Actor Justin Baldoni filed a defamation lawsuit against Hollywood stars Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds on Thursday, claiming he tried to destroy the actress by accusing them of sexual harassment and then a smear. Retaliated against them through the campaign.
The lawsuit is the latest legal action in a dispute over the 2024 film “It Ends With This,” which starred Miss Lively and Mr. Baldoni, who also directed it.
The 179-page complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, names Ms. Lively and Mr. Reynolds, her husband, as defendants, as well as their publicist, Leslie Sloane, and their company, VisionP. R was nominated. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Mr. Baldoni. The film’s lead producer, Jamie Heath; his production company, Wayfarer Studios; and publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel. They are seeking $400 million in damages.
Representatives for Ms. Lively’s team did not respond to a request for comment.
Published by the New York Times. An essay On December 21st about Ms. Lively’s allegations against Mr. Baldoni. She claimed in a complaint filed a day earlier with the California Department of Civil Rights that Mr. Baldoni began the campaign after he sexually harassed her during the filming of “It’s Over With Us.” Accused of
The Times report cited private text messages and emails obtained by Ms. Lively through a subpoena and included. Complaint.
The complaint alleges that the messages show Mr. Baldoni and his business partner, Mr. Heath, working with a crisis public relations specialist to tarnish Ms. Lively’s reputation because they feared the misconduct would Claims will become public. Ms. Lively sued Mr. Baldoni and others in federal court in New York City on Dec. 31.
That same day, Mr. Baldoni filed. Defamation lawsuit against The New York Times in Los Angeles, accusing the newspaper of relying on Ms Lively’s “unverified and self-serving narrative”. He reiterated some of the claims against the publication in the lawsuit filed on Thursday.
The Times has said it plans to vigorously defend itself against Mr. Baldoni’s claims against the publication. Danielle Rhodes, a Times spokeswoman, added in a statement Thursday: “The allegations against The New York Times in this new lawsuit are baseless and recycled from the equally baseless claims filed against The Times in California. have been done.”
In his countersuit against Ms. Lively, Mr. Baldoni said the actress used her star power to hijack “every aspect” of his film and then tried to blame him while promoting the film. His public image was affected by the choice he made. its market. He accused her of trying to make him “the real-life villain in her story” and colluding with The Times to “create a false and damaging narrative”.
“This is about two of the most powerful stars in the world using their immense power to wrest an entire movie out of the hands of its director and production studio,” the lawsuit states. “Then, when Lively and Reynolds’ efforts failed to win them the praise they believed they richly deserved, they turned their anger on their chosen scapegoat.”
Mr Baldoni denied that Ms Lively was allegedly sexually harassed or targeted, and said he was the victim of such a campaign.