Justin Baldoni to SueIt Ends with UsCostar Blake Lively 'Soon' Following Her Sexual Harassment Complaint (Exclusive Details)

Mar. 15, 2025

Almost two weeks afterBlake Livelyaccused herIt Ends with UscostarJustin Baldoniofsexual harassment and lauching a retaliatory public smear campaign against her, Baldoni’s lawyer says the actor/director plans to fire back with his own countersuit.

“We plan to release every single text messages between the two of them,” Freedman told NBC News. “We want the truth to be out there. We want the documents to be out there. We want people to make their determination based on receipts.”

PEOPLE has exclusively learned that the plaintiffs will include Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios (his production company behindIt End with Us),his publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis publicistMelissa Nathan. They plan to name Lively, her publicistLeslie Sloaneand Baldoni’s former publicist Stephanie Jones in the suit. (Jones sued Baldoni, Wayfarer, Abel and Nathan onDec. 24.)

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in ‘It Ends with Us’.Nicole Rivelli/Sony Pictures Entertainment

Nicole Rivelli/Sony Pictures Entertainment

Freedman did not provide a timetable in terms of when Baldoni’s countersuit will be filed, but a source with knowledge of the lawsuit said it will be filed “soon.”

It will be in response to Lively’s allegations in her Dec. 20 complaint, in which she claimed that Baldoni’s alleged behavior while makingIt Ends with Usand during its promotion caused her “grief, fear, trauma, and extreme anxiety.” Lively’s complaint includes allegations that during production he showed her explicit images and videos, asked her about her personal sex life and attempted to add intimate scenes to the film that she had not originally agreed to. She also claimed that Baldoni, alongside his publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis firm TAG PR’s Melissa Nathan, attempted tomanipulate social media and work alongside the press to “destroy” her reputation.

(L-R) Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni.Stewart Cook/Shutterstock; Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Stewart Cook/Shutterstock; Jamie McCarthy/Getty

On Tuesday, Dec. 31, BaldonisuedThe New York Timesfor libel in response to its Dec. 21 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 regarding Lively’s lawsuit and behind-the-scenes trouble onIt Ends with Us.

Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, andIt Ends with Usproducers Jamey Heath and Steve Sarowitz, along with Jed Wallace, and publicists Nathan and Abel are named as plaintiffs in that lawsuit.

The New York Timesdefended its article as “meticulously and responsibly reported” in response to Baldoni’s suit.

Blake Lively attends the ‘It Ends With Us’ photocall at IET Building: Savoy Place on August 08, 2024.Jeff Spicer/Getty

Jeff Spicer/Getty

In a statement Lively shared withThe New York Times, she said, “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.”

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In response to Lively’s complaint, filed in California,Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman, told PEOPLE in a statementthat it was filed to “fix her negative reputation,” and called her allegations “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt.”

Lively has since filed a federal complaint, against Wayfarer Studios and others involved in producingIt Ends with Usin the Southern District of New York.

Justin Baldoni attends the ‘It Ends With Us’ New York Premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on August 06, 2024.Gotham/WireImage

Gotham/WireImage

Freedman told PEOPLE exclusively on Dec. 29 that Baldoni’s lawsuit against Lively would form “a deliberate pursuit of truth.”

source: people.com