Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni.
Getty Images (2)Blake Lively AND Justin BaldoniHis reported breakup made headlines months ago It ends with Us costars filed suit.
As Lively and Baldoni promoted the film in August 2024, rumors began to circulate about an alleged rift between the pair. Fans noticed that Lively was promoting the film with some of her co-stars, while Baldoni, who directed the film, did not join for interviews or press opportunities. At the same time, Lively received backlash from fans for how she handled the film’s domestic violence theme. (She later provided resources on domestic violence.)
Months later, New York Times announced that Lively has sued Baldoni for sexual harassment. Baldoni denied all allegations made against him in the December 2024 lawsuit, which was obtained by Us Weekly.
Days later, Baldoni was among 10 plaintiffs who launched a $250 million lawsuit against New York Times for covering Lively’s allegations. (A spokesperson for New York Times said us that the media is planning to “vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”)
Lively filed a lawsuit the same day against Baldoni in a New York federal court that mirrored her earlier claims — which were filed with the California Department of Civil Rights.
Scroll down for an explanation of Lively and Baldoni’s alleged feud and lawsuit:
How did the alleged feud begin?
In August 2024, speculation about a possible rift on set began to swirl after fans noticed that Lively was unfollowing Baldoni on Instagram — and neither was anyone else in the cast at the time. Fuel was added to the fire when Baldoni was conspicuously absent from joint press interviews.
At the press launch for the film, Lively revealed that her husband, Ryan Reynoldswrote part of the roof scene in It ends with Us. In a separate interview, Baldoni made a comment that Lively should direct a sequel to the film. Both remarks went viral on TikTok and fueled speculation about the feud. A source exclusively said us at the time Lively and Baldoni had “creative differences” during the filming of the film.
“There were two camps in the movie — Team Blake and Team Justin,” the insider said. “This creative struggle set the tone for the negative experience behind the scenes and escalated to the point where they no longer spoke.”
Months after a reported dispute between “It Ends With Us” actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, she sued him for sexual harassment. In the lawsuit, which was filed Friday, Dec. 20, and obtained by Us Weekly after being reported by TMZ and The New York Times, Lively accused Baldoni of starting a (…)
Who is suing whom?
Months after the film was released in theaters (and the same month it appeared on Netflix), Lively sued Baldoni for sexual harassment. In the December 2024 lawsuit, Lively also accused Baldoni of launching a “social manipulation” campaign against her to “destroy” her reputation.
In a statement to New York Times Regarding her lawsuit, Lively said: “I hope my legal action will help pull back the curtain on these evil retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and help protect others who may be in harm’s way. target.”
Baldon’s lawyer, Bryan Freedmancalled Lively’s accusations “completely false, outrageous and deliberately unpleasant” in a statement to usclaiming that Lively filed the lawsuit to “fix her negative reputation” and “re-invent a narrative” about the film’s production.
Baldoni countered a few days later with his own lawsuit, where he was listed as one of 10 plaintiffs suing. New York Times for $250 million after his reporting on Lively’s lawsuit. The lawsuit alleged that Lively pursued a “strategic and manipulative” smear campaign against Baldoni and “cherry-picked” communications by omitting key details.
A spokesperson for New York Times said in a statement to us that the publication stands by its story and plans to “vigorously defend itself against the lawsuit.”
“The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead,” the statement said. “Our story was reported accurately and responsibly. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including text messages and emails that we quote accurately and extensively in the article. Those texts and emails were also the focus of a discrimination claim filed in California by Blake Lively against Justin Baldoni and his associates.”
The statement continued: “To address some inaccuracies in the lawsuit, when we request comments from Mr. Baldoni and others that would be mentioned in the article, The Times shared the information we intended to publish, including references to specific text messages and documents, asked them to identify any inaccuracies, provide additional context, and speak to our team. Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer and the other entities chose not to have any conversation with him The Times or address any of the specific text messages or documents and instead sent a joint reply, which was published in full. (Also, they sent their reply The Times at 11:16 p.m. ET Dec. 20, not 2:16 a.m. ET Dec. 21 as the complaint states.)”
