Blake Lively’s Bombshell Case Against Justin Baldoni: Inside the ‘Stressful’ Ordeal (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni filming ‘It Ends With Us’ last January (left); Lively on the new cover of PEOPLE (right).

AsBlake Livelyand the cast ofIt Ends With Usbegan promoting the film last summer, it didn’t take long for fans to notice something seemed amiss.

Lively, costarsJenny SlateandBrandon Sklenaras well as authorColleen Hoover— whose 2016 novel about domestic violence was adapted into the film — did not follow the movie’s director and starJustin Baldonion Instagram.

Baldoni was absent from group appearances, including a screening atthe Book Bonanza festivalin Grapevine, Texas, in June. And at the Aug. 6 New York City premiere, theJane the Virginalumdidn’t take any photos with the main cast— though the others smiled and posed together.

As TikTokers and Instagram commenters buzzed about a rift between Lively and Baldoni, a set source hinted to PEOPLE at the time the truth would emerge: “There is much more to the story.”

Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively filming ‘It Ends with Us’ on Jan. 12.Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

That saga is now coming to light. Ina bombshell complaint filed with the California Civil Rights Departmenton Dec. 20, lawyers for Lively, 37, claimed Baldoni, 40, whose production company, Wayfarer Studios, developed the hit film, sexually harassed the actress and then retaliated against her with a smear campaign after she spoke up.

The filing — a prerequisite before bringing a workplace harassment lawsuit in the state of California — sets the stage for what has the potential to be an ugly legal battle and shines a light on allegations of ongoing sexism in Hollywood years after the #MeToo movement.

“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,” Lively said in a statement toThe New York Times.

Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman called the allegations “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt” in a Dec. 21 statement.

Blake Lively on the cover of PEOPLE.

Sony, which distributedIt Ends With Us, the actors union SAG-AFTRA and celebrities including some of Lively’sIt Ends With Uscostars have spoken out to support Lively.

Among Lively’s many allegations: Baldoni — a married father of two who has positioned himself as an ally to women and domestic abuse survivors in numerous interviews — walked into her makeup trailer uninvited while she was breast-feeding; talked about a previous pornography addiction; alluded to past non-consensual sexual encounters and asked Lively to divulge details of her own “intimate life.”

Blake Lively and Jenny Slate at the Aug. 6 ‘It Ends With Us’ premiere.Cindy Ord/Getty

Cindy Ord/Getty

In the 80-page document, Lively’s lawyers claim production on the film was nearly derailed due to Baldoni’s behavior, which created a “hostile work environment” for the star and others, including another unnamed actress he allegedly harassed.

The film got back on track, they allege, after a Jan. 4, 2024  “all-hands” meeting between Baldoni, Wayfarer CEO Jamey Heath (who is also accused of sexual harassment in the complaint), other film execs, Lively and Reynolds (whom the actress brought as her representative), where they hashed out a plan to improve working conditions on the set.

Some of the key points Baldoni agreed to, according to the filing: an intimacy coordinator on set when Lively was present, no improvised kissing, no more talk of his own sex life or genitalia, and no more discussion of Lively’s deceased father, Ernie, with whom Baldoni had allegedly claimed he had communicated from beyond the grave.

Justin Baldoni and his wife Emily at the Aug. 6 ‘It Ends With Us’ premiere.Gregory Pace/Shutterstock

Gregory Pace/Shutterstock

But that meeting, lawyers for Lively assert, was not the end of the problem, just the start of another. After filming wrapped and the movie’s Aug. 9 release grew closer,

Lively’s legal team contends Baldoni and his publicist Jennifer Abel worked with crisis PR guru Melissa Nathan (who worked forJohnny Deppduring his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard), billionaire Wayfarer co-founder Steve Sarowitz and an independent contractor in Texas, Jed Wallace, to smear Lively’s reputation.

“[They] embarked on a sophisticated press and digital plan in retaliation for Ms. Lively exercising her legally-protected right to speak up about their misconduct on the set, with the additional objective of intimidating her and anyone else from revealing in public what actually occurred,” according to the complaint.

“We can bury anyone,” Nathan wrote to Abel in an Aug. 2 text message, regarding their alleged plans. Two weeks later, after U.K. paperThe Daily Mailran a headline reading “Is Blake Lively Set to Be CANCELLED?” Abel wrote to Nathan, “You really outdid yourself with this piece.”

Baldoni’s lawyer Freedman, who also represents Heath, Sarowitz and Wayfarer and the publicists, claimed Lively filed the complaint to “fix her negative reputation.” He said the messages were “internal scenario planning” and the publicists did nothing out of the ordinary: “That’s what crisis teams do, they protect their clients.”

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds at the Aug. 6 ‘It Ends With Us’ premiere.Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock

Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock

Abel also spoke out in a Facebook post calling the messages in the complaint “cherry picked” while denying any astroturfing. “We didn’t have to implement anything because the internet was doing the work for us,” she wrote. (None of the publicists or Wayfarer executives responded to a request for further comment.)

The whole ordeal has been a nightmare for Lively, who shares children James, 10, Inez, 8, Betty, 5 and 22-month-old son Olin with Reynolds, 48. Behind closed doors, says the complaint, she has suffered “grief, fear, trauma, and extreme anxiety” in the alleged campaign’s aftermath.

A Lively source says putting together the legal case has been painful but necessary work. “Blake along with her team have been working on this lawsuit for months. It’s truly been so ugly for her. And insanely stressful. She’s never dealt with anything like this before,” explains the source.

What happens next? Lively’s legal team is currently evaluating her options while awaiting a decision from the California Civil Rights Department, which has 60 days to notify her if they will investigate the matter.

“If they find some barrier to it, a lot of times they’ll step in and try to mediate a solution with the employer,” says legal expert Gregory Doll, a California attorney who is not involved in the case. “If not, they’ll give her what’s called the right to sue letter, which means that she can go to court now and submit her claim there.”

If she does sue and she and Baldoni don’t settle beforehand, they’d head to a trial. “The most likely cases that don’t settle are the ones like this where it gets intensely personal between two people,” he notes.

Baldoni could countersue as well, something Doll says is very likely due to the bitter back and forth between the two legal teams:  “Based on what I have observed, it’s almost guaranteed that he will file a counterclaim,” he predicts.

But no matter what happens, Lively has a vast support system of family and friends who have her back — especially her husband.

“Ryan is always her rock,” says a Lively source, who adds that the actress has been focusing on her family after filing the complaint. ”For now, she’s said what needed to be said.”

source: people.com