Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni: The Latest from Their Dueling Lawsuits

Justin Baldoni’s war with Blake Lively went DEFCON 1 this week.

It all started on the set of “It Ends with Us,” which Justin directed and starred in alongside Blake.  

Last month, she filed a legal complaint with the California Civil Rights Department claiming Baldoni sexually harassed her on set. 

Baldoni’s team, in an email to People magazine, called the allegations “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt.” She denied that.

The New York Times published a piece on December 21 entitled “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine” about Blake’s claims she was the victim of a smear campaign by Baldoni’s team.

He followed up on December 31 with a $250-million lawsuit against The New York Times for libel. 

In the 87-page complaint, Justin and 10 plaintiffs accused the paper of fraud and lay out a rebuttal to the narrative of what happened behind the scenes on the summer hit.

Baldoni’s lawsuit states that claims of a “retaliatory public relations campaign against Lively for speaking out about sexual harassment” were “categorically false and easily disproven.”

The Times released a statement saying, “We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”

Hours later, Lively sued Justin and his PR team for sexual harassment and “unconscionable” retaliation. 

Blake claimed Justin, “It Ends with Us” producer Jamie Heath, and Justin’s PR team conspired and launched a damaging campaign that hurt her career and earnings. 

The lawsuits are full of scathing he said, she said scenarios.

In her lawsuit, Blake claims Justin would walk in while she was breastfeeding her baby. He claims a text from Blake invited him to come in to discuss the production while she was pumping. 

The text allegedly said, “I’m just pumping in my trailer if you wanna work out our lines.”

Justin replied, “Copy… eating with crew and will head that way.”

Lively said while shooting love scenes with Justin that unwanted kissing was involved, but Baldoni said, “Lively refused to meet with the intimacy coordinator to plan out the film’s sex scenes.” He claims he met with the intimacy coordinator alone.

The text message Justin included in his lawsuit shows Blake had once agreed to meet them, texting, “I can meet her when we start :) Thank you though.”

Lively claimed Baldoni would often discuss his past porn addiction when shooting, which made her feel uncomfortable. 

He said they both discussed their own personal experiences while developing the film’s characters. 

Justin also said in a private January 4, 2024, meeting with cast and crew that Blake’s husband Ryan Reynolds demanded Justin apologize for his actions, but when Justin would not apologize for something he did not do, Ryan became “enraged,” berating Justin.

Blake’s lawsuit claims that Justin’s alleged smear campaign painted her in a negative light and damaged her financially. 

Justin said they did have a plan to counter negative press that might come Justin’s way, but never executed it.

Instead, he says Blake’s own actions before and after the press tour are the reasons why the public turned against her, like pitching her lifestyle brand while promoting a film about domestic violence. 

Blake said she was following the agreed upon marketing plan by Sony Pictures. Justin said he was “left in the dark” about the marketing plan and sidelined during the press tour.

At the New York City premiere Blake, Ryan and the cast all posed together. Justin was with his wife and claims he was humiliated when rushed to the theater basement in a holding room and forced to screen his own movie in a separate theater.