Justin Baldoni sues Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, claiming they tried to “destroy” him

Baldoni is accusing Lively and Reynolds of civil extortion, defamation and invasion of privacy and is seeking at least $400million in damages

Justin Baldoni has sued Blake Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds, alleging that they hijacked his film It Ends With Us and attempted to “destroy” him with false allegations of sexual harassment.

This comes just a few weeks after Lively filed a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint with the California Civil Rights Department against Baldoni, claiming his behaviour on set caused her “severe emotional distress”. It also stated that the director created a hostile working environment on set and claimed he had been trying to tarnish Lively’s reputation with a targeted social media campaign.

In the aftermath of Blakely’s suit, Baldoni was dropped by his talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME). He also had a women’s solidarity award rescinded.

Later, it was reported that Baldoni was reportedly planning to produce a counterclaim against Lively that his lawyer said would “shock everyone”. Baldoni has now delivered this claim, which was fired yesterday (January 16) in the Southern District of New York.

Baldoni accuses Lively and Reynolds of civil extortion, defamation and invasion of privacy. The 179-page suit seeks at least $400million in damages.

“At bottom, this is not a case about celebrities sniping at each other in the press,” reads the filing. “This is a case about two of the most powerful stars in the world deploying their enormous power to steal an entire film right out of the hands of its director and production studio… When Plaintiffs have their day in court, the jury will recognize that even the most powerful celebrity cannot bend the truth to her will.”

Baldoni’s lawsuit argues that the full record shows that Lively’s own suit presented a skewed version of events.

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“Blake Lively was either severely misled by her team or intentionally and knowingly misrepresented the truth,” said Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman. “Ms. Lively will never again be allowed to continue to exploit actual victims of real harassment solely for her personal reputation gain at the expense of those without power. Let’s not forget, Ms. Lively and her team attempted to bulldoze reputations and livelihoods for heinously selfish reasons through their own dangerous manipulation of the media before even taking any actual legal action. We know the truth, and now the public does too. Justin and his team have nothing to hide, documents do not lie.”

Elsewhere, the suit alleges that after the film’s premiere, Lively and Reynolds worked through their agency, WME, to try to get Baldoni and his allies to publicly apologise for unspecified “mistakes” during production. This would have required Baldoni and Heath to take the blame for his rift with Lively, and therefore “fall on their sword, despite having done nothing wrong,” as per the lawsuit. If they refused, the suit alleged, “the gloves would come off.” Baldoni and Heath allegedly refused to do it, fearing it could be career-ending.

“They took a stand, knowing full well that Lively and Reynolds would bring the full might of their celebrity artillery against them,” read the lawsuit. “And that is precisely what happened.”

In addition, the lawsuit claims that Lively arranged to serve the L.A.-based defendants in her case while they were monitoring evacuation orders during the ongoing fires and packing up “go-bags” in case they had to flee their homes.

Lively and Reynolds have not yet responded to the suit.

The lawsuit follows a similar one filed against the New York Times, who depicted Lively’s alleged sexual harassment at the hands of Baldoni. The actor is one of 10 plaintiffs in the suit, alongside publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel and It Ends With Us producers Jamey Heath and Steve Sarowitz, who are suing the newspaper for libel and false light invasion of privacy.

They claim the story in question relied on “cherry-picked” communications that were “stripped” of context in a deliberate attempt to mislead the reader (via Variety).

It also claims that Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds aggressively berated Baldoni, accusing him of “fat-shaming” Lively and pressing Baldoni’s agency WME to drop the director.

A New York Times spokesperson has responded: “The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead. Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article.”

“To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the other subjects of the article and their representatives have not pointed to a single error. We published their full statement in response to the allegations in the article as well. We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”

Lively said in a statement to the New York Times, “I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.”

Meanwhile, Baldoni, his company Wayfarer Studios and his current publicity team are being sued by his former publicist over alleged breach of contract and the purported smear campaign against Lively.

For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.