Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni file new lawsuits over ‘It Ends With Us’ harassment claims
The legal battle between actor Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, who was her director and co-star in the 2024 film It Ends with Us, has escalated with new lawsuits made by both individuals.
On December 31st, Baldoni filed a libel lawsuit against the New York Times for its reporting on Lively’s claims that he and his production company, Wayfarer, had embarked on a coordinated smear campaign to discredit her.
Hours later, Lively filed a federal lawsuit against Baldoni, Wayfarer, and several others, making her allegations about the director’s behaviour on set official. In the suit, she claims that he made repeated comments about her body and the bodies of other women working on the film, referred to his sexual history, and pressured Lively to share details of her own sexual history as well.
Lively alleges that these incidents occurred even after a meeting was held in which she and her husband, the actor and producer Ryan Reynolds, raised concerns with Baldoni and his co-producer Jamey Heath about the director’s behaviour on set and were given assurances that the harassment would end.
According to the Guardian, Lively’s suit alleges that Baldoni and his team conducted “a carefully crafted, coordinated, and resourced retaliatory scheme to silence her, and others, from speaking out” about her experiences on the set, and embarked on a “multi-tiered plan” to damage her reputation after the meeting.
Her allegations were partially brought to light by an extensive piece in the New York Times last week in which thousands of texts and emails between Baldoni, Heath, and Baldoni’s crisis communications manager, Melissa Nathan, discussed options for spreading negative rumours about Lively via social media.
In suing the publication for libel, Baldoni is alleging that the paper “relied almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative,” and disregarded the “abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives.” The director is asking for at least £200 million in damages.
In response, the New York Times said that it stands by its reporting, pointing to the thousands of pages of documents – most of which were written by or to Baldoni – that it used for the piece. “To date,” a spokesperson for the paper said, “Wayfarer Studios, Mr Baldoni, the other subjects of the article and their representatives have not pointed to a single error.”
Although the lawsuits are still pending, the allegations have already brought a swift response. Baldoni was dropped by his agency last week, and several actors have come forward to support Lively, including her co-stars on It Ends With Us.
Earlier this week, British actor Kate Beckinsale posted a video on social media in which she praised Lively for coming forward and detailed her own experiences with harassment and intimidation on sets over the years. “This is continuing,” she wrote. “When it does happen a machine goes in place to absolutely destroy you.”
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