Justin Baldoni is suing the New York Times for $250 million over Lively Story

Justin Baldoni files response to Blake Lively's lawsuit

Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively Cover images (2)

It ends with us director and star Justin Baldoni has filed a lawsuit against The New York Times after reporting on costar Blake Lively after she sued him for sexual harassment.

Baldoni, 40, filed a $250 million lawsuit against Lively, 37, in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, December 31. Us Weekly can be confirmed.

The actor is among 10 plaintiffs, which also includes publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel as well as It ends with us manufacturers James Heath and Steve Saraovichwho initiated the proceedings.

The plaintiffs are suing for defamation and false invasion of privacy and claim that The New York Times “Selected” communication and omitted context to mislead readers in “We Can Bury Anyone: Inside the Hollywood Smear Machine.”

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Related: Break down Blake Lively's accusations against Justin Baldoni

Months after it was reported that “It Ends With Us” co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni had a falling out, she sued him for sexual harassment. In the lawsuit, filed on Friday, Dec. 20, and obtained by Us Weekly after being reported by TMZ and The New York Times, Lively accused Baldoni of (…)

Piece, written by Megan Twohey, Mike McIntyre and Julie Tate Claims that Lively faced months of sexual harassment from Baldoni were published on Saturday, December 21.

The suit alleges that Lively ran a “strategic and manipulative” smear campaign against Baldoni (not the other way around) using false “allegations of sexual harassment provide unilateral control over every aspect of production.

“The times story relied almost entirely on Lively's unverified and self-serving narrative, taking it almost literally while ignoring the abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims and revealed her true motives,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit details the alleged inconsistencies and provides a refutation of the claims made in the article. Between them are the texts between publicists Nathan and Abel which praised the negative press against Lively, which the suit claims left out key context, such as Nathan's text saying, “Damn, that's unfair because it's not me either.”

Justin Baldoni files response to Blake Lively's lawsuit

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in It Ends With Us Sony Pictures

The lawsuit also offers rebuttal to many other claims The New York Times article, including a suggestion that Baldoni repeatedly enter Lively's trailer while she was breastfeeding (The lawsuit included a note from Lively to Baldoni that read, “I just pumped my trailer if you want to figure out our lines.”)

The times the article also accused Baldoni of showing Lively a “pornographic video” involving his wife, which it claimed was “non-pornographic.”

“This claim is patently absurd,” the lawsuit says. “The video in question was a (non-pornographic) recording of Heath's wife during a home birth – deeply personal, with no sexual overtones. To distort this benign event into sexual misconduct is outrageous and symbolic of the lengths Lively and her associates are willing to go to defame plaintiffs.

In addition, the lawsuit also claims that claims that Baldoni sexualized Lively in reference to her character's outfits were “exaggerated and misleading.”

The suit alleges that Lively herself used similar terminology when she advocated making her character's outfit “sexier,” and claimed that Baldoni was following the tone. One text read: “Will show either way, but the beanie is way sexier.”

The times the article also reported that Lively had filed a complaint with HR during filming that outlined 30 items and agreed to them before she would return to the set. Among them was that the intimacy coordinator should be present, “no more shows Blake nude videos or pictures of women” and “no further mention of cast and crew genitalia”.

The plaintiffs' suit alleges that Lively never formally filed a complaint.

“Such a document was never presented to Baldoni, the Wayfarer team or, to their knowledge, to anyone else – either during this meeting or at any other time – and therefore could not be consented to,” the lawsuit states.

A New York Times a representative backed up his story in a statement Us Weekly on Tuesday, December 31.

“The job of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead,” the statement said. “Our story was carefully and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including text messages and emails, which we quote accurately and extensively in the article. To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the other subjects of the article and their representatives We also published their full statement in response to the claims made in the article.

The spokesperson added: “We intend to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”

In response to the application, Lively's lawyer said We on Tuesday, Dec. 31, that the lawsuit was based on a “manifestly false premise.”

