Justin Baldoni Claims in Lawsuit That Blake Lively NamedIt Ends with UsAfterparty Drink After Film's Abuser

Mar. 15, 2025

Blake Lively in August (left); Justin Baldoni as Ryle Kincaid inIt Ends with Us.Photo:Jeff Spicer/Getty; Nicole Rivelli

Jeff Spicer/Getty; Nicole Rivelli

Justin Baldoniclaims in a complaint that hisIt Ends with UscostarBlake Livelydid not take their film’s subject matter seriously, so much so that she allegedly named a drink after the drama’s domestic abuser during a premiere afterparty.

Baldoni, along with producer Jamey Heath, publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis publicistMelissa Nathan,filed a $400 million lawsuitin the Southern District of New York on Thursday, Jan. 16 against Lively, Ryan Reynolds, their publicist Leslie Sloane and Sloane’s PR firm Vision PR, Inc., over theongoing fallout from the film and its production.

In the 179-page suit, Baldoni and his co-plaintiffs highlight what they claim were “disastrous marketing efforts and tone-deaf press interviews and appearances” from Lively during the promotion ofIt Ends with Usin 2024. These efforts, they say, “backfired and led to widespread criticism of Lively’s promotional approach to the film’s highly sensitive focus on domestic violence.”

Calling the name of the drink “harmful and irresponsible,” Baldoni’s lawyers also state in the suit that “social media commenters quickly pointed out that [Lively’s] tie-in of her alcohol beverages was in particularly poor taste, given the World Health Organization estimates that 55% of domestic violence incidents are linked to alcohol.”

Lively’sBetty Booze alcohol brandand sparkling mixer companyBetty Buzzappear to have been part of the “Ryle You Wait” drink, as seen ina since-deleted Instagram videothat wasscreenrecorded and shared to Reddit. The origin and authenticity of the video is unclear. In it, a drink menu lists that the “Ryle You Wait” cocktail was crafted with bourbon, Lively’s Betty Buzz ginger beer, apple cider, cardamom bitters, cinnamon and an apple florette garnish.

Baldoni is suing Lively and her co-defendants on claims of civil extortion, defamation, false light invasion of privacy, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, intentional interference with contractual relations, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage.

Reps for Lively, Reynolds and Sloane did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Jamey Heath and Justin Baldoni attend theIt Ends with UsNew York Premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on August 06, 2024 in New York City ; Blake Lively attends theIt Ends with UsNew York Premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on August 06, 2024 in New York City.Cindy Ord/Getty ; Gotham/WireImage

Cindy Ord/Getty ; Gotham/WireImage

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Lively’s complaint includes accusations that Baldoni and producer Heath entered her trailer “uninvited” while she was undressed or “vulnerable,” alleges Baldoni “suddenly” pressured her to “simulate full nudity” in a birth scene and “improvised physical intimacy that had not been rehearsed, choreographed or discussed with Ms. Lively, with no intimacy coordinator involved." Her complaint claims that in the aftermath of the experience and the alleged smear campaign against her, Lively “has suffered from grief, fear, trauma, and extreme anxiety.”

Baldoni has alsosuedThe New York Timesalleging libel in response to its Dec. 21, 2024 article “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.” The suit alleges the newspaper used “‘cherry-picked’ and altered communications stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead" in its article about Lively’s complaint.

TheIt Ends with Uspremiereon Aug. 6, 2024 also factored into Baldoni’s libel suit against theTimes.In it, he claimed Lively allegedly “initially refused to permit” him to attend the New York premiere and “only after significant pressure did she reluctantly agree to allow Baldoni and the Wayfarer team to attend, but under humiliating conditions.” His lawyers claim Baldoni was “segregated” from the main cast and “barred” from the official afterparty.

source: people.com