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Justin Baldoni launches new website with amended lawsuit, 'timeline of relevant events' in Blake Lively feud

1 February 2025 at 21:25

Justin Baldoni's team has launched a new website amid his ongoing legal battle with "It Ends With Us" co-star Blake Lively.

The website, thelawsuitinfo.com, which was published Saturday, featured a landing page with links to two PDF files, including a copy of a newly amended complaint that the 41-year-old actor filed against the 37-year-old actress and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and another document with a 168-page "timeline of relevant events" that showcased new emails and texts related to the case. 

Both documents were filed Friday in New York federal court ahead of the case's first hearing, which is scheduled for Monday.

Lively has claimed she was sexually harassed on the set of "It Ends With Us" and filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, his Wayfarer studio and former PR representatives in December. The same day Lively filed her suit, Baldoni filed a $250 million suit against The New York Times for a December article about Lively's lawsuit and the alleged smear campaign Baldoni attempted to run against his co-star.

Weeks later, Baldoni then named Lively and Reynolds in a separate $400 million defamation lawsuit in which he accused the Hollywood power couple of attempting to hijack "It Ends With Us" and create their own narrative. 

Baldoni's amended complaint alleged Lively had been working with The New York Times weeks before the article was published in December. 

The documents stated that metadata embedded within The New York Times article indicated the outlet "had already begun building its defamatory Article no later than October 31, 2024." 

The lawsuit claimed that "careful observers reported that viewing the HTML source code for the Article revealed references to a 'message-embed-generator' that referred [to a] date of ‘2024-10-31.’" 

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According to the documents, The New York Times created a tool to display Lively's texts in the article Oct. 31, which Baldoni's legal team suggested was evidence the story was first generated on or before that date.

"It may seem unsurprising and even respectable that a news organization should work for weeks or months before publishing a purported investigative report," the documents say. 

"But the significance of the timing of these elements of the defamatory Article is that they strip away the legal shields that Lively, the Times, and the other Lively Parties were likely relying on to protect their malicious acts of defamation, such as the litigation privilege and the fair reporting privilege."

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, addressed the amended complaint. 

"The decision to amend our lawsuit was a logical next step due to the overwhelming amount of new proof that has come to light," Freedman said.

"This fresh evidence corroborates what we knew all along, that due to a blind pursuit of power, Ms. Lively and her entire team colluded for months to destroy reputations through a complex web of lies, false accusations and the manipulation of illicitly received communications.

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"The ongoing public interest in this case online has ironically shed light on the undeniable facts pertaining to The New York Times and how heavily Ms. Lively and her representatives were not only deeply involved in the attempted takedown and smear campaign of Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and their teams but that they themselves initiated it."

In a statement to Fox News Digital, The New York Times Company's representative, Danielle Rhoades Ha, pushed back against claims made in the amended lawsuit.

"The Baldoni/Wayfarer legal filings are rife with inaccuracies about The New York Times, including, for example, the bogus claim that The Times had early access to Ms. Lively's state civil rights complaint," she said.

"Mr. Baldoni's lawyers base their erroneous claim on postings by amateur internet sleuths, who, not surprisingly, are wrong. The sleuths have noted that a version of the Lively state complaint published by The Times carries the date 'December 10' even though the complaint wasn't filed until more than a week later. The problem: that date is generated by Google software and is unrelated to the date when The Times received it and posted it."

Representatives for Lively did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Fox News Digital's Tracy Wright contributed to this report.

Blake Lively's brother-in-law apologizes if he's said anything 'unkind' as her Justin Baldoni drama escalates

29 January 2025 at 20:52

Blake Lively’s brother-in-law this week "sincerely apologized" if he has said something that's "unkind" as the "It Ends With Us" actress continues her legal back and forth with former co-star Justin Baldoni. 

"Anytime I’ve said anything unkind about someone I’ve regretted it," Bart Johnson, a "Landman" actor, who is married to Robyn Lively, Blake’s older half-sister, wrote on X on Tuesday. "Fortunately that’s almost never and definitely not when I’m at my best."

He continued, "Regardless if it’s true or not, if it’s my opinion, even if I’m trying to speak truth or stand up for someone, it’s never good. Even in times where it might ‘feel’ justified and doing the right thing, it makes no difference. There’s a better way."

Johnson added that making cheap remarks is "below the standard I have for myself and I regret it. I do sincerely apologize to anyone I’ve hurt or let down by saying something that sounds mean. I’ll do better."

