The behind-the-scenes drama surrounding It Ends With Us has escalated once again, with actor-director Justin Baldoni filing a $400 million lawsuit against co-star Blake Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, their publicist Leslie Sloane, and Sloane’s PR firm, Vision PR.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday (January 16), in the Southern District of New York, alleges efforts to wrest control of the highly anticipated movie.
Baldoni – along with producer Jamey Heath and publicists Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan – accuses the defendants of civil extortion, defamation, false light invasion of privacy, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and interference with contractual and economic relationships, PEOPLE reports.
Baldoni’s Attorney Speaks Out
Bryan Freedman, Baldoni’s attorney, issued a blistering statement, accusing Lively and her team of deliberate deception.
“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.
The attorney continued: “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.
“Blake Lively was either severely misled by her team or intentionally and knowingly misrepresented the truth.”
Freedman also accused Lively and her associates of damaging reputations for “heinously selfish reasons” and manipulating the media before pursuing legal action.
“We know the truth, and now the public does too,” he added. “Justin and his team have nothing to hide, documents do not lie.”
Counterclaims and Previous Allegations
The lawsuit follows Lively’s initial December 20 legal complaint, in which she alleged Baldoni’s behavior during the production and promotion of It Ends With Us caused her “grief, fear, trauma, and extreme anxiety.”
Her claims included accusations of sexual harassment on the set of the movie, as well as a retaliatory smear campaign orchestrated by Baldoni. Accusations included making repeated comments about her post-baby body and Baldoni asking about her sex life with husband Ryan Reynolds.
Her lawsuit claimed there was a meeting attended by individuals including Lively, Baldoni her husband Ryan Reynolds, and other key figures on the movie to discuss the claims and address issues before filming could resume.
On January 2, Freedman hinted at the pending lawsuit in an interview with NBC News, stating: “We want the truth to be out there. We want the documents to be out there. We want people to make their determination based on receipts.”
This latest lawsuit also comes on the heels of Baldoni’s libel suit against The New York Times filed on December 31.
Baldoni accused the paper of using “cherry-picked” and altered communications in its article titled “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine”, which delved into Lively’s allegations.
In response to the article, The New York Times defended its reporting as “meticulously and responsibly reported.”
Lively, quoted in the piece, said: “I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.”
As of this writing, reps for Lively, Reynolds, and Sloane have not yet commented on the countersuit.
