Blake Lively has claimed two other actresses confided in her that Justin Baldoni made them feel “uncomfortable” during the filming of It Ends With Us, and they’d be willing to testify about their experiences amid the ongoing lawsuits between Lively and Baldoni.
It’s an “indisputable truth” that Lively “was not alone in complaining about Mr. Baldoni and raised her concerns contemporaneously as they arose in 2023,” attorneys for Lively wrote in a 141-page amended complaint filed on Tuesday. “Importantly, and contrary to the entire narrative Defendants have invented, Mr. Baldoni acknowledged the complaints in writing at the time.5 He knew that women other than Ms. Lively also were uncomfortable and had complained about his behavior.”
Rolling Stone has reached out to Baldoni’s attorney for comment.
It’s the latest allegation in the ever-escalating legal war between Baldoni and Lively following the fallout from It Ends With Us, based on the best-selling book by author Colleen Hoover. Premiering last August, the domestic abuse film had been overshadowed by rampant speculation about a rift between director Baldoni, who also starred in and produced the movie, and lead actress Lively. The off-screen tension was confirmed in December when The New York Times published a bombshell report that accused Baldoni of enlisting the help of a crisis communication firm to wage a social media campaign against Lively. The outlet also obtained a complaint that Lively had reportedly filed against Baldoni, alleging that he sexually harassed her and made inappropriate comments throughout filming.
Baldoni adamantly denied her accusations, filing an explosive $400 million lawsuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, claiming it was instead the A-list couple who had waged a false and defamatory campaign against him. In his own lengthy filings, Baldoni alleged Lively had effectively seized control of the movie and turned their fellow cast members against him. He also countered Lively’s sexual harassment claims with numerous text messages and videos that he claimed exonerated him. (Baldoni also filed a $100 million defamation suit against the New York Times.)
But Lively’s new amended complaint, obtained by Rolling Stone, also includes her own text messages where she claimed to have been telling her friends about how she was feeling during filming. In a text message to a friend on May 24, 2023, Lively called Baldoni and another executive producer “creeps,” according to the lawsuit.
“Keep your hormones to yourselves,” she allegedly wrote. “This is not mine. I don’t want it. I don’t want you [sic] gaze or words or tongue or videos of your naked wife. Yeah. It’s shocking. Clowns.”
Later that month, Lively claims that an unnamed female cast member “reported her own concerns regarding Mr. Baldoni’s unwelcome behavior” to a Sony executive and one of the movie’s producers. Shortly after, “Baldoni responded to that female cast member in writing, acknowledging that he was aware of her concerns, and that adjustments would be made,” the lawsuit alleges.
That same actress also told Lively about “her growing concerns with the conditions on set and that she found it difficult to talk to Mr. Baldoni,” according to the suit. “Later, another female cast member confided to Ms. Lively that she too felt uncomfortable on set.”
Lively’s amended complaint also adds a claim of defamation against Baldoni and the other defendants for public comments their attorney, Bryan Freedman, has made in the press.
Listing at least five statements Freedman has made regarding Lively’s “false accusations,” her attorneys claim these comments “impute Ms. Lively’s image and standing as an actress by suggesting that she fabricated serious claims of workplace sexual harassment on behalf of herself and others for no reason other than to take creative control of the Film.”
A trial has been tentatively set for March 2026, as neither party agreed to seek a resolution through mediation.
From Rolling Stone US
