Justin Baldoni vs. Blake Lively: Who’s Suing Whom?

It Ends With Us, the 2024 romantic drama starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, may be one of the more litigious films in recent history. Based on the Colleen Hoover novel of the same name, It Ends With Us was an immediate box office hit, earning $50 million in the US and Canada in its opening weekend. Ultimately, It Ends With Us would gross more than $350 million worldwide on an estimated budget of $25 million.

But beneath its commercial success brewed a battle that would soon turn ugly. In December, Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni for sexual harassment and retaliation, and within days sued him, alleging that she suffered emotional distress from her costar and director, who she says sought to malign her character via an online campaign allegedly coordinated with his publicity team. Baldoni soon clapped back with lawsuits of his own, suing The New York Times for libel as well as Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, whom Baldoni has accused of trying to “destroy” him.

With all the litigation swirling, it can be hard to keep track of who’s suing whom, and for what. So here’s a timeline of the critical legal allegations, lawsuits, and complaints filed amid the ongoing drama between Baldoni and Lively.

August 2024: The dramatic It Ends With Us press tour begins. Even before the film hits theaters on August 9, eagle-eyed fans notice tension at the film’s premiere, where Lively is not photographed with Baldoni. Jenny Slate, who appears in the film, deftly yet conspicuously avoids answering a question about Baldoni on the red carpet, further causing fans to speculate that there is a rift between the cast and their director. (Slate has since voiced her support for Lively.)

Around this time, social media accounts begin criticizing Lively for her handling of the film’s delicate subject matter. A clip published on the official It Ends With Us TikTok account, featuring Lively instructing fans to “grab your friends, wear your florals, and head out to see it,” sparks backlash, with some accusing the Gossip Girl star of downplaying the heavier themes in the film. Baldoni, meanwhile, spends much of his press tour focusing on the darker aspects of It Ends With Us, which is ultimately about domestic violence. “The book helped thousands and thousands and thousands of women leave these relationships,” he says on ABC News. “I know far too many women who have been sexually assaulted or abused. That number is way too high, and there’s a reason that they care, and I just want them to know I care too.”

The backlash against Lively continues when a clip from a previous interview begins circulating online, seemingly out of the blue. On August 10, junket journalist Kjersti Flaa uploads to YouTube a 2016 interview clip in which Lively appears to snap at Flaa after the journalist congratulates a pregnant Lively on her “little bump.”

“Congrats on your little bump!” says Lively to Flaa in the clip, though Flaa is not pregnant at the time. Flaa names the video “The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job.”

December 20, 2024: In a complaint filed with California’s civil court, Lively accuses Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation, alleging that the director created a hostile environment on set, then hired a PR firm to launch a smear campaign against the actor (the complaint was preceded the same day by a filing with the California Civil Rights Department). A New York Times article about the complaint is published the following day, having been written by Megan Twohey, Mike McIntire, and Julie Tate; it includes alleged text messages regarding the purported Lively takedown, sent between members of Baldoni’s PR team, Melissa Nathan, and Jennifer Abel.

The 80-page complaint claims that after production on It Ends With Us was paused due to the Hollywood strikes, Lively’s attorneys sent a list of provisions to the film’s production company, Wayfarer Studios (which was cofounded by Baldoni), demanding an end to what, in the complaint, is described as a “hostile work environment.” In the complaint, Lively alleges, among other things, that Baldoni improvised kisses while filming, frequently referenced his past pornography addiction and sexual encounters, and would enter her trailer while she was undressed and breastfeeding her infant child.

Lively also issues a written statement about the complaint to the media: “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,” it reads.

Via his attorney, Bryan Freedman, Baldoni denies all allegations lodged against him in his own statement—which also accuses Lively of “threatening to not showing up to set” and “threatening to not promote the film.”

December 24, 2024: A lawsuit is filed by Stephanie Jones, founder and CEO of Jonesworks and the former publicist for Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios. Her lawsuit names them and others, alleging breach of contract, among other claims.

In the lawsuit filed in New York Supreme Court, Jones accuses Baldoni and his crisis team of “waging a coordinated effort to undermine her and deflect blame for what she calls a retaliatory smear campaign targeting Lively,” as reported by the LA Times. It also accuses publicist Abel and crisis manager Nathan of “secretly conspir[ing] for months to publicly and privately attack Jones and Jonesworks.”