“Nothing in this lawsuit alters the claims made in Ms. Lively's California Department of Civil Rights complaint, nor in her federal complaint filed today,” the statement said. “This lawsuit is based on the patently false premise that Ms. Lively's administrative complaint against Wayfarer and others was a ruse based on her choice 'not to file suit against Baldoni, Wayfarer' and that 'litigation was never her primary goal.'” According to Lively's Ms.'s federal complaint filed today by Ms. Lively, this Wayfarer lawsuit reference system is false.Although we won't judge of this case in the press, we encourage people to read Ms. Lively's complaint in its entirety.

Statement from Justin Baldoni's attorney


Related: Justin Baldoni's attorney issues a new statement regarding Blake Lively's lawsuit

Justin Baldoni's lawyer is speaking out again after Blake Lively filed a lawsuit accusing the It Ends With Us director and star of sexual harassment and launching a campaign of “social manipulation” against her to “destroy” her reputation. “TAG PR acted like any other crisis management company when hired by a client experiencing (…)

Meanwhile, Baldonis's lawyer Brian Friedman promised to “tear down” The New York Times of its “vicious smear campaign,” he says Us Weekly.

“In this vicious smear campaign entirely orchestrated by Blake Lively and her team, New York Times bowed to the wishes and whims of two powerful 'untouchable' Hollywood elites, disregarding the journalistic practices and ethics of the once respected publication, using fabricated and manipulated texts and deliberately omitting texts that challenge their chosen PR narrative,” he said in a statement. We. “In doing so, they pre-determined the outcome of their story and aided and abetted their own disastrous PR smear campaign aimed at reviving Lively's self-created battered public image and countering criticism from the online public. The irony is rich. “

He continued, “Make no mistake though, for we all unite to destroy NY Times no longer allowing them to mislead the public, we will continue this campaign of authenticity by also suing those individuals who have abused their power to attempt to destroy the lives of my clients. While their side embraces partial truths, we embrace the full truth and have all the communications to back it up. The public will decide for themselves, as they did when it first started.

Lively made headlines when she sued Baldoni for sexual harassment in December 2024. In court documents obtained Us Weekly after reporting from TMZ and The New York TimesLively also accused Baldoni of running a “social manipulation” campaign against her to “destroy” her reputation. The documents also claim that Lively was is not the only member of the cast complain about Baldoni.

Baldoni denied the charges through your lawyer, Brian Friedmanwho in a statement called the allegations “completely false, outrageous and deliberately concocted”. We. The statement also claimed that Lively filed the lawsuit to “correct her negative reputation” and “negotiate the narrative” surrounding the making of the film.

In the notice to The New York Times Speaking about her lawsuit on Saturday, December 21, Lively said: “I hope my legal action will help pull back the curtain on these horrific retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about wrongdoing and help protect others who may be targeted. “

Before submitting Baldoni, Daily mail reported that the actor plans to file a countersuit and suggested that Lively's publicist tried to tarnish his image by leaking stories to the press.

“11. I was contacted in August Sarah Nathan (Melissa Nathan's sister) forwarding an anonymous tip that Sixth page received for claims of HR complaints on set It ends with us”, Lively's representative, Leslie Sloan, told We in the announcement. “I was subsequently contacted by various press outlets asking about the allegations of HR complaints. When contacted, I responded to press inquiries by referring them to Wayfarer or Sony for information on staff complaints.

Blake Lively Sues Costa Justin Baldoni For Sexual Harassment 'It Ends With Us'


Related: Blake Lively is suing our Justin Baldoni for sexual harassment

Blake Lively is suing 'It Ends With Us' and director Justin Baldoni for sexual harassment. According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ and The New York Times, Baldoni's alleged behavior caused Lively, 37, “severe emotional distress.” The suit alleges that the meeting took place to address Lively's allegations that there was a “hostile (..)

Sloan added, “It is clear that Mr. Baldoni and his Wayfarer Associates are suggesting that I have fabricated press stories about on-set staff complaints that are false. Please read Ms. Lively's complaint and the complaint filed by Jonesworks LLC and Stephanie Jones, which information about the campaign against my client.

In response to Daily mail in the article, Friedman said Deadline: “I won't talk about when or how many lawsuits we file, but when we do file our first lawsuit, it will shock anyone who has been manipulated into believing a patently false narrative. It will be supported by real evidence and tell the real story. In over 30 years of practice, I have never seen this level of unethical behavior deliberately encouraged by media manipulation.


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