Blake Lively Files Motion to Dismiss Herself From Justin Baldoni’s $400 Million Lawsuit
Meanwhile, Baldoni is suing his ex-publicist for allegedly leaking texts to Lively's team
If you’ve been keeping up with the ongoing drama surrounding It Ends with Us, you know the film has been plagued by tension and controversy involving its leading star, Blake Lively, and her co-star and director, Justin Baldoni. The situation escalated when Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, accusing him of harassment and fostering a hostile work environment.
Following this, Baldoni and several of the film’s producers, publicists and others close to the situation sued The New York Times over what they described as a “defamatory headline designed to immediately mislead the reader.”
Baldoni also filed a lawsuit Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for $400 million, saying that the couple attempted “to destroy Justin Baldoni, his team and their respective companies by disseminating grossly edited, unsubstantiated, new and doctored information to the media,” according to the actor’s lawyer Bryan Freedman.
Then, in an effort to help his case move forward, Baldoni and his team released a behind-the-scenes video of him interacting with Lively on set.
Following that, a voice memo sent to Lively from Baldoni was released to the media, and in it, the actor seemingly apologizes to her for being a “very flawed man.” It is unclear as of publication who leaked the video, but a week after that, Baldoni’s team created a website to expose texts sent between him and Lively. He also shared notes from the movie’s alleged intimacy coordinator.
Then, Lively was once again sued by Jed Wallace and his crisis management firm, Street Relations, Inc. Wallace was also involved with the Baldoni lawsuit against the actress.
Two months and three weeks after her initial filing, Lively decided to dismiss herself from the $400 million lawsuit against her after deciding it was a “profound abuse of the legal process,” according to her lawyers. The news of her motion was simultaneous with Baldoni’s newest lawsuit as of publication, filed against his ex-publicist Stephanie Jones and accusing her of leaking information to Lively’s team.
We have all the details on the decision and an update on Baldoni’s lawsuits below!
Why Blake Lively decided to dismiss herself from Justin Baldoni’s lawsuit
On Thursday, March 20, 2025, it was announced that Lively had moved to dismiss herself from Baldoni’s lawsuit under California’s AB 933, the Privileged Communications Incident of Sexual Assault, Harassment, or Discrimination Act, with her lawyers Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudso telling First for Women, “This lawsuit is a profound abuse of the legal process that has no place in federal court.”
“California law now expressly prohibits suing victims who make the decision to speak out against sexual harassment or retaliation, whether in a lawsuit or in the press.”
Baldoni’s lawyer then responded to this announcement, saying,“Ms. Lively’s recent motion to dismiss herself from the self-concocted disaster she initiated is one of the most abhorrent examples of abusing our legal system. Stringent rules are put into place to protect the innocent and allow individuals to rightfully defend themselves.”
“We will continue to hold Ms. Lively accountable for her actions of pure malice which include falsely accusing my clients of harassment and retaliation,” they continued. “Her fantastical claims will be swiftly debunked as discovery moves forward, easily disproved with actual, evidentiary proof.”
Lively’s spokesperson said of the decision, “The painful reality is that Ms. Lively is not alone in being sued for defamation after speaking up about being sexually harassed at work. … While Ms. Lively has suffered greatly by speaking up and pursuing legal claims, it is important for other people to know that they have protections, and that there is a specific law that expressly protects them from being silenced or financially ruined by a defamation lawsuit because they had the courage to speak up.”
Why did Blake Lively sue Justin Baldoni in the first place?
Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni alleged that he created a “ hostile work environment that had nearly derailed production.” She claims in the lawsuit that Baldoni added in several “improvised physical intimacy that had not been rehearsed, choreographed or discussed with Ms. Lively, with no intimacy coordinator involved,” and once “was caressing Ms. Lively with his mouth in a way that had nothing to do with their roles.”
During those unplanned scenes, Lively claims that Baldoni told her that he was “not even attracted” to her after she tried to stop this sort of behavior from happening.
