Blake Lively vs Justin Baldoni

It might have been the movie of last summer: ‘It Ends with Us’ starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. But the box office success was mainly overshadowed by a hefty dose of drama that reportedly began during filming. The shoot was halted due to an unpleasant atmosphere on set, and the promotional period was quite chaotic as well. Justin was completely separated from the rest of the cast, which is quite strange for a lead actor and director. Meanwhile, he and Blake have ended up in a complicated legal battle. Here’s a recap of everything we know so far.

Blake's complaint

Although it was clear that the atmosphere during filming and the promotional tour was quite tense, no one knew exactly what had transpired. For a long time, it seemed that this would remain the case; until December 20. Blake filed a complaint against Justin, his business partner Steve Sarowitz, their company Wayfarer Studios, and producer Jamey Heath. She accuses them of sexual harassment and a public smear campaign to damage her reputation. In this campaign, they were allegedly assisted by entrepreneur Jed Wallace and publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel. Justin's unprofessional and disturbing behavior is said to have created a hostile work environment. “I hope my legal actions will shed light on these sinister retaliation tactics to harm those who speak out about misconduct and protect others who may be targets,” Blake said.

Revelations in The New York Times

A day after filing the complaint, The New York Times published an article titled ‘We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine’. In it, they discuss in detail all of Blake's accusations. The actress claims that the problems actually began before filming. Justin allegedly added improvised sex and nude scenes to the script without consultation, and there was no intimacy coordinator. He and Jamey Heath also reportedly entered Blake's trailer uninvited while she was changing or breastfeeding. Both spoke in detail about their own love lives and showed sexually suggestive videos. A crisis meeting was held to resolve the issues and force Justin and Jamey to stop their behavior. Filming continued, but the atmosphere remained tense. After all the filming, a smear campaign was reportedly launched to discredit Blake. Various text messages between Justin, his publicists, and a crisis management expert served as evidence for this. The complaint and the detailed article dealt a huge blow to Justin's image. His management WME dropped him, and the Voices of Solidarity Award, which he received for standing up for women's rights, was revoked. Several co-stars and other celebrities expressed their support for Blake. On December 31, the actress converted her complaint into an official lawsuit in New York.

Justin's response

Justin himself has not publicly responded to the complaint, but his lawyer Bryan Freedman called the accusations “false, outrageous, and deliberately salacious with the intent to cause public harm.” Blake is said to only want to save her own negative reputation. In response to the now official case, Justin's team filed their own lawsuit against The New York Times. They are seeking $250 million and accuse the newspaper of defamation, false light, invasion of privacy, breach of contract, and promise fraud. According to them, facts have been taken out of context and misleading information has been deliberately spread. Justin also provides counter-evidence for various accusations. Blake. He also shows text messages indicating that the actress gave him permission to enter her trailer while she was breastfeeding. According to the actor, it is she who brought negative stories about him to the media. Blake allegedly tried to refuse him from the premiere and ultimately ensured that Justin had to do all the promotion separately from the rest. On January 2, Justin's lawyer told NBC News that their team is working to also sue Blake. “We plan to release all text messages between the two. We want the truth to come out. We want the documents to come out. We want people to base their judgment on receipts.” So, all the ‘It Ends with Us drama’ is not over yet.