Lively’s lawyers said us that the lawsuit was based on a “manifestly false premise,” while Baldon’s attorney continues to deny any wrongdoing.
That same day, Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldon in a New York court that mirrored her earlier claims filed in California.
Who said what?
Among several claims in her lawsuit, Lively claimed she wasn’t the only cast member complaining about Baldoni. Lively also claimed that a meeting – attended by Reynolds – was held in January 2024 to address some of her concerns about It ends with Us‘ production.
Some of Lively’s demands that were addressed included “no more showing Blake videos or images of nude women, no more mention of Baldoni’s alleged ‘porn addiction,'” no more discussions about sexual assaults in front of Blake and others, no further mention of cast and crew’s genitalia, no more questions about Blake’s weight, and no further mention of Blake’s dead father.”
In the lawsuit filed by Baldoni with other plaintiffs, Lively’s allegations were addressed and countered by the actor’s interpretation of events. One example is that Lively feels embarrassed, while Baldoni claimed that he asked a trainer for Lively’s weight due to back problems. Another example of different recollections of events involved Lively claiming that Baldoni had a “long blowout” that delayed production due to social media backlash to her costumes. Baldoni described the incident as “professional” and noted that while he “briefly added during the conversation,” he said it was “in response to what he believed to be a genuine compliment from Lively.” He now believes the alleged comment was a “manipulation tactic”. A third example involves the claim of “pornography” on set, which Baldoni claims was a photo of a home birth.
Among several other counterclaims, the suit alleged that there were key communications removed from New York Times — like a missing emoji at the end of a text message — about an alleged effort by Baldoni’s team Melissa Nathan AND Jennifer Abel to generate bad press for Lively.
In response to the lawsuit, Lively’s attorney said in a statement to us that Baldon’s claims change nothing about her accusations against him.
UPDATE 12/31/21 11:30 PM ET: Justin Baldoni was one of 10 plaintiffs to file a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times following its reporting on actor Blake Lively after she sued him for sexual harassment. The plaintiffs of the lawsuit, which include publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel as well as It Ends With Us (…)
How is Taylor Swift — and others — connected to the lawsuit?
In Lively’s lawsuit, her former costars Leighton Meester, Anna Kendrick AND Ben Affleck were mentioned in a purported “scenario planning” document drawn up by Baldoni’s team. “Our recommended approach would be to provide journalists seeking comment, if it is clear she is referring to you, with the appropriate background information (listed in Scenario 1) to ensure their stories are balanced and speculation may turn to another. from many people she has had issues with at work (Leighton Meester, Anna Kendrick, Ben Affleck, etc.),” the documents state. Hailey Bieber Baldoni also referred to an alleged “astroturfing” plan against the actress, while Lively’s friend Taylor Swift was also mentioned by his team referring to the pop star’s loyal fans.
Exhibits attached to the complaint showed that a crisis management expert who worked for Baldoni wrote in an August 2024 email: “We have seen the most innocuous issues become gigantic because of social or larger crises have no effect. in social society. You just can’t tell at this stage. But BL has some of the same TS fans, so we’re going to take it extremely seriously.”
A separate “script planning” document from Baldoni noted: “Our team could also explore stories planted around the weaponization of feminism and how people like Taylor Swift have been accused of using these tactics to ‘ bullied’ to get what they want”. (Baldon’s lawsuit included a text from Abel that said, “This document is a general overview … We must prepare as if she will also go through any major press effort. It is a good thing if we all prepare for worst outcome because then if and when it’s not that bad, we’re VERY prepared.”)
After Lively’s appearance, other stars spoke about their experiences. In an Instagram video from December 2024, Kate Beckinsale recalled a time when she was working on a project and was called names after raising concerns about working with an actor. Beckinsale also claimed she was mistreated by someone on her team. Abigail Breslin also defended Lively’s lawsuit following her allegations against her former costar Aaron Eckhart were made public in 2023.
Some stars associated with It ends with Us set have also come out supporting Lively. Costa Rica Jenny Slate said that “the attack on Blake is terribly dark, disturbing and thoroughly menacing”, while the author Colleen Hoover told Lively to “never change.”
