Blake Lively filed a $250 million libel lawsuit against director and co-star Justin Baldoni, alleging he orchestrated a smear campaign to discredit her after she reported “sexually inappropriate behavior” on the set of their 2024 film.
Baldoni plans to countersue, claiming new text messages between the two will be released for the public to see. Entertainment lawyer Bryan Freedman stated his client is willing to share all existing text messages and put them online for everyone to review.
Lively accused Baldioni and his team of launching a smear campaign after she reported workplace safety concerns and alleged “sexually inappropriate behavior.” The campaign allegedly included creating negative social media threads, planting false stories in the media, and targeting Lively’s personal life.
The drama began when Lively filed her initial complaint, prompting an outpouring of support from several celebrities, including author Emily G. Robinson and actresses like America Ferrera and Amber Tamblyn.
Lively initially accused Baldoni and his team of orchestrating a smear campaign against her after she reported workplace safety concerns. The fallout continued when a lawsuit revealed that entertainment lawyer Jones had provided the text messages at the center of the dispute to Lively’s team.
In one message, Baldoni suggested “flipping the narrative” on a positive story about Lively and co-star Ryan Reynolds.
However, some celebrities expressed support for Baldoni after he lost his Vital Voices award due to public backlash against him.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2025/01/03/justin-baldoni-plans-to-sue-blake-lively-latest-on-the-it-ends-with-us-feud