Actor and director Justin Baldoni has initiated a $400 million defamation lawsuit against actress Blake Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, over allegations tied to the film It Ends With Us. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in a New York federal court, accuses Lively and Reynolds of damaging Baldoni’s reputation and impacting his future earnings.
The legal action also names Baldoni’s production company, Wayfarer Studios, and his publicist, Leslie Sloane, as parties to the case. This development follows a prior lawsuit by Lively against Baldoni and others, in which she alleged harassment and claimed she faced a smear campaign after raising concerns about her treatment on set.
In response, Baldoni had previously sued The New York Times, accusing the publication of collaborating with Lively to defame him. His latest lawsuit asserts that he and Wayfarer Studios were left with no alternative but to address Lively’s accusations publicly.
“Lively has left us with no choice,” the lawsuit reads, “not only to correct the narrative but also to shine a light on the darker sides of Hollywood that we’ve worked to challenge.”
Leslie Sloane, the publicist representing both Lively and Reynolds, has not yet issued a statement regarding the lawsuit.
According to NBC News, both Lively and Reynolds are represented by WME, a talent agency that dropped Baldoni as a client shortly before Lively’s lawsuit. This decision came after The New York Times published a report detailing the controversy surrounding the film.
The film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel has become an unexpected success, reigniting conversations in Hollywood about the treatment of female actors on set and in the media.
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