- Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni co-starred in It Ends With Us
- Lively plays Lily Bloom and Baldoni plays Ryle Kincaid
- She released a lawsuit against Baldoni and Baldoni has counter-sued
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni starred together in It Ends With Us but it ended in tears. Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni in December 2024 and his production studio Wayfayer, claiming he launched a smear campaign against her in the press and sexually assaulted her.
The Lively and Baldoni lawsuit saga has dominated the news cycle for weeks, and the updates keep on coming. In January 2025, Baldoni filed a $400 million countersuit against Lively, refuting her allegations.
Read more: The Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni drama explained
The public has been divided about who is telling the truth in the saga, with evidence being released on either side. In response to Lively’s allegations which were reported on by The New York Times, Baldoni sued the outlet for libel for $250 million.
The Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni legal drama
The New York Times defended the article. At the end of December 2024, Lively filed her lawsuit against Baldoni, alleging that he and his PR team attempted to ruin her reputation in the press because she spoke about alleged sexual harassment. The actress put forward texts and other evidence to support her claim.
Read More: Deadpool and Wolverine tried to ‘bully’ Justin Baldoni, say legal team
Here is where it gets messy. Baldoni filed his countersuit against Lively accusing her of trying to ruin his reputation and his career. He also alleged that she tried to create a false narrative about him in the press thanks to her stardom and caused him emotional and financial harm.
With new footage of the actors talking on-set coming to light, the court of public opinion is more confused than ever. Join us as we break down the latest in the Lively and Baldoni lawsuit situation.
What did Blake Lively allege in her lawsuit?
Her complaint was first filed with the California Civil Rights Department.
The lawsuit was filed after Baldoni and his lawyer denied the allegations in the complaint. She accused him of sexual assault and creating a hostile work environment. Named in the lawsuit are Baldoni, Wayfarer, producer of the film Jamey Heath and Baldoni’s PR team, Jennifer Abel, Melissa Nathan, and others.
The lawsuit was damning against Baldoni, stating that he allegedly tried to get Lively to engage in unwanted physical scenes. The scenes in question were improvised kissing scenes, and scenes with physical touching. The suit also claimed he did this without an intimacy coordinator on set.
Lively’s legal team claimed these incidents prompted her to file the lawsuit.
The meeting
The lawsuit details a meditation meeting attended by Lively, her husband Ryan Renolds, and employees of Wayfayer and Baldoni. In the meeting, the lawsuit claims Lively made her concerns known about Baldoni’s behavior, including him allegedly showing her photos of naked women, discussions about her weight, and more misconduct.
She reportedly requested that there be no more improvised kissing or touching by Lively or Heath and that there be an intimacy coordinator on set for the scenes. There were other demands detailed in the lawsuit also.
The smear campaign
The bigger part of the lawsuit speaks about Baldoni’s team and their alleged intention to damage Lively’s image and make himself look good on the It Ends With Us press tour. The document also shows some redacted text messages supposedly between Baldoni and his employees that supposedly orchestrated a plan to destroy Lively in the press. The team was accused of planting stories in the media that were not in favor of Lively.
What did Baldoni’s legal team say ?
Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman denied the allegations in a statement to The New York Times, calling them “categorically false”. The formal response by Baldoni’s team was to file the $400 million suit that has everyone talking. Yes, that lawsuit has kept the Lively and Baldoni lawsuit drama in the news.
Bryan Freedman’s statement
However, Freedman’s statement on behalf of Baldoni was even longer. It continued: “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.”
Their statement continued, claiming crisis PR was necessary to manage threats the actress supposedly made on-set. They also argued that the text messages shown by Lively were “cherry-picked”.
What did Baldoni’s lawsuit say?
Baldoni’s lawsuit named Lively and Reynolds. Baldoni is suing the actors on the grounds of defamation, civil extortion, and the invasion of privacy.
The 40-year-old’s lawsuit has claimed that Lively’s team made a “duplicitous attempt to destroy” him. His lawyer also claimed that Lively’s team intended to destroy Baldoni’s reputation and his career for “heinously selfish reasons”. Yikes.
Allegations also arose of Lively taking over the movie, and allegedly trying to get Baldoni taken away from the premiere. On this allegation, there are claims made he and his family and employees were put in the basement of the venue where the US premiere took place. Baldoni shared a picture of the reported basement incident.
Did Lively respond?
Lively’s legal team promptly responded to the lawsuit – and so the Lively and Baldoni lawsuit drama continues…
In a statement, her team said: “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.”
The statement continued, claiming Baldoni’s team was trying to change the narrative by claiming that Lively took control on the set of It Ends With Us. For context, Baldoni is the director of the movie, and Lively is a producer.
The statement finished by saying: “The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate, it does not refute the evidence in Ms Lively’s complaint, and it will fail.”
Are there any other updates?
Other than the thousands of press stories against the two, there are some updates. On January 21, Baldoni’s legal team released a seven-minute video of Baldoni and Lively interacting on set while shooting the dance scene in the film.
The clip seems to reveal that the two are talking professionally, talking shop. There is a moment where Baldoni says she “smells good”. But you can decide.
The full clip is available online.
Blake Lively responds
The Gossip Girl star is not taking the video release lying down. Lively has hit out at the video released by Baldoni’s legal team.
Lively’s legal team spoke to the MailOnline: “Justin Baldoni and his lawyer may hope that this latest stunt will get ahead of the damaging evidence against him, but the video itself is damning,” they said.
The actress’ legal team also alleges that the video shows the accusations Lively described in her lawsuit. Specifically, they claim the video shows Baldoni “attempting to kiss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, flicking her lip with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and talking with her out of character”.
On the intention of releasing the video, they claim Baldoni’s team did it to “manipulate the public” and continue their campaign against Lively.
And that’s it. While the case is ongoing, stay tuned for updates on the Lively and Baldoni lawsuit.
