Justin Baldoni, an actor, filed a defamation lawsuit against Hollywood stars Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds on Thursday. He accused them of trying to ruin his reputation by falsely accusing him of sexual harassment and then retaliating against him through a smear campaign.
The lawsuit stems from a dispute related to the 2024 film “It Ends With Us,” in which both Lively and Baldoni were involved.
The 179-page complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. It named Lively, Reynolds, their publicist Leslie Sloane, and her company Vision PR as defendants. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Baldoni, the film’s lead producer Jamey Heath, their production company Wayfarer Studios, and publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel. They are seeking $400 million in damages.
Representatives for Lively did not respond to a request for comment.
The New York Times published an article on Dec. 21 detailing Lively’s allegations against Baldoni. She claimed he initiated a smear campaign against her after she accused him of sexual harassment during the filming of “It Ends With Us.”
The Times report cited private text messages and emails obtained by Lively through a subpoena, which she included in her complaint.
The complaint alleged that the messages showed Baldoni and his business partner Heath working with a crisis PR expert to tarnish Lively’s reputation. Lively sued Baldoni and others in federal court in NYC.
On the same day, Baldoni filed a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times in LA, accusing them of relying on Lively’s narrative. He repeated some claims in the lawsuit filed on Thursday.
The Times plans to defend itself against Baldoni’s claims. A Times spokeswoman called the allegations in the new lawsuit meritless and recycled.
In his countersuit against Lively, Baldoni denied the allegations of sexual harassment and a smear campaign. He claimed Lively tried to shift blame onto him and colluded with The Times to create a false narrative.
The lawsuit described a situation where Lively and Reynolds used their power to take control of a film from its director and studio. When their efforts did not yield the desired results, they targeted Baldoni.
Baldoni refuted the claims of sexual harassment and the smear campaign, stating that he was actually the victim of such actions.