Justin Baldoni sues Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds for $400m as It Ends With Us legal feud heats up
by Josef Al Shemary · LBCBy Josef Al Shemary
It Ends With Us actor and director Justin Baldoni has filed a $400m (£327m) suit against his co-star Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds for defamation.
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The actor-director is claiming the couple wanted to ‘destroy’ his reputation with allegations of sexual harassment and purposely sabotaged the production and marketing of the film It Ends With Us, which he directed and starred in alongside Blake Lively.
Baldoni’s lawsuit, filed on Thursday, is the most recent step in a bitter legal battle surrounding the film.
He is seeking 400 million US dollars (£327 million) for damages including lost future income.
The lawsuit - filed by Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios - comes the same day that Baldoni sued the New York Times for libel, alleging the paper worked with Lively to smear him.
Baldoni also alleges that Lively and Reynolds manipulated the media to smear Baldoni and others that worked on the film with false allegations of sexual harassment.
The lawsuit, which also names publicist Leslie Sloane as a defendant, comes about two weeks after Lively sued Baldoni and several others tied to the film, alleging harassment and a co-ordinated campaign to attack her reputation for coming forward about her treatment on the set.
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Baldoni's complaint, filed in federal court in New York, says the plaintiffs did not want to file the suit, but that Lively "has unequivocally left them with no choice,
"Not only to set the record straight in response to Lively's accusations, but also to put the spotlight on the parts of Hollywood that they have dedicated their careers to being the antithesis of".
An email seeking comment from Ms Sloane, whose PR company represents both Lively and Reynolds, was not immediately answered.
The two actors are also both represented by agency WME, which dropped Baldoni as a client after Lively filed her lawsuit and the Times published its story on the fight surrounding the film.
Blake Lively sued Justin Baldoni over allegations of sexual harassment around three weeks ago.
Lively claimed Baldoni fostered a toxic workplace environment and showed her nude videos and pictures of other women as he told her of his alleged porn addiction, according to a report by TMZ.
Lively, who is married to Ryan Reynolds, starred alongside Baldoni in the on-screen adaptation of Coleen Hoover’s “It Ends With US” earlier this year.
The Gossip Girl actress alleges Baldoni set out to “destroy” her reputation following their tense time on set together.
Baloni’s lawyer strongly denied these claims.
He branded them “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt.”
Lively is attempting to “fix her negative reputation” the lawyer claims.
He accused her of "threatening to not show up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release.”
He added: “It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions.”
Lively has claimed Baldoni made inappropriate inquiries about her weight, comments about her dead father and sexual remarks about the cast and crew.
Alongside her husband Ryan Reynolds, crisis talks were instigated to put a stop to the behaviour, the lawsuit states.
Lively also requested: "No more adding of sex scenes, oral sex or on camera climaxing by BL [Blake Lively] outside the scope of the script BL approved when signing onto the project," per the filings.
She went on to say that Baldoni's team engaged in a "social manipulation" campaign to ruin her reputation.
The lawsuit includes text messages from the director's publicist to the studio which allegedly say Baldoni, "wants to feel like [Lively] can be buried, and 'We can't write we will destroy her".
But Baldoni's lawyer Bryan Freedman says the lawsuit is "false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt".
He says legal action is an attempt by Lively to detract from her supposed diva-like behaviour on set.
Back in early August, the Hollywood Reporter confirmedthat a rift between Lively, who also served as a producer on the film, and Baldoni was genuine.
The surprise hit film based on the novel by Colleen Hoover has made major waves in Hollywood and led to discussions of the treatment of female actors both on sets and in media.