BLAKE LIVELY ACCUSES JUSTIN BALDONI'S LAWYER OF ATTEMPTING TO ‘TORPEDO’ ACTRESS' CAREER ‘FOR GOOD’

He said that any of his followers would be "hard pressed" to find more than one time when he’s criticized someone on social media. 

"You can easily find a million times I’ve uplifted, support, encourage and uplifted my family, friends, followers & strangers," he wrote. "That’s what I’m committed to and where I find my happiness. We all have flaws and I’m definitely a work in progress and doing my best to grow and be better. Sending ALL my love to ALL of you." 

Johnson didn’t give any specifics in the lengthy post, but it comes a month after he appeared to call Baldoni a "fraud" in a since-deleted post, according to USA Today

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"He’s a fraud. He puts on the 'costume' of a hero, man bun and all. Used all of the trendy catchphrases & buzz words for his podcasts. None of it’s genuine," Johnson reportedly wrote on X in late December. "It’s all theater. And everyone fell for it. For years." 

Baldoni hosts the "Man Enough" podcast, which "explores what it means to be a man today and how rigid gender roles have affected all people," according to the website. "The show creates a safe environment for a range of perspectives to meet and stay at the table, exploring how the messages of masculinity show up in relationships, body image, privilege, fatherhood, sex, success, mental health and so much more. Instead of polarizing and demonizing men and masculinity, it invites all humans to participate and thrive in the world."

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Lively filed a sexual harassment suit in December against Baldoni, his Wayfarer studio and former PR reps that also alleged he had orchestrated a smear campaign against her. The same day Lively filed her suit, Baldoni filed a $250 million suit against the New York Times for a December article about the alleged smear campaign. 

Weeks later, Baldoni then named Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, in a separate $400 million defamation lawsuit in which he accused the Hollywood power couple of attempting to hijack "It Ends With Us" and attempt to smear him with their own narrative. 

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Both Lively and Reynolds were producers on "It Ends With Us."

Fox News Digtial's Tracy Wright contributed to this report.  

Justin Baldoni fires back at Blake Lively's gag order attempt, calling it 'tactical gamesmanship'

24 January 2025 at 18:42

Justin Baldoni's legal team is not letting Blake Lively's gag order request go quietly.

Earlier this week, the actress demanded a gag order be enforced against Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, after Freedman released unedited footage from the "It Ends With Us" set. 

In a court filing Tuesday, Lively's team slammed Freedman for making multiple statements to the media that could taint a jury should the actress's sexual harassment complaints against Baldoni make it to a courtroom.

On Jan. 23, Baldoni's lawyers filed a response, calling Lively's gag order attempt an "intimidation tactic" and "tactical gamesmanship."

JUSTIN BALDONI CLAIMS UNEDITED ‘IT ENDS WITH US’ FOOTAGE REFUTES BLAKE LIVELY'S SEXUAL HARASSMENT ACCUSATIONS 

"Having publicly made ruinous allegations that the Wayfarer Parties can prove are false, the Lively Parties now invoke attorney disciplinary rules as an intimidation tactic," Baldoni's legal team wrote.

"The Lively Parties’ desire to force the Wayfarer Parties to defend themselves privately against allegations made publicly is not a proper basis for a gag order. It is tactical gamesmanship, and it is outrageous."

The filing states that, after a "bombshell" New York Times article included Lively's allegations of sexual harassment against Baldoni, releasing the unedited "This Ends With Us" footage has been vital to protecting their client.

BLAKE LIVELY'S 'IT ENDS WITH US' COSTARS BRANDON SKLENAR, JENNY SLATE 'ADMIRE HER BRAVERY' AMID LAWSUIT

They called the backlash from the article "utterly calamitous," adding that Baldoni and his team have been "exiled from polite society" because of it. The letter also said Baldoni has suffered damages "totaling hundreds of millions of dollars due to Ms. Lively’s scorched-earth media campaign."

Representatives for Lively did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

The unedited "This Ends With Us" video, shared by Baldoni's attorney and obtained by Fox News Digital, allegedly addresses the actress's claims about a slow-dance scene.

WATCH: JUSTIN BALDONI RELEASES UNEDITED 'IT ENDS WITH US' FOOTAGE FEATURING BLAKE LIVELY

Lively claimed Baldoni "leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said, ‘It smells so good,'" while filming a slow dance montage scene, according to her Dec. 20 sexual harassment lawsuit obtained by Fox News Digital. 