December 31, 2024: Baldoni and nine other coplaintiffs file a suit against The New York Times for libel. In the $250 million lawsuit, Baldoni accuses the Times of blindly accepting Lively’s “self-serving narrative,” alleging that the December 21 article omitted key context and portions of text exchanges that contradicted Lively’s version of events.

“The article’s central thesis, encapsulated in a defamatory headline designed to immediately mislead the reader, is that Plaintiffs orchestrated a retaliatory public relations campaign against Lively for speaking out about sexual harassment — a premise that is categorically false and easily disproven,” the lawsuit says. In it, Baldoni claims that he hired a crisis-PR firm as a “protective measure” ahead of the premiere of It Ends With Us, alleging that Lively attempted to steal control of the movie during production before coordinating a “strategic and manipulative” smear campaign of her own.

The Times defends its reporting. “We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit,” reads its statement. “The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead. Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article.”

On the same day, Lively files a complaint, in federal court in New York, against Baldoni and others, accusing Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath of engaging in “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior” while on set.

In a statement issued via her attorneys, Lively also disputes the “false premise” of Baldoni’s lawsuit. “Nothing in this lawsuit changes anything about the claims advanced in Ms. Lively’s California Civil Rights Department complaint, nor her federal complaint, filed earlier today,” say attorneys for Lively. “This lawsuit is based on the obviously false premise that Ms. Lively’s administrative complaint against Wayfarer and others was a ruse…. While we will not litigate this matter in the press, we do encourage people to read Ms. Lively’s complaint in its entirety. We look forward to addressing each and every one of Wayfarer’s allegations in court.”

January 7, 2025: Freedman sends a litigation-hold letter to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and Disney CEO Bob Iger in connection with Baldoni’s “anticipated claims” against Reynolds, Lively, and other unnamed parties, per Variety, which has obtained the letter. The letter asks that Marvel Studios and Disney retain “all relevant documents and data with regards to Baldoni,” according to Variety, and “any and all documents relating to or reflecting a deliberate attempt to mock, harass, ridicule, intimidate, or bully Baldoni through the character of ‘Nicepool.’”

It emerges that Baldoni and his attorneys believe Reynolds intentionally mocked Baldoni in Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine, released by Disney in July. The scene features Reynolds playing Nicepool, an alternate version of his titular superhero, Deadpool, who delivers lines like “Where in God’s name is the intimacy coordinator?!” and compliments Ladypool, played by Lively, for “snapping back” into shape after giving birth.

The end credits of Deadpool & Wolverine credit the actor who plays Nicepool as Gordon Reynolds instead of Ryan Reynolds. In the end credits of It Ends With Us, Lively thanks Gordon Reynolds—seemingly connecting the two. Marvel and Disney decline Variety’s request for comment, as does an attorney for Reynolds and Lively.

January 16, 2025: The “anticipated claims” arrive. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, Heath, Nathan, and Abel jointly file a new suit against Lively, Reynolds, and their publicity reps, alleging the married couple sought to “destroy” them. The joint suit seeks at least $400 million in damages.

Filed in the Southern District of New York, the 179-page lawsuit accuses Lively and Reynolds of civil extortion, defamation, and false light invasion of privacy, among other things. “At bottom, this is not a case about celebrities sniping at each other in the press,” the lawsuit states. “This is a case about two of the most powerful stars in the world deploying their enormous power to steal an entire film right out of the hands of its director and production studio…. When Plaintiffs have their day in court, the jury will recognize that even the most powerful celebrity cannot bend the truth to her will.”

The lawsuit regurgitates many of the claims Baldoni made in his suit against The New York Times, claiming Lively misrepresented events that transpired between them in her own lawsuit. “We know the truth, and now the public does too,” a statement by Freedman to today.com reads. “Justin and his team have nothing to hide, documents do not lie.”

Additionally, Baldoni’s lawyer, Freedman, has reportedly promised to sue Jones, his former publicist, who allegedly turned explosive text messages over to Lively’s team after her company was subpoenaed. Baldoni’s most recent suit takes multiple swipes at Jones, saying that Wayfarer cut ties with the PR maven due to her “bizarre” behavior and “rage-filled rants.” Kristin Tahler, Jones’s lawyer, dismisses these claims as a regurgitation of “predictable female stereotypes.”

