Another chapter has unfolded in the relentless legal saga between “It Ends With Us” co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.
Escalating his litigiousness, Baldoni has sued Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds for $400 million, alleging that the power couple stole control of Baldoni’s film as a director and orchestrated an effort to destroy his career and reputation with what he’s referring to as false allegations of sexual assault.
In the lawsuit filed on Thursday, Baldoni and his film studio, Wayfarer, have claimed extortion, defamation and breach of contract against Lively and Reynolds, Variety reported.
“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,” the lawsuit stated.
However, within hours of the lawsuit’s filing, Lively’s legal team responded in a statement, writing, “This latest lawsuit from Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its associates is another chapter in the abuser playbook. This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim. This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender.”
Baldoni’s lawsuit is a response to Lively’s civil complaint filed in December that detailed claims of Baldoni and his PR team masterminding an elaborate media smear campaign against her in retaliation for complaints about sexual harassment against Baldoni on set. Her filing included texts from Baldoni’s camp, where they claimed, “We can bury anyone.” Subsequently, The New York Times published a scathing look at the supposed plot against Lively, all allegedly spearheaded by Baldoni.
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The all-out legal brawl between Baldoni and Lively escalated when Baldoni sued The New York Times for defamation, claiming the paper had colluded with Lively to use text messages out of context to defame him.
Now in Baldoni’s new lawsuit against Lively, the director-actor alleges that Lively and Reynolds worked through their agency, WME, which also previously represented Baldoni, to have him dropped for being a “sexual predator” and apologize for “mistakes” on set. According to the lawsuit, if Baldoni disagreed with a statement admitting wrongdoing, “the gloves would come off.”
“They took a stand, knowing full well that Lively and Reynolds would bring the full might of their celebrity artillery against them,” the lawsuit said. “And that is precisely what happened.”
Baldoni also alleged that Reynolds and Lively used their celebrityhood to hijack the film’s directorial and creative vision. Alongside Lively and Reynolds, the lawsuit stated a “megacelebrity friend,” who appears to be Taylor Swift, praised Lively’s cut of the film in front of Baldoni.
Lively’s team has denied this claim: “Wayfarer has opted to use the resources of its billionaire co-founder to issue media statements, launch meritless lawsuits, and threaten litigation to overwhelm the public’s ability to understand that what they are doing is retaliation against sexual harassment allegations.”
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