The Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni controversy continues to flare up through the new year. Days after publicly accusing her It Ends With Us co-star, Lively has filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, demanding monetary compensation for mental pain, anguish, severe emotional distress, and lost wages.
Lively named Baldoni, his studio Wayfarer and PR representatives Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel and accused them of marshaling a sophisticated, multi-tiered plan to undermine her reputation in retaliation for speaking up about sexual misconduct on the set of the film.
"As alleged in Ms. Lively's federal Complaint, Wayfarer and its associates have violated federal and California state law by retaliating against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns," the lawsuit added.
She further Lively alleged that Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath pushed her to participate in scenes that deviated from the original script. She claims that during the filming of the birth scene, they insisted she portray full nudity, despite this not being outlined in her contract, the script, or prior creative discussions. According to Lively, Baldoni defended this decision by arguing that it is uncommon for women to give birth while wearing hospital gowns.
She noted that there were multiple inappropriate interactions she had with Baldoni and Heath, including one where Baldoni admitted to have engaged in a sexual conduct without consent and Heath discussing their "previous porn addictions."
The complaint further reveals that another cast member filed a sexual harassment report in May 2023, citing Baldoni's “gross” and “unwanted comments” towards her and others. Despite Lively making many attempts to flag the issues, they often went uninvestigated, said the suit.
In response, Baldoni filed a counter lawsuit against the actor for banning him and his Wayfarer team from the premiere of their film and undermining his role. “Only after significant pressure did she reluctantly agree to allow Baldoni and the Wayfarer team to attend, but under humiliating conditions. The Wayfarer team and their families, including Baldoni and [producer Jamey] Heath, were segregated from the main cast, barred from the exclusive after-party, and forced to organise their own event at additional cost,” said the lawsuit
Baldoni has also filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times which was the first publication to report Lively's complaint. He accused journalists of working with the actress to damage his reputation and ignoring evidence that contradicted her claims. The allegations said that the Times relied on "'cherry picked' and altered communications "stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead".
The legacy newspaper, however, has dismissed his claims and stated that they "meticulously and responsibly reported" the story.
Baldoni also accused Lively's husband and noted actor Ryan Reynolds of orchestrating a campaign against him. He said that his action, along with Lively's were done to pull down his career. Baldoni alleges that Reynolds exhibited aggressive behavior toward him, accusing him of "fat-shaming" Lively. Additionally, Baldoni claims that Reynolds used his influence to persuade their shared agency, WME—also representing both Reynolds and Lively—to terminate him as a client.
The agency dropped him hours after the original complaint was filed.
The agency responded by stating, “In Baldoni’s filing there is a claim that Reynolds pressured Baldoni’s agent at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere. This is not true.”
In the week following Lively's first complaint, several celebrities sided with the actor, including co-stars, Amber Heard and author Colleen Hoover whose novel was the source material for the film.