Lively’s legal team also releases a statement on Baldoni’s most recent lawsuit. “This latest lawsuit from Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its associates is another chapter in the abuser playbook,” says Lively’s legal team, as reported by Deadline. “This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim. This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender.”

Lively’s legal team ends the statement by circling back to her original sexual harassment allegation against Baldoni. “Their response to sexual harassment allegations: She wanted it, it’s her fault,” the statement says. “Their justification for why this happened to her: look what she was wearing. In short, while the victim focuses on the abuse, the abuser focuses on the victim.”

January 21, 2025: Baldoni’s team attempts to provide receipts in his ongoing battle with Lively. On Tuesday, Freedman releases footage of his client and Lively on the set of It Ends With Us. In the 10-minute video clip, Baldoni and Lively can be seen filming a slow dance and engaging in conversation while wearing microphones. In the edit of the scene included in the film, the video is used for slo-mo footage, and none of their audio is included.

“Ms. Lively’s complaint alleges that during a scene Mr. Baldoni and Ms. Lively were filming for a slow dance montage, Mr. Baldoni was behaving inappropriately. The following videos captured on May 23, 2023, clearly refute Ms. Lively’s characterization of his behavior,” Baldoni’s legal team writes, according to Us Weekly. “The scene in question was designed to show the two characters falling in love and longing to be close to one another. Both actors are clearly behaving well within the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism. These are all three takes filmed of the sequence.”

In the clip, the pair discuss how the footage will eventually be used in the film as well as differences in their romantic relationships. At one point, when Baldoni appears to be nuzzling Lively, he asks if he is “getting beard” on Lively. “I’m probably getting spray tan on you,” she replies, to which Baldoni says, “It smells good.” “Well, it’s not that. It’s my body makeup,” Lively says in response. At another point, their foreheads are pressed together, and Lively says, “I feel so nosey. I mean, it’s just, like, noses.” Baldoni laughs in response and says, “I know. And my nose is so big.”

“Yes, I was hoping that we could address this. It’s not too late,” says Lively, who appears to be jokingly validating Baldoni’s claim. “Just gotta shut down. Gotta call an insurance month and just deal with that.” At the end, Lively adds, “Just kidding.” During this exchange, Baldoni makes a comment about Slate’s nose. “No, it’s true. That’s why we hired Jenny Slate too—our noses match,” he says.

Both Baldoni and Lively referenced this conversation in their lawsuits. In her initial complaint against Baldoni, Lively claimed that, while filming, her costar and director acted not as his character but as himself, something to which Lively, per her claims, later objected. “At one point, he leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said, ‘It smells so good,’” read Lively’s complaint. Baldoni’s January suit against Lively disputed this characterization of events. “Lively apologized for the smell of her spray tan and body makeup. Baldoni responded, ‘It smells good,’ and continued acting,” read the filing.

Baldoni also referenced the incident another time in his lawsuit against Lively, claiming that the actor made “derogatory comments” about his nose. “Lively took them out of character again and began to joke about Baldoni’s nose, which he laughed off and joked in turn, even as Lively joked that he should get plastic surgery,” stated Baldoni’s lawsuit.

Though Baldoni stated that he was sensitive to the subject, he also claimed to have taken it in stride. “Baldoni, rather than write down a list of grievances against Lively, brushed it off and moved on with the scene,” read the suit.

As reported by Us Weekly, Lively’s legal team responds to Baldoni’s footage in a statement, calling the footage “damning.” “Any woman who has been inappropriately touched in the workplace will recognize Ms. Lively’s discomfort,” Lively’s team said. “They will recognize her attempts at levity to try to deflect the unwanted touching. No woman should have to take defensive measures to avoid being touched by their employer without their consent.”

Lively’s legal team also slams Baldoni’s team for releasing the footage to the public. “This matter is in active litigation in federal court. Releasing this video to the media, rather than presenting it as evidence in court, is another example of an unethical attempt to manipulate the public,” the statement reads, according to Access Hollywood. “It is also a continuation of their harassment and retaliatory campaign. While they are focused on misleading media narratives, we are focused on the legal process. We are continuing our efforts to require Mr. Baldoni and his associates to answer in court, under oath, rather than through manufactured media stunts.”

Meanwhile, Baldoni’s team is reportedly threatening to publish a website containing all of his correspondence with Lively. While It Ends With Us may be over, it seems the drama may just be starting.