"When Ms. Lively later objected to this behavior, Mr. Baldoni’s response was, ‘I’m not even attracted to you.’"

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However, Baldoni insisted the comment was made in regard to Lively's own admission about her spray tan. Throughout the video, nearly 10 minutes of raw footage, Baldoni is directing the scene while Lively engages him in conversation because she states that it's "more romantic" than just staring at each other. 

While Baldoni snuggled into Lively's neck, the actor jokingly asked, "Am I getting beard on you today?" She laughed and said, "I'm probably getting spray tan on you."

Baldoni then stated, "It smells good," to which Lively responded, "Well, it's not that. It's my body makeup."

The videos "captured on May 23, 2023, clearly refute Ms. Lively's characterization of his behavior," a statement shared at the beginning of the clip stated. "The scene in question was designed to show the two characters falling in love and longing to be close to one another. Both actors are clearly behaving well within the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism. These are all three takes filmed of the sequence."

Lively's legal team claimed the unedited video is "damning evidence" and "corroborates" her allegations of sexual harassment.

"Justin Baldoni and his lawyer may hope that this latest stunt will get ahead of the damaging evidence against him, but the video itself is damning. Every frame of the released footage corroborates, to the letter, what Ms. Lively described in Paragraph 48 of her complaint," Lively's legal team said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. 

"The video shows Mr. Baldoni repeatedly leaning in toward Ms. Lively, attempting to kiss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, flicking her lip with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and talking with her out of character.

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"Every moment of this was improvised by Mr. Baldoni with no discussion or consent in advance and no intimacy coordinator present. Mr. Baldoni was not only Ms. Lively’s co-star, but the director, the head of studio and Ms. Lively’s boss.

"The video shows Ms. Lively leaning away and repeatedly asking for the characters to just talk. Any woman who has been inappropriately touched in the workplace will recognize Ms. Lively’s discomfort. They will recognize her attempts at levity to try to deflect the unwanted touching. No woman should have to take defensive measures to avoid being touched by their employer without their consent."

Last week, Baldoni filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. 

Fox News Digital's Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report.

Justin Baldoni calls Blake Lively's claims 'false and destructive,' lawyer says new lawsuit will expose truth

30 December 2024 at 17:08

Justin Baldoni plans to "expose" what his lawyer calls a "false" narrative created by Blake Lively's legal complaint against the actor.

The actor's impending lawsuit will share the "truth" after Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment leading up to filming the Colleen Hoover-adapted movie, "It Ends With Us."

"This is not a response or countersuit – it’s a deliberate pursuit of truth," Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, told People magazine.

BLAKE LIVELY SUES JUSTIN BALDONI FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT, RETALIATION AND INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS

"This lawsuit will uncover and expose the false and destructive narrative that was intentionally engineered by a trusted media publication who relied upon nefarious sources and neglected a thorough fact-checking process to confirm the validity of these texts," Baldoni's lawyer said.

"There is an insurmountable collection of authentic evidence, including timelines and communications, which have not been doctored or spliced without context, unlike the altered ['New York Times'] story that ran on Saturday, December 21st 2024," the statement continued.

Fox News Digital reached out to Freedman for additional comment.

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Lively detailed allegations of sexual harassment, retaliation, intentional affliction of emotional distress, negligence and more in a complaint filed Dec. 20 with the California Civil Rights department.

The actress reportedly convened an "all hands" meeting on Jan. 4, 2024 regarding the alleged behavior of Baldoni and film producer Jamey Heath in which her husband, Ryan Reynolds, attended.

"Ms. Lively was forced to address concerns about Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath's misconduct with them directly, and began doing so months before filming began," the complaint, obtained by Fox News Digital, read. "The concerns she raised were not only for herself, but for the other female cast and crew, some of whom had also spoken up."

Some of the alleged behavior discussed included no more showing nude videos or images of women to Lively, no more mention of Baldoni’s or Heath's previous "pornography addiction," no more discussions about personal experiences with sex, no more descriptions of their own genitalia, no more adding sex scenes outside what was in the original script, no more discussions about Blake’s weight or deceased father, and more.

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At the time, all parties agreed that the outlined conduct would cease. Despite the agreement, Lively claims in the complaint that Baldoni executed and participated in a "social manipulation" campaign to "destroy" her career and reputation. 

"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," Lively told The New York Times in a statement.

Baldoni's lawyer denied the allegations to the outlet, saying: "These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media."

Fox News Digital's Christina Dugan Ramirez contributed to this report.

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