Justin Baldoni sues Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and her publicist for $400M in damages
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Justin Baldoni has initiated a $400 million lawsuit against 'It Ends With Us' co-star Blake Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, their publicist Leslie Sloane, and Vision PR, Inc.
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, January 16, in the Southern District of New York, revolves around allegations of defamation, civil extortion, and interference in the movie's creative process, according to People.
Justin Baldoni accuses Blake Lively of 'takeover strategy'
This legal action follows Justin Baldoni’s December 31, $250 million libel suit against The New York Times over an article titled 'We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.'
Blake Lively has already sued Baldoni and his associates, making claims of sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign orchestrated by Baldoni.
Baldoni's lawsuit claims Lively, 37, devised a “takeover strategy” to wrest creative control of the film from him and others involved.
Justin Baldoni alleges Black Lively wanted to make him real-life villain
Justin Baldoni asserts that the conflict began in May 2023 during the movie’s production.
He further claims that Lively was "determined to make Baldoni the real-life villain in her story" to deflect from getting publicly trashed as "tone-deaf" during the film's media tour.
Baldoni says she was promoting her haircare and alcohol line during the film promotion, which is based on domestic violence according to TMZ.
Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman had previously hinted at legal action, saying, “We want the truth to be out there. We want the documents to be out there."
"We want people to make their determination based on receipts,” he added during a January 2 interview with NBC News
Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Swift involved in alleged 'ambush'
Justin Baldoni’s lawsuit includes claims about a contentious rewrite of a pivotal rooftop scene in the movie. He states that a meeting at Lively and Reynolds’ New York City penthouse turned into an “ambush.”
Baldoni, Reynolds supported Lively’s rewrite of the scene, which Taylor Swift later joined in "applauding Blake's version of the scene."
The documents include emails exchanged between the actors just before filming commenced, and Justin asserts that Blake "expressed warm gratitude" for all the work they had done to prepare. He believes it was merely a facade, allowing her to wrest control away from him.
Baldoni also alleges that Lively hadn’t read the original book on which the movie was based and tried to “Google the color of her character’s hair rather than pick up the book.”
He claims their early disagreements included disputes over the wardrobe for Lively’s character, who is depicted as a struggling small business owner.
