Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds are accused of ‘bullying’ the producer and director of the film It Ends With Us, Justin Baldoni, in a bombshell lawsuit which says Reynolds ‘berated’ Baldoni in a heated meeting at their New York penthouse.
Reynolds, one of the biggest stars in Hollywood who is on a high after the success of last year’s movie Deadpool & Wolverine, is said to have ‘aggressively’ accused Baldoni of a string of offences against his wife, including ‘fat shaming’ her.
On the evening of January 4 last year, the lawsuit says Baldoni plus other producers and a representative of Sony were invited to the home shared by the couple.
It says: ‘They arrived eager to discuss plans for the next day’s filming, prepared with their production materials. Instead, they were blindsided by Lively and Reynolds, who presented a list of grievances that were both unanticipated and troubling.
‘Reynolds launched into a tirade, berating Baldoni in what Baldoni later described as a ‘traumatic’ encounter, stating he had ‘never been spoken to like that in his life.’
Reynolds demanded an apology to Lively for actions that were mischaracterised and demonstrably false, the lawsuit says.
It adds: ‘When Baldoni resisted apologising for what he had not done, Reynolds became further enraged. Everyone, including the producer Lively had asked production to engage and a representative of Sony that was in attendance, left that ‘meeting’ in shock. The producer offered that in his 40-year career he had never seen anyone speak to someone like that.’
Baldoni says after the filming was complete that Lively took over the movie project from him, refused to walk the red carpet with him or let him attend its premiere, and that she and husband Reynolds allegedly used their power to try and damage him.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds attend the It Ends with Us premiere in New York last August
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in a scene from It Ends With Us, which came out last August
Blake Lively previously shared a glimpse on social media inside the New York penthouse
The lawsuit says that in July last year, before the film’s release, he got word that: ‘during the premiere of his movie Deadpool & Wolverine, Reynolds approached Baldoni’s agent at William Morris Endeavor and demanded that the agent ‘drop’ Baldoni.’
The lawsuit was filed last night against the New York Times after its story on December 20 said that a Hollywood ‘smear machine’ had been summoned into action to discredit Lively.
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That article was based in part on an 80-page legal complaint filed by Lively which accused Baldoni and his partner of sexual harassment.
Instead, says the lawsuit, the ‘true source of tension between Lively and plaintiffs.. was Lively’s brazen and calculated effort to expropriate the film.’
Lawyer Bryan Freedman promises to file more lawsuits in the coming days.
Lawyers acting for Baldoni and his publicists have produced a wealth of text, email and WhatsApp evidence which they say proves that Lively undertook a ‘hostile take over’ of the film.
It lays out a litany of alleged diva behaviour by the actress. It says that she ‘disrupted’ the film by refusing to meet with an intimacy coordinator, demanded that her wardrobe was changed and that outfits were taken to her home so that she could look at them, and added lines to the film.
Eventually she took over editing the movie and produced her own cut.
It is alleged that she ‘threatened’ producers Sony that she would walk out and eventually wrested full control from Baldoni.
Justin Baldoni in a scene from It Ends With Us which was released in the UK on August 9, 2024
Blake Lively poses for photographers at a photo call for It Ends With Us in London last August
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni on the set of It Ends with Us in Jersey City on January 12, 2024
She then allegedly demanded a PGA (Producers Guild of America) credit, and despite feeling that she had not done enough to get a producing credit, Jamey Heath wrote a letter in her support, which is produced.
Baldoni says that he, his family and friends were not invited to the film’s after party, were forbidden from the red carpet and on the night of the premiere even ended up sheltering in a basement holding area because Lively wouldn’t permit them to be in the same room as her.
The lawsuit says that the allegations that Baldoni, aided by crisis PRs Melissa Nathan and Jen Abel at TAG, created a global smear campaign against the actress are false, and this was a strategy used by Lively to try and reclaim her damaged public image.
The New York Times ran an August 16 text exchange in which Nathan allegedly shared a link to an article with Abel.
The text exchange shows Abel responding, ‘Wow,’ followed by, ‘You really outdid yourself with this one,’ to which Nathan allegedly replied, ‘That’s why you hired me, right? I’m the best.’
The lawsuit says that these text messages were altered and edited.
The lawsuit includes a longer version of the exchange. In it, Nathan forwards a screenshot of an article and writes: ‘Damn this is not fair because it’s also not me,’ followed by, ‘Everything now looks like it’s me.’
Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively in a scene from It Ends With Us, released by Sony Pictures
Blake Lively is photographed in the Meatpacking District of New York City on July 31, 2024
Her following statement: ‘That’s why you hired me, right? I’m the best’ just sarcastic, ‘facetious juvenile banter’ and not evidence of a conspiracy, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit adds: ‘The Times, like Lively, misrepresented these communications to support its salacious and unfounded ‘smear campaign’ narrative…Any negative press about Lively was unequivocally a consequence of her own action
‘Lively’s marketing efforts, which included encouraging audiences to ‘grab your friends, wear your florals’ while promoting her hair care and alcohol brands, were widely criticized as insensitive.
