Justin Baldoni is suing Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds for at least $400 million.
Baldoni filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York on Thursday, January 16, 2025, against Lively and Reynolds. This is the latest development in the highly-publicized drama that has unfolded since the premiere of 2024’s It Ends with Us, which Baldoni directed and starred in alongside Lively.
Why is Justin Baldoni suing Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds?
The lawsuit, per Variety, accuses Lively and Reynolds of “civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy.” He is seeking at least $400 million in damages.
Lively previously filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, producer Jamey Heath, and publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel on Dec. 31, 2024. She accused Baldoni of “orchestrating a clandestine media smear campaign against her, in retaliation for her complaints about sexual harassment on the set of the film.”
Baldoni then sued the New York Times for $250 million after the publication “first reported Lively’s CRD complaint.” Baldoni alleged that “the paper had worked with Lively’s team, taking the text messages out of context in order to defame him.”
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, promised that more lawsuits would follow after the New York Times complaint was filed.
“This lawsuit 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,” Freedman said in a statement regarding the lawsuit against Lively and Reynolds. “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.”
He continued, “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. 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.”
Read Justin Baldoni’s full, 179-complaint by clicking here. You can also read Blake Lively’s lawsuit here.
