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Blake Lively’s rationale for bringing her spouse, Ryan Reynolds, to her alleged harassment confrontation with Justin Baldoni has been revealed in her bombshell lawsuit.
The Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
The actress initiated proceedings on December 20, alleging that Baldoni sexually harassed her and cultivated a detrimental work atmosphere on the set of their movie, “It Ends With Us.” He firmly rejects these assertions.
She subsequently filed a more formal complaint on New Year’s Eve, reiterating her claims from the initial legal action.
The January Meeting
In the first legal filing, Lively asserted that a meeting was conducted on January 4 “to tackle the hostile work environment that had almost halted production of the movie.”
The gathering is said to have included both Baldoni and Jamey Heath, the CEO of Baldoni’s production company Wayfarer Studios and a producer on “It Ends With Us.” Lively accused both individuals of engaging in “inappropriate behavior” on set.
According to her lawsuits, Lively invited Reynolds to the alleged meeting—and in this week’s new filing, she explained why.Lively’s Version of Events
Her account of the January 4 meeting starkly contrasts with the narrative provided by Baldoni in his own $250 million defamation lawsuit against the New York Times for its report on Lively’s initial legal action.
‘Ms. Lively also had the agreed-upon right to have a representative present,’ the New Year’s Eve lawsuit states. ‘She chose her husband, given that the meeting was about repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior by Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath.’
The Power Couple
Married for over a decade, Reynolds and Lively have established themselves as one of Hollywood’s prominent power couples. They share four children—James, age 10, Inez, age 8, Betty, age 5, and Olin, age 1.
Baldoni’s Contradictory Statement
Baldoni offered a notably different recollection of the January 4 meeting in his lawsuit, which was also filed on New Year’s Eve.
According to Baldoni, Lively and Reynolds are accused of ‘intimidating’ him during a tense confrontation at the couple’s New York penthouse.
In Baldoni’s rendering of events, Reynolds ‘chastised’ him at the meeting and ‘aggressively’ accused him of committing various transgressions against Lively, including criticizing her weight.
In his lawsuit, Baldoni states he was invited to the couple’s penthouse on the evening of January 4 along with a Sony representative and other producers of “It Ends With Us.” They arrived prepared to discuss plans for the subsequent day’s filming, Baldwin’s legal documents asserts.
‘Reynolds launched into a tirade, castigating Baldoni in what Baldoni later described as a “traumatizing” encounter, stating he had “never been spoken to like that in his life.”‘
Reynolds, a prominent Hollywood star who played a lead role in last summer’s blockbuster “Deadpool & Wolverine,” demanded that Baldoni apologize to Lively ‘for actions that were mischaracterized and demonstrably false,’ according to Baldoni’s lawsuit.
‘When Baldoni resisted apologizing for what he had not done, Reynolds became further incensed. Everyone, including the producer Lively had asked production to engage and the Sony representative present, left that “meeting” in shock. The producer stated that in his 40-year career he had never witnessed anyone being addressed in such a manner.’
The Accusations
Baldoni alleges that Lively and Reynolds then employed their ‘influence and clout’ against him, attempting to ‘destroy Baldoni’s career and personal life.’
In her initial complaint, Lively claimed Baldoni attempted to tarnish her reputation with a team consisting of publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis PR specialist Melissa Nathan, who previously worked with Johnny Depp. Abel denies orchestrating a ‘smear campaign.’
The List of Defendants
The actress submitted her December 20 complaint to the California Civil Rights Commission but is now also suing Baldoni in federal court in New York.
She filed the New York suit on New Year’s Eve—the same day Baldoni initiated a defamation lawsuit against the New York Times for its reporting on her initial complaint.
Lively’s second lawsuit names Baldoni, Abel, and Nathan as defendants, as well as Baldoni’s production company Wayfarer Studios.
The New York Lawsuit
In her most recent legal filing, Lively demands both ‘punitive’ and ‘compensatory’ damages and a jury trial, accusing the defendants of inducing ‘mental anguish,’ as well as ‘severe and serious emotional distress’ and ‘wage loss’}
Lively’s attorneys issued a statement to DailyMail.com on Tuesday, alleging their client has experienced ‘further reprisals and attacks’ since she chose to speak out about her allegations against Baldoni.
The Demands and Impacts
In her new lawsuit, Lively seeks ‘punitive damages’ as well as ‘a monetary verdict representing compensatory damages, lost wages, earnings, and all other sums of money,’ plus ‘interest’ on the aforementioned ‘in an amount to be demonstrated at trial.’
She also wants ‘an award of monetary judgment for mental anguish and severe emotional distress, in an amount to be proven at trial.
