer associates—added to the outlet none of his clients were subpoenaed over this topic and that he intends to sue Jones for releasing messages from Abel’s phone to Lively’s attorneys.
Dec. 31, 2024: Baldoni, Wayfarer & Others Sue The New York Times
Baldoni, Wayfarer, Heath, Sarowitz, Nathan, TAG, Abel, RWA Communications, Wallace and Street Relations filed a lawsuit against The New York Times Dec. 31.
In the lawsuit obtained by E! News, The New York Times is accused of libel, false light invasion of privacy, promissory fraud and breach of implied-in-fact contract for its article about a retaliatory smear campaign the plaintiffs allegedly conducted against Lively after she voiced concerns about purported misconduct on set.
Saying the report was "false" and based on Lively’s CRD complaint, the plaintiffs denied the accusations and alleged messages cited in the article and complaint were taken out of context.
“Despite its claim to have 'reviewed these along with other documents[,]' the Times relied almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative," the lawsuit says, "lifting it nearly verbatim while disregarding an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives."
They also allege "it was Lively, not Plaintiffs, who engaged in a calculated smear campaign." She has denied this.
The New York Times said it plans to "vigorously defend against the lawsuit."
“The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead,” it stated to E!. “Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article."
Dec. 31, 2024: Lively Files Lawsuit Against Baldoni and Wayfarer Associates
That same day, Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, Wayfarer, Heath, Sarowitz, production entity It Ends With Us Movie LLC, Nathan, Nathan's company TAG and Abel in New York.
According to the court documents obtained by E! News, she is suing the defendants for sexual harassment; retaliation; failure to investigate, prevent and/or remedy harassment; aiding and abetting harassment and retaliation; breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence infliction of emotional distress and false light invasion of privacy.
The allegations in the lawsuit were first detailed in the CRD complaint Lively filed earlier that month.
In response to the lawsuit Baldoni and his associates filed against The New York Times—which does not list Lively as a defendant—her attorneys noted in a statement to E! that "nothing in this lawsuit changes anything about the claims" in her CRD and federal complaints.
"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,'" they continued. "As demonstrated by the federal complaint filed by Ms. Lively earlier today, that frame of reference for the Wayfarer lawsuit is false."
Jan. 2, 2025: Baldoni's Lawyer Expresses Intent to Sue Lively
In Baldoni and his associates' lawsuit against The New York Times, the plaintiffs expressed that they “are not done.”
"There are other bad actors involved," the court documents state, "and make no mistake—this will not be the last lawsuit."
In a Jan. 2 interview with NBC News, Baldoni and Wayfarer's attorney Freedman said they "absolutely" plan to sue Lively.
The headlines about Baldoni and Lively haven't stopped there.
For instance, social media users have speculated that her husband Reynolds trolled Baldoni in his movie Deadpool & Wolverine through the character Nicepool.
Reynolds has not publicly commented on the rumors; however, Baldoni's lawyer Freedman shared his reaction.
"What I make of that is that if your wife is sexually harassed, you don't make fun of Justin Baldoni," Freeman said during an interview on The Megyn Kelly Show posted to YouTube Jan 7. "You don't make fun of the situation. You take it very seriously. You file HR complaints. You raise the issue and you follow a legal process. What you don't do is mock the person and turn it into a joke."
Meanwhile, Lively's attorneys say there have been more "attacks" against her since her lawsuit.
"Ms. Lively’s federal litigation before the Southern District of New York involves serious claims of sexual harassment and retaliation, backed by concrete facts," her lawyers said in a Jan. 7 statement to E! News. "This is not a 'feud' arising from 'creative differences' or a 'he said/she said' situation. As alleged in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and as we will prove in litigation, Wayfarer and its associates engaged in unlawful, retaliatory astroturfing against Ms. Lively for simply trying to protect herself and others on a film set. And their response to the lawsuit has been to launch more attacks against Ms. Lively since her filing."
"While we go through the legal process, we urge everyone to remember that sexual harassment and retaliation are illegal in every workplace and in every industry," they added. "A classic tactic to distract from allegations of this type of misconduct is to 'blame the victim' by suggesting that they invited the conduct, brought it on themselves, misunderstood the intentions, or even lied. Another classic tactic is to reverse the victim and offender, and suggest that the offender is actually the victim."
Lively's lawyers said "these concepts normalize and trivialize allegations of serious misconduct." They also noted "media statements are not a defense" to her claims and that they'll prosecute her claims in court.
In response, Baldoni's lawyer Freedman told E!, "It is painfully ironic that Blake Lively is accusing Justin Baldoni of weaponizing the media when her own team orchestrated this vicious attack by sending the New York Times grossly edited documents prior to even filing the complaint."
"We are releasing all of the evidence which will show a pattern of bullying and threats to take over the movie," he added. "None of this will come as a surprise because consistent with her past behavior Blake Lively used other people to communicate those threats and bully her way to get whatever she wanted. We have all the receipts and more."
(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family).
Jan. 16, 2025: Baldoni, Wayfarer, Nathan & Abel File Lawsuit Against Lively, Reynolds & Others
Baldoni, Heath, Wayfarer, publicist Abel, crisis communication specialist Nathan and production entity It Ends With Us Movie LLC filed a lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds, her publicist Leslie Sloane and Sloane's firm Vision PR in New York Jan. 16.
According to the suit obtained by E! News, the plaintiffs accused all the defendants of civil extortion, defamation and false light invasion of privacy. As for Lively and Reynolds specifically, she is accused of breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and they're both accused of intentional interference with contractual relations and economic advantage as well as negligent interference with prospective economic advantage.
In the suit, the plaintiffs denied Lively's allegations of sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign against her. They also accused her of seizing control of It Ends With Us and working with Reynolds, Sloane, Jones and others to "tar and feather Plaintiffs in the press" after she received backlash for her marketing of the film. (Lively said in her filings she promoted the movie in accordance with Sony's marketing plan.)
Plaintiffs allege in the lawsuit the defendants worked with The New York Times "to put out a blockbuster news report as devastating as it was false.” The outlet stands by its report.
In part of a statement to E!, Freedman said, "Blake Lively was either severely misled by her team or intentionally and knowingly misrepresented the truth."
Jan. 16, 2025: Blake Lively's lawyers slam "desperate" lawsuit
Lively's legal team called his lawsuit "another chapter in the abuser playbook," saying in a statement to E! News, "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. "
She further accused him of retaliating once she made allegations against him, saying Baldoni is trying to shift the narrative that Lively "seized creative control and alienated the cast from Mr. Baldoni."
"The evidence will show," it continued, "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."
Her team went on to slam Baldoni's reaction to her allegations of harassment.
"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," her lawyers added. "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.”
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