Additionally, Lively’s lawsuit accuses Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath of pressuring her to film nude scenes that were neither included in the script nor part of her contract. According to the complaint, during a scene where her character gives birth, the men “suddenly pressured Ms. Lively to simulate full nudity.”
Lively claimed ‘It Ends with Us’ backlash was calculated
Lively also claimed that both Baldoni and Heath exploited post-release backlash to damage her reputation, allegedly creating and promoting negative content about her. The complaint states, “They engaged in the same techniques to bolster Mr. Baldoni’s credibility and suppress any negative content about him.”
Baldoni has yet to publicly comment on the allegations but has since been dropped by his talent agency, WME. A lawyer on retainer for his production company, Wayfarer, told The New York Times in response that he believes the “claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.” Meanwhile, WME confirmed that the decision to part ways with Baldoni was not influenced by either Lively or her husband, Reynolds.
She filed this lawsuit on December 20, 2024, and since then has continued to make several public appearances with and without her husband.
The latest news on Justin Baldoni’s two lawsuits
Baldoni is currently suing both The New York Times and Lively in two separate lawsuits, claiming that both parties distributed information to the public in an attempt to ruin his reputation.
Baldoni, along with publicist Jed Wallace, Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, as well as producers Jamey Heath and Steve Sarowitz, announced that they would be suing The New York Times for their expose article ‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine—published on Saturday, December 2, 2024. They claimed in the December 31, 2024, filing that the article “encapsulated in a defamatory headline designed to immediately mislead the reader.” They refuted the article’s premise, which claimed the plaintiffs orchestrated a retaliatory public relations campaign against Lively for speaking out about harassment, calling it “categorically false and easily disproven.”
The New York Times responded, saying, “These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”
As of publication, nothing further has developed in regards to Baldoni’s lawsuit against the international newspaper.
Baldoni’s other lawsuit against Lively, her husband Reynolds, the couple’s publicist Leslie Sloane and Sloane’s PR firm, Vision PR, was announced on January 17, 2025, with the actor suing them for $400 million on the grounds of defamation and extortion.
“This lawsuit is a legal action based on an overwhelming amount of untampered evidence detailing Blake Lively and her team’s duplicitous attempt to destroy Justin Baldoni,” his lawyer said in a statement.
“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. Blake Lively was either severely misled by her team or intentionally and knowingly misrepresented the truth.”
“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.”
Lively’s legal team responded to the lawsuit soon after it was announced, saying, “The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate; it does not refute the evidence in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and it will fail.”
A timeline of Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal trouble
During and after the film’s press tour back in August 2024, fans were quick to notice that Baldoni was absent from cast interviews and events. Furthermore, the internet also noticed that none of the cast followed Baldoni on Instagram.
Perhaps the largest part of the drama came from how the two leading actors promoted the film. While Baldoni promoted the film as a story about domestic assault awareness, Lively faced criticism for presenting it as a lighter, floral-themed movie, though some now view her approach as a coping mechanism amid on-set difficulties.
Cast members Jenny Slater and Brandon Skelner have publicly supported Lively, with Skelner stating, “The women of this cast stand for hope, perseverance, and choosing a better life.”
He continued, “Trust me when I tell you, there isn’t a single person involved in the making of this film who was not aware of the responsibility we had in making this. A responsibility to all the women who have experienced generational trauma–Domestic abuse–Or struggle with looking in the mirror and loving who they see.”
The two then filed their lawsuits four months later, and then all of the behind-the-scenes drama started.
Colleen Hoover’s support for Blake Lively
Colleen Hoover, who wrote the It Ends with Us book and was heavily involved in the production and press of the film, took to Instagram over the weekend of December 28, 2024, to voice her support for Lively, writing, “@blakelively, you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met. Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt.”
The author also linked to an article written by The New York Times, which showcased various text messages detailing how Baldoni, Heath and a crisis management expert named Melissa Nathan allegedly tried to ruin Lively’s reputation, with Nathan reportedly saying, “You know we can bury anyone.”