Her lawyers provided a statement to DailyMail.com on Tuesday, saying:
- “Ms. Lively has filed a federal complaint against Wayfarer Studios and others in the Southern District of New York.
- “Ms. Lively previously filed her California Civil Rights Department Complaint in response to the retaliatory campaign Wayfarer launched against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns. Unfortunately, Ms. Lively’s decision to speak out has resulted in further retaliation and attacks”.
- “As alleged in Ms. Lively’s federal Complaint, Wayfarer and its associates have violated federal and California state law by retaliating against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns. Now, the defendants will answer for their conduct in federal court.”
- “Ms. Lively has brought this litigation in New York, where much of the relevant activities described in the Complaint took place, but we reserve the right to pursue further action in other venues and jurisdictions as appropriate under the law.”
- “On New Year’s Eve, the day Lively filed her second lawsuit against Baldoni, he initiated a defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, which broke the news of Lively’s first complaint earlier in the month.”
- “In a statement, the New York Times stood by its reporting and rejected the allegations. It said it plans to ‘vigorously defend against the lawsuit.'”
The Fallout
Since news of Lively’s first lawsuit broke, Baldoni’s career has faced significant setbacks, as he was dropped by his agency William Morris Endeavor.
Liz Plank, one of the co-hosts of Baldoni’s “Man Enough” podcast, which promoted itself as a platform for ‘positive masculinity,’ announced she was leaving the show.
Lively, who is close friends with pop sensation Taylor Swift, has had former colleagues rally around her amid her high-profile legal battle.
The Allegations
Her “It Ends With Us” co-stars Brandon Sklenar and Jenny Slate have spoken out to support her, as has Colleen Hoover, author of the novel on which the film is based.
Lively’s first lawsuit contained a comprehensive list of accusations against Baldoni, whom she alleges displayed her nude images and recordings of other women, ‘impromptu physical intimacy’ during a scene without prior discussion, entered her trailer while she was ‘undressed,’ and allowed his ‘associates’ to observe her filming sex scenes.
The All-Hands Meeting
In legal documents from the first complaint, Lively’s team claimed an ‘all-hands’ meeting was held on January 4 of this year, presumably ‘to address the hostile work environment that had nearly derailed production of the Film.’
The meeting is said to have included both Baldoni and Jamey Heath, the CEO of Wayfarer Studios and a producer on “It Ends With Us.”
Attendees allegedly discussed purported “inappropriate behavior” by Baldoni and Heath, and at the meeting’s conclusion, ‘all parties present agreed that the outlined behavior would cease,’ according to Lively’s first lawsuit.
The Rumors
In the lead-up to the movie’s August 9 release, rumors began circulating about a rift between Lively and Baldoni—and Lively now alleges that around this time, Nathan and Abel coordinated a strategy to defame her.
During the lead-up to the release of “It Ends With Us,” Lively repeatedly went viral as social media users criticized her ‘mean girl’ behavior in interviews—a trend she now contends was due to an ‘astroturfing’ campaign orchestrated by Baldoni’s PR team.
The Proof
Lively’s initial complaint included purported screenshots of text messages, many of them between Nathan and Abel, allegedly demonstrating the PR takedown being formulated.
One exchange, obtained by subpoena, showed Abel allegedly stating that Baldoni ‘wants to feel like she [Lively] can be destroyed.’
Nathan is supposed to have replied: ‘Of course—not that we can write anything that states the actual work we will or could perform because revealing that could land us in serious trouble,’ adding, ‘We are unable to disclose that we will destroy her.’
The Mistreatment Allegations
In tandem with her sexual harassment claims, Lively’s first complaint accused Baldoni of ‘additional behaviors that were jarring and emotionally devastating.’
One example was her assertion that he claimed he could converse with the deceased and had communicated with her late father, Ernie Lively.
‘It was unsettling and disrespectful for Ms. Baldoni [sic] to assert a personal connection with her recently departed father,’ that lawsuit stated.
Ernie Lively, an actor and acting coach, passed away from heart complications at the age of 74 in June 2021, just under two years before principal photography began on “It Ends With Us.”
p class=”mol-para-with-font”>Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman responded to Lively’s initial lawsuit by describing her assertions as ‘false, outlandish, and deliberately scandalous with the intent to publicly harm.’
He argued that Lively’s lawsuit was a ploy to ‘rectify her negative public image’ after rumors spread that she had been difficult to work with during the film’s production.
This included her allegedly ‘threatening not to attend set [and] threatening not to promote the film, resulting in its downfall during release,’ Freedman contended.
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