Actor and director Justin Baldoni has recently filed a high-profile lawsuit against his “It Ends with Us” co-stars Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, seeking an astonishing £320 million in damages. This legal battle has created ripples across Hollywood, as Baldoni accuses Lively and her team of orchestrating a damaging campaign against him.
The controversy began when Lively, known for her role in “A Simple Favor,” filed a lawsuit against Baldoni in December 2024, accusing him of sexual harassment and alleging that he actively sought to tarnish her reputation during the film’s production.
In a dramatic turn of events, Baldoni has now taken legal action against Lively, Reynolds, their publicist Leslie Sloane, and her PR firm Vision PR. This countersuit marks a significant escalation in the feud, as Baldoni seeks to clear his name and hold the parties accountable for what he describes as a coordinated smear campaign.
The lawsuit, filed on January 16th in the Southern District of New York, also involves producer Jamey Heath, publicist Jennifer Abel, and crisis PR specialist Melissa Nathan. Baldoni’s legal team alleges that Lively and her associates disseminated fabricated and manipulated information to the media with the intent to damage his career and reputation.
In a statement to LADbible, Baldoni’s lawyer explained, “This lawsuit is based on an overwhelming amount of untampered evidence detailing Blake Lively and her team’s duplicitous attempt to destroy Justin Baldoni, his team, and their respective companies by disseminating grossly edited, unsubstantiated, and doctored information to the media.”
He continued, “It is clear, based on our willingness to provide all complete text messages, emails, video footage, and other real-time documentary evidence shared between the parties, that this is a battle she will not win and will certainly regret.”
The attorney further alleged that Lively was either misled by her team or knowingly misrepresented the truth. “Ms. Lively will never again be allowed to exploit actual victims of real harassment for personal reputation gain at the expense of those without power.”
Highlighting the stakes, he concluded, “Lively and her team attempted to bulldoze reputations and livelihoods for selfish reasons through their manipulation of the media. The truth is out, and Justin and his team have nothing to hide. Documents do not lie.”