Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively. Getty Images (2)
Justin Baldoni believes Blake Lively had an influence on how his It Ends With Us costars treated him.
According to Baldoni’s new $400 million lawsuit obtained by Us Weekly on Thursday, January 16, Lively allegedly “induced the other cast members to shun Baldoni, in an early attempt to give fans the impression that Baldoni had committed an egregious sin.”
Court documents stated that Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and It Ends With Us author Colleen Hoover all unfollowed Baldoni on social media.
“Other cast members also unfollowed Baldoni, creating the false impression that Baldoni had done something wrong,” the documents alleged.
UPDATE 1/16/25 at 12:43 p.m. ET: Justin Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios filed a $400 million lawsuit against It Ends With Us costar Blake Lively and her publicist, Leslie Sloane, on Thursday, January 16. In the 179-page filing obtained by Us Weekly, Baldoni claimed that Lively was “determined” to make him a “real-life villain in her story.” […]
“The unfollowing of Baldoni by cast members and even the author of the book, who he had a longstanding relationship with, was done without warning or any communication from them,” the lawsuit alleges, “in stark contrast to the warm praise and appreciation cast members had until that point always showered on him.”
Baldoni’s team proceeded to cite text messages allegedly from cast member Isabela Ferrer who wrote: “Thank you for being a great director and being so wonderful to work with already.”
In December 2024, Lively first accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign against her.
In the complaint obtained by Us, Lively alleged that Baldoni created a “hostile work environment” and caused her “severe emotional distress.”
Justin Baldoni. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, denied the accusations in a statement to Us and claimed Lively filed the suit to “fix her negative reputation” and “rehash a narrative” about what went down before the film hit theaters in August 2024.
After the New York Times published an article outlining Lively’s allegations, the actress received support on social media from cast members including Brandon Sklenar and Jenny Slate as well as Hoover, who also served as an executive producer.
“Blake Lively you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met,” Hoover wrote via her Instagram Story in December 2024. “Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt.”
In a second statement, Hoover declared that “Blake’s ability to refuse to sit down and ‘be buried’ has been nothing short of inspiring.”
Following Baldoni’s lawsuit against Lively, his attorney released a statement to Us stating the suit “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.”
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s reported rift made headlines months before the It Ends With Us costars filed lawsuits. While Lively and Baldoni promoted the film in August 2024, rumors began swirling of an alleged feud between the pair. Fans noticed that Lively was promoting the movie with some of her costars while Baldoni, who […]
The statement continued, “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. Blake Lively was either severely misled by her team or intentionally and knowingly misrepresented the truth.”
“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 statement read. “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.”
Us reached out to Lively’s rep for comment on the lawsuit.