Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni Feud Explained

‍

Blake Lively has alleged that her co-actor Justin Baldoni had run a smear campaign against her, invaded her privacy, fat-shamed her on the sets of ‘It Ends with Us’. Baldoni, in his lawsuit, mentioned how he was sidelined from the marketing of the film

‘It Ends with Us’ drama has now gotten dragged into 2025, with actor and director Justin Baldoni planning to countersue co-actor Blake Lively, who accused him of sexual harassment and launching a smear campaign against her.

Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman, in an interview to NBC, said he was prepared to release every single text that “exists out there, lay them out, put them on a website for the world to see". Though Freedman did not divulge the details of the lawsuit.

Amid the legal controversy, Lively and her husband and actor Ryan Reynolds skipped the 2025 Golden Globe Awards, despite Deadpool & Wolverine being nominated.

The Beginning Of Blake Lively And Justin Baldoni’s Legal War

Baldoni directed and acted in ‘It Ends With Us’, the movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling book of the same name, which released last August. Rift began emerging between both the actors during post-production ahead of the movie release.

Lively was seen avoiding using Baldoni’s name during the interviews. US media reported that there were disputes over creative control between the stars. TMZ, quoting sources, reported that Baldoni had “fat-shamed" Lively by inquiring about her weight, telling a trainer that he wanted to avoid lifting the actress in the film.

During the promotion of the film, the actors hardly took pictures together. Later, Lively hired a crisis PR manager, Melissa Nathan, who represented Johnny Depp in his defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard.

Nathan had suggested Lively to take Baldoni down with “full social media takedown", as mentioned in a report by The New York Times.

The Claims And Counterclaims

On Dec. 20, Lively, 37, who starred in Baldoni’s film It Ends with Us, filed a complaint against Baldoni and others, including his producing partners and publicists, alleging sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign to tarnish her reputation. Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman called the claims “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious," and on Dec. 31, the actor-director also filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times over the newspaper's Dec. 21 article about Lively's complaint, alleging it was the actress "who engaged in a calculated smear campaign."

Baldoni’s legal team refuted the claim, referring to alleged text by Lively that read, “I’m just pumping in my trailer if you wanna work out our lines," to which the actor responded, “Copy. Eating with crew and will head that way."

Besides the “fat-shaming" allegation, Lively claimed that when she caught strep throat while filming, Baldoni “offered as a ‘gift’ to connect her with an expert he had on retainer to help her with probiotics and to combat the sickness".

“When Ms. Lively went to fill out the privacy forms, she saw that the expert was not what Mr. Baldoni had represented her to be, but was instead a weight-loss specialist," her lawsuit states. “Ms. Lively felt, once again, that Mr. Baldoni was shaming her for her body and weight."

However, in his lawsuit, Baldoni’s legal team claimed that the actor suffers from back issues and multiple discs. So, he was enquiring about her weight as his character Ryle would lift Lively’s Lily for an alleged scene.

In her December 21 complaint in California, Lively claimed Baldoni coordinated a PR campaign with a crisis firm, which her lawyers called “‘social manipulation’ designed to ‘destroy’ Ms. Lively’s reputation," after she took issue with Baldoni and his producing partner Jamey Heath’s on-set behaviour.

In Baldoni’s lawsuit against The New York Times for libel, his lawyers accuse the news outlet of “using doctored and manipulated texts and intentionally omitting texts which dispute their chosen PR narrative."

Baldoni also mentioned in his lawsuit on December 31 how he was sidelined from the marketing of the film. Lively “refused to permit his attendance" at the August premiere of “It Ends with Us," and “only after significant pressure did she reluctantly agree to allow Baldoni and the Wayfarer team to attend, but under humiliating conditions," he alleged, as mentioned by USA Today.

On Monday, Jan. 6, Lively’s legal team told PEOPLE in a statement that her “serious claims of sexual harassment and retaliation” are “backed by concrete facts.”

“This is not a ‘feud’ arising from ‘creative differences’ or a ‘he said/she said’ situation,” her lawyers' statement read. “As alleged in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and as we will prove in litigation, Wayfarer [Studios] and its associates engaged in unlawful, retaliatory astroturfing against Ms. Lively for simply trying to protect herself and others on a film set. And their response to the lawsuit has been to launch more attacks against Ms. Lively since her filing.”

Baldoni also alleged that Lively and Reynolds pressured WME to drop him as a client. The actor claimed he “received word that, during the premiere of his movie ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’, Reynolds approached Baldoni’s agent at William Morris Endeavor and demanded that the agent ‘drop’ Baldoni."

Legal Battle Intensifies With New Lawsuits

Ryan Reynolds has come under fire after Justin Baldoni alleged in a $250 million legal lawsuit that the Deadpool star “aggressively" berated him during a private meeting. However, a source reportedly present at the meeting has disputed Baldoni’s claims, describing Reynolds as “angry and stern," but insisting he never raised his voice.The lawsuit, filed by Baldoni, stems from accusations that Reynolds confronted him over comments allegedly made about Blake Lively’s postpartum weight during the filming of It Ends With Us. According to Baldoni’s filing, the confrontation was in retaliation for a complaint Lively lodged with the California Civil Rights Department, accusing Baldoni of making derogatory remarks about her appearance after giving birth.

Who’s Supporting Who?

Lively’s ‘Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants’ co-star Amber Heard has claimed to be a victim of a similar social media takedown. While Hoover, another co-actor, who refused to do press with Baldoni, posted to Instagram after Lively first made her allegations to call her “nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient," as reported by The Times.

America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel and Amber Tamblyn, who starred alongside Lively in her 2005 breakout role in “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," slammed the “vindictive effort ensued to discredit her voice" and Heard said she has seen similar social media campaigns “firsthand and up close," calling it “horrifying and destructive."

Actresses Kate Beckinsale and Abigail Breslin shared their own stories of harassment and retaliation in the wake of Lively’s lawsuit, and director Paul Feig posted that Lively “did not deserve any of this smear campaign."

Another of Lively’s “It Ends with Us" co-star, Brandon Sklenar, posted a link to the initial New York Times story and Jenny Slate, another co-star in the film, said she stands by her “loyal friend."

Amy Schumer posted a story on Instagram that said, “I believe Blake."

Political influencer Candace Owens posted in support of Baldoni after he was stripped of his Vital Voices award, writing that he should “have his day in court" before such drastic measures are taken.

Sony Pictures, the distributor of the movie, showed support for the actress. “We have previously expressed our support for Blake in connection with her work on and for the film. We fully and firmly reiterate that support today. Further, we strongly condemn any reputational attacks on her. Any such attacks have no place in our business or in a civil society," it said.

‍

‍

‍

‍