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Justin Baldoni just filed a $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, as well as and publicist Leslie Sloane, claiming they deliberately set out to tarnish his reputation. Lively had already sued Baldoni for allegedly sexually harassing her on the set of the film It Ends With Us.
According to E! News, the lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, Justin Baldoni claims Blake Lively was “determined to make Baldoni the real-life villain of her story” and “falsified stories” of sexual harassment.
“Though Lively claimed Baldoni was the one smearing her, the reality is that it was Lively and her team who carefully planned and implemented a vile smear campaign against Baldoni and Wayfarer to deflect attention and blame for Lively’s disastrous misjudgments,” the lawsuit reads, adding, “Lively, working with her husband, her publicist, and Jones, among others, set out on a campaign to tar and feather Plaintiffs in the press.”
Baldoni also claims Blake Lively “set out to destroy Plaintiffs’ livelihoods and businesses if they did not bend to her incessant demands, and when they refused to give way, she did exactly that, accusing them of foul and reprehensible sexual misconduct.”
While on the set of It Ends With Us, Justin Baldoni claims Lively, who “had a reputation of being difficult to work with,” was “inserting herself into the production process in intrusive ways well beyond the scope of her contractual entitlements.”
It was previously reported that Lively attempted to make casting decisions for the film Deadpool & Wolverine, despite the fact that she only had a cameo in the movie, and was wearing a full mask.
Lively reportedly was difficult to work with, and sometimes outright mean, while working on the TV show Gossip Girl.
“It is clear based on our own all out willingness to provide all complete text messages, emails, video footage and other documentary evidence that was shared between the parties in real time, that this is a battle she will not win and will certainly regret,” Justin Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman told E! News.
In related news, Baldoni’s lawyer sent a litigation hold letter to Marvel president Kevin Feige and Disney CEO Bob Iger asking the studio to preserve all relevant documents and data with regards to Baldoni. Freedman believes that Blake Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds was mocking Baldoni with his portrayal of a character named Nicepool in Deadpool & Wolverine. In particular, he singled out the lines uttered by Nicepool, “Where in God’s name is the intimacy coordinator?!” and complimenting Ladypool (played by Lively) for “snapping back” after her pregnancy.