Actor Justin Baldoni filed a defamation lawsuit against Hollywood stars Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds on Thursday, claiming they were trying to destroy him by accusing him of sexually harassing the actress and then retaliating against her with a smear campaign .
The lawsuit is the latest legal action related to the 2024 film “This Is Us,” starring Ms. Lively and Mr. Baldoni, who also directed the film.
The 179-page complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, names Ms. Lively and her husband, Mr. Reynolds, as well as their publicist, Leslie Sloane, and her company, Vision PR. for the defendant. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Mr. 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.
In response to Thursday’s lawsuit, Ms. Lively’s legal team said in a statement, “The strategy to attack this woman is desperate, it does not rebut the evidence in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and it will fail.”
The New York Times published an article on December 21 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 Baldoni launched the campaign after she accused him of sexual harassment during the filming of “With Us.”
The New York Times report referred to Ms. Lively’s private text messages and emails obtained through a subpoena and included in her complaint.
The information showed that Mr. Baldoni and his business partner, Mr. Heath, worked with a crisis communications expert to tarnish Ms. Lively’s reputation because they feared allegations of misconduct would become public, the complaint said. Ms. Lively sued Mr. Baldoni and others on December 31 in federal court in New York City.
On the same day, Baldoni filed a defamation lawsuit against the New York Times in Los Angeles, accusing the newspaper of relying on Lively’s “unsubstantiated and self-serving narrative.” He reiterated some of the allegations against the publication in a lawsuit filed Thursday.
The Times said it plans to vigorously defend itself against Baldoni’s allegations against the publication. New York Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha added in a statement Thursday: “The allegations against The New York Times in this new lawsuit are baseless and stem from The same baseless accusations were recovered in California’s lawsuit against The New York Times.
In a counterclaim against Ms Lively, Mr Baldoni said the actress used her star power to hijack “every aspect” of his film and then when her public reputation took a hit during the film’s promotion, Barr Dhoni tried to blame him for his choices. He accused her of trying to make him a “real-life villain in her story” and of colluding with The Times to “prepare a false and damaging narrative.”
“This is a case about two of the most powerful stars in the world using their immense power to steal entire movies from directors and production studios,” the lawsuit states. “Then, when Lively and Reynolds’ efforts failed to secure the When they win the praise they think they deserve, they turn their anger on their chosen scapegoat.”
Mr Baldoni denies the alleged sexual harassment of Ms Lively or the smear campaign against her took place and says he was the victim of such activity.
