Justin Baldoni is suing Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds for $400 million, alleging that the Hollywood power couple tried to ‘destroy’ him

CNN
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Justin Baldoni has sued Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, alleging the Hollywood couple tried to “destroy” him and his career after hijacking his film “It Ends With Us.”

Baldoni’s complaint is the latest escalation in the ongoing legal battle stemming from the film, which Baldoni directed and starred in alongside Lively.

“This is not a case of celebrities sneaking up on each other in the press. This is a case of two of the most powerful stars in the world using their enormous power to steal an entire movie right out of the hands of its director and production studio,” the lawsuit states.

“Lively wields enormous power as one of the world’s most well-known celebrities,” the suit continues, alleging that Lively “used that power to assume control of the film,” which was directed by Baldoni and produced and co-financed by Baldoni’s production company. “She set out to destroy the Plaintiffs’ livelihoods and businesses if they did not bow to her incessant demands, and when they refused to give in, she did just that, accusing them of gross and reprehensible sexual misconduct.”

The 179-page complaint — in which Baldoni is seeking $400 million and demanding a jury trial — was filed in the Southern District of New York on behalf of Baldoni, his company Wayfarer Studios, as well as his producing partner, Jamey Heath, his crisis manager, Melissa Nathan, his publicist Jennifer Abel and It Ends With Us LLC. The defendants are accused of civil extortion, defamation and invasion of privacy.

“Lively stole Wayfarer’s films, hijacked Wayfarer’s premiere, destroyed Plaintiffs’ personal and professional reputations and livelihoods, and intended to drive Plaintiffs completely out of business,” the lawsuit states.

The ongoing saga between Lively and Baldoni erupted in December when Lively first filed a civil rights complaint alleging that she was sexually harassed by Baldoni during the production of the film and then retaliated against for speaking up about her alleged mistreatment. Baldoni immediately denied Lively’s claims.

Lively eventually escalated her civil rights complaint and officially filed a lawsuit against Baldoni just weeks ago.

Lively claimed that after being sexually harassed with inappropriate comments and behavior on set, Baldoni’s team orchestrated a smear campaign against her to destroy her reputation in the public sphere. Lively’s complaint contained hundreds of text messages between Baldoni and his crisis PR team, including one text saying they could “bury” her.

Baldoni’s new suit presents a very different perspective, accusing Lively of actually defaming Baldoni.

“Although Lively claimed that Baldoni was the one who smeared her, the reality is that it was Lively and her team who carefully planned and implemented a vile smear campaign against Baldoni and Wayfarer to deflect attention and blame for Lively’s catastrophic misjudgments,” it said that in Baldoni’s case. “Lively wanted to recast herself as the long-suffering martyr by portraying Baldoni and Wayfarer as her persecutors: the masterminds behind a smear campaign that evidence will show did not exist.”

The public legal battle has exposed the inner workings of the teams behind Hollywood stars, with multiple lawsuits all accusing publicists on both sides of wrongdoing.

Lively and Reynolds’ publicist, Leslie Sloan, is also named as a defendant along with Lively and Reynolds in the complaint filed Thursday.

Sloan did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment on her behalf or for her clients, Lively and Reynolds.

Baldoni’s team has said Lively’s lawsuit contained “cherry picked” text messages that only told her side of the story.

After Lively filed her initial complaint, Baldoni sued the New York Times in a $250 million lawsuit, accusing the newspaper — which was the first to report Lively’s allegations — of working with Lively’s team to publish a one-sided article, that benefited Lively and featured doctors. proof. Baldoni’s case against the publication included several text messages that appeared to show additional context.

The New York Times has denied Baldoni’s claims and said it stands by its reporting.

Bryan Freedman, the attorney representing Baldoni and all the plaintiffs, told CNN in a statement Thursday that he has an “overwhelming amount of untampered evidence” that proves Lively, Reynolds and their team tried to destroy Baldoni and his team by “convey grossly edited, undocumented, new and elaborate information to the media.”

“Justin and his team have nothing to hide, documents don’t lie,” Freedman said. “Ms. Lively will never again be allowed to continue to exploit actual victims of real harassment solely to gain her personal reputation at the expense of those without power.”

“It Ends With Us” explores intimate partner violence. The central couple is played by Baldoni and Lively. The film, based on the best-selling book of the same name, earned more than $350 million globally at the box office.

“Heartbreakingly, a film that Baldoni envisioned years ago would honor the survivors of domestic violence by telling their story, with the lofty goal of making a positive impact in the world, has now been eclipsed beyond recognition solely as a result of Livelys acts and cruelty,” his suit states.

Baldoni’s lawsuit alleges that Lively sought to take over much of the film’s creative direction, including having her husband, Reynolds, rewrite a scene and make “unauthorized changes to the script in secret.” (Reynolds had no formal role on “It Ends With Us.”)

The suit alleges that Lively “summoned” Baldoni to the penthouse she shares with Reynolds in New York City for a meeting about the script, where Reynolds, along with a “megacelebrity friend” of the pair, praised Lively’s proposed revisions to the script.

“As the meeting ended, a famous and famous close friend of Reynolds and Lively walked into the room and began similarly praising Lively’s script,” the lawsuit states. “Baldoni understood the subtext: he had to follow Lively’s direction for the script.”

One of the text messages included in Baldoni’s suit appears to show an exchange between Baldoni and Lively about the script: “I really love what you did. It really helps a lot. Makes it so much more fun and interesting. ( And I would have felt that way without Ryan and Taylor,” he wrote with a winking emoji. “You are truly a talent across the board. Really excited and grateful to be doing this together.”

While Baldoni’s text message does not include a last name for “Taylor,” Lively is close friends with artist Taylor Swift. CNN has reached out to representatives for Baldoni, Lively, Reynolds and Taylor Swift to inquire whether the “Taylor” mentioned in Baldoni’s text is in fact Swift.

According to Baldoni’s lawsuit, a screenshot of a text message shows that Lively then replied to Baldoni, “It’s much appreciated,” then wrote, “We’re in this together.” In the same text message, Lively later wrote, “I have no motives other than you to win. As an actor. As a studio. As a writer. If you win, I win. If you win, our movie wins. We’re aligned. And I will bring everything I have to this.”

CNN has not independently verified any text messages included in Baldoni’s or Lively’s lawsuits.

The new suit also alleges that Reynolds once “bathed Baldoni and accused him of making his wife look fat” at the couple’s New York home. Baldoni denied the allegation in his lawsuit, saying he asked his trainer about Lively’s weight so he could prepare for a scene where he would have to lift her while working with a back injury.

Baldoni’s latest lawsuit brings Reynolds — one of Hollywood’s highest-grossing A-list stars — into the legal drama. Baldoni’s previous filings have named Reynolds, but now he is officially named as a defendant, accused of helping his wife take over the film and kill Baldoni’s career.

After Lively’s first complaint accused Baldoni of sexual harassment, Baldoni was dropped as a client by talent agency WME, which also represents Lively and Reynolds. Baldoni’s lawsuit accuses Reynolds of encouraging WME to drop Baldoni, which the agency has denied.

In the wake of Lively’s lawsuit, Baldoni also had an award from a women’s organization revoked. Baldoni’s public image has become intertwined with feminism—the actor and filmmaker hosted a TED Talk and a podcast about redefining masculinity.