‘Documents Do Not Lie’: Justin Baldoni Files $400 Million Lawsuit Against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds

Over two weeks after Justin Baldoni filed a lawsuit against The New York Times for the feature reporting Blake Lively’s complaint, the director of It Ends With Us continued the legal filing against his co-star Blake Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds.

Variety reports Baldoni sued the Hollywood power couple and accused them of taking over his film, It Ends With Us on Thrusday, Jan. 16. The Jane the Virgin actor’s production company, Wayfarer Studios, acquired the rights of Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel It Ends With Us and its sequel, It Starts With Us, in 2019 and later agreed to star in the film as the male protagonist, Ryle Kincaid. Lively joined the film in January 2023 as Lily Bloom, and Baldoni claimed the actress took over the film’s final editing, and costume designs, and accused her and the Deadpool & Wolverine star of trying to destroy him with false accusations of sexual harassment.

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Baldoni officially filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively and Reynolds in the Southern District of New York. The 179-page complaint accuses the two of civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy.

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.

“At bottom, this is not a case about celebrities sniping at each other in the press,” Baldoni’s lawsuit states. “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.”

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Lively received backlash over her promotion of It Ends With Us, a movie dealing with domestic violence. The actress filed her own lawsuit against Baldoni, producer Jamey Heath, and publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel on Dec. 31, 10 days after lodging her first legal complaint with the California Civil Rights Department ahead of Christmas. The New York Times reported her 80-page lawsuit in a lengthy feature where the Gossip Girl actress accused Baldoni and others of sexual harassment, as well as orchestrating a smear campaign to ruin her reputation over her complaints on the set of the adaptation. Baldoni’s team denied all allegations and promised to sue.

Justin Baldoni’s Lawsuit Reiterates His Previous Lawsuit

Following Lively’s lawsuit, Baldoni filed a $250 million lawsuit against The Times with nine other plaintiffs, including his Wayfarer Studios co-owners and CEO, and his publicists. His lawyer, Bryan Freedman, promised more lawsuits would follow, including one against Deadpool & Wolverine actor Ryan Reynolds, who allegedly used Baldoni as an inspiration for his Deadpool variant, Nicepool.

Reynolds was not directly involved in the production of It Ends With Us, but Blake Lively confirmed during the film’s red carpet premiere the actor re-wrote a pivotal scene in the movie, which was filmed without the screenwriter’s knowledge.

“This lawsuit is a legal action 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, new and doctored information to the media,” Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman said in a statement. “It is clear based on our own all out willingness to provide all complete text messages, emails, video footage and other documentary evidence that was shared between the parties in real time, that this is a battle she will not win and will certainly regret.”

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“Blake Lively was either severely misled by her team or intentionally and knowingly misrepresented the truth,” Freedman continued. “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.”

Source: Variety

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10

It Ends With Us

PG-13

Drama

Romance

Director Justin Baldoni

Release Date August 9, 2024

Cast Blake Lively , Justin Baldoni , Brandon Sklenar , Jenny Slate , Hasan Minhaj , Amy Morton , Kevin McKidd , Isabela Ferrer , Alex Neustaedter , Robert Clohessy , Robyn Lively , Megan Robinson , Robin S. Walker , Emily Baldoni , Adam Mondschein , Caroline Siegrist , Steve Monroe , Daphne Zelle

Runtime 130 Minutes

Studio(s) Columbia Pictures , Wayfarer Studios , Saks Picture Company

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