‘This was particularly glaring given World Health Organization statistics showing that 55 per cent of domestic violence incidents involve alcohol.
‘Her actions naturally triggered organic public criticism and unleashed a cycle of negative coverage, including, as is common in the digital age, the resurfacing of old, unflattering content.
‘Far from being the product of a calculated smear campaign by plaintiffs, the backlash against Lively was the inevitable fallout of her own tone-deaf messaging and self-promotional tactics, amplified by her inability to read the room in addressing such a serious subject.’ As Nathan says in another text: ‘None of us would ever do this. Its organic she’s blown herself by her own actions’.’
Accusations of sexual harassment against Heath and Baldoni are denied. The New York Times said that Heath showed Lively a video of his naked wife which she had mistaken for pornography.
The lawsuit shows a still image from the video and adds: ‘This claim is patently absurd. The video in question was a (non-pornographic) recording of Heath’s wife and baby during a home birth—a deeply personal one with no sexual overtone. To distort this benign event into an act of sexual misconduct is outrageous.’ The video was shown as part of a ‘creative discussion’ to prepare for a birthing scene in the film.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in a scene from It Ends With Us, which came out last August
Justin Baldoni attends a Variety awards ceremony in Beverly Hills on December 4, 2024
The New York Times also said that both men entered her make up trailer uninvited and when she was topless. The lawsuit says that Lively invited Baldoni into her trailer while she was ‘pumping’ (expressing breast milk) so that they could work out their lines. It includes a text message allegedly from Lively which runs: ‘I’m just pumping in my trailer if you wanna work out some lines.’
The lawsuit notes: ‘Both Heath and Baldoni have children, and are comfortable around breastfeeding mothers, and Lively seemed equally comfortable. As revealed in a text message exchange between Baldoni and Lively less than two weeks into filming, Lively invited Baldoni to her trailer to rehearse lines while she was pumping breast milk.
‘Breastfeeding was an activity she often conducted openly in the presence of both Baldoni and Heath, including during production meetings… Lively suggests Heath walked in her trailer unannounced while ‘in state of undress’ and topless, which is false.
‘Heath was invited into her trailer, along with a female producer, Baldoni, and a Sony representative for a meeting requested by Lively. Mr Heath arrived first to see if Lively was ready for the meeting, and after knocking and being invited in, saw that Lively was breastfeeding. She was not topless. She was having makeup removed from her collar bone while fully-covered.
‘Heath asked if they should return at a later time. Lively said no, they could move forward with the meeting as initially planned and would meet them after she finished removing makeup.
‘Roughly two weeks later Lively announced that she thought she had seen Heath make eye contact with her. Heath immediately apologised and said he hadn’t even realized he looked her way, in response to which Lively remarked, ‘I know you weren’t trying to cop a look.’
Accusations that Baldoni improvised unwanted kissing and discussed his sex life in ways which were inappropriate are said to be ‘misleading.’
The lawsuit says: ‘Lively refused to meet with the intimacy coordinator to plan out the Film’s sex scenes. Baldoni, in turn, was forced to meet with the intimacy coordinator alone and relay any suggestions to Lively separately.
Justin Baldoni at the premiere of It Ends with Us at AMC Lincoln Square in New York last August
‘Notwithstanding Baldoni’s reluctance, he and Lively would later sketch out the scenes together, absent the intimacy coordinator. As part of those creative discussions, Baldoni and Lively sought to personalise and develop their characters and, in doing so, engaged in conversation about their individual experiences.
‘The Times… characterises this discussion as an inappropriate attempt by Baldoni to talk about his sex life – it was not. More still, Baldoni consistently acted at the direction of the intimacy coordinator.’
The lawsuit says that claims Baldoni made inappropriate comments about Lively’s appearance are also misleading.
He had actually been ‘relaying’ ‘concerns’ allegedly shared by Sony over reaction to her wardrobe from pictures taken during filming, it is claimed.
The lawsuit says Lively leveraging this conversation to support an allegation of harassment was ‘the beginning of a troubling pattern of manipulative behaviour.’
The lawsuit goes on: ‘The fact is that Lively embarked on a hostile takeover of the production, strong-arming Sony into blessing her with ultimate control.
‘As they became increasingly frantic and unsettled by the usurpation of their roles, Baldoni remained resolute that they continue to take the ‘high road’ and be proud of the ‘beautiful baby’ they had all made together.
‘Notwithstanding, Lively waged war on Baldoni, weaponizing innocuous interactions from May and June 2023 – long before there was any tension between them – to vilify and discredit him. At the time, Baldoni and Lively had a solid working relationship, and Lively expressed no unease around him.’