Hoover has yet to comment on Baldoni’s lawsuits, but did deactivate her Instagram account for quite a while. She also recently made headlines for saying that she was “going to be broke as sh*t,” after her team decided to sell all of her book merch at a discounted rate.
“Well, I can’t retire now because now I’m going to be in the hole by 5 p.m.,” she added.
Behind-the-scenes video sparks controversy
The behind-the-scenes video—obtained by TMZ—showcases Lively and Baldoni dancing and talking about things like their spouses, noses and spray tans.
Now, normally, a behind-the-scenes video wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but in both Baldoni and Lively’s lawsuits, each of them references the moment.
According to Baldoni “Lively took them out of character again and began to joke about Baldoni’s nose, which he laughed off and joked in turn, even as Lively joked that he should get plastic surgery. Lively incorrectly alleges that this scene was filmed without sound. Baldoni was wearing a microphone, and the entire exchange is captured on camera.”
On the other hand, Lively claimed that while filming that particular scene her co-star/director “leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said, ‘it smells so good’… When Ms. Lively later objected to this behavior, Mr. Baldoni’s response was, ‘I’m not even attracted to you.’”
In the video, however, viewers learn that both statements have some validity since Lively joked about Baldoni’s nose, but in exchange, he also can be seen kissing both her lips and neck and telling her “It smells good” after Lively told him she was probably getting her spray tan on him.
Lively’s team has commented on the video, telling PEOPLE, “Every frame of the released footage corroborates, to the letter.”
They also filed a letter motion for conference against Baldoni’s team, saying that the video was used to “continue the campaign of retaliation,” which they claim the actor’s team has done “virtually every day since” Lively filed her lawsuit back in December 2024.
Lively’s team also claimed in the letter that Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, “has given television interviews, appeared on podcasts, issued inflammatory written statements, and leaked information (including, remarkably, documents as banal as document preservation demands to third parties) to the Hollywood press and tabloid media” in an effort to “not only continue the campaign of retaliation that was the subject of Ms. Lively’s First Cease and Desist, but they contain numerous new false statements about Ms. Lively and others.”
“His conduct threatens to, and will, materially prejudice both the Lively Case and the Wayfarer Case by tainting the jury pool, because his statements are deliberately aimed at undermining the ‘character, credibility, [and] reputation’ of numerous relevant parties.”
As of publication, aside from the initial release, Baldoni’s team hasn’t commented on the video or the letter motion for the conference.
What the leaked voice memo reveals
In the leaked voice memo—reportedly recorded in May 2023 and obtained by The Daily Mail—Baldoni can be heard apologizing and then thanking Lively for her proposed changes to the script.
“I’m really sorry. I for sure fell short, and you worked really hard on that,” Baldoni said. “And the way you framed it and how that made you feel, I just want to say thank you for sharing that with me
That takes a lot of trust and vulnerability. I feel really grateful that you feel safe enough to tell me that’s how you feel and share that with me. I’m really sorry, I f*ck*d up.”
In the memo, Baldoni can also be heard telling Lively that he’s “really looking forward to spending time together, and I believe that’s going to go a long way for our chemistry, which I believe is there. It’s been there from the start so I was so d*mn excited when you agreed to do this film. I believe it comes from us both being so hard working and having a vision.”
Jed Wallace’s sues against Blake Lively
Wallace and his crisis management firm announced that they Lively on the grounds of defamation in February 2025. It came after the actress requested a deposition from him, which was later denied.
Wallace is currently suing Lively for $7 million and said that “he didn’t engage in harassment or retaliation against the actress,” despite her claiming he did.
Lively’s team has responded to the lawsuit, saying, “Another day, another state, another nine-figure lawsuit seeking to sue Ms. Lively ‘into oblivion’ for speaking out against sexual harassment and retaliation.”
It is unclear as of publication if Wallace’s case will go to trial.
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