Justin Baldoni's counterattack against Blake Lively: 400-million dollar suit

In a new chapter of the scandal that put Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in the spotlight, two lawsuits have resulted from the troubles on set of their film 'It Ends with Us'.

Baldoni now accuses Blake Lively, his co-star in the film 'It Ends With Us,' as well as Lively's husband, Ryan Reynolds, of defaming and mistreating him in order to gain control of the film.

The actor and director is seeking $400 million in damages. In a separate lawsuit, he accuses Reynolds, Marvel, and Disney of allegedly contributing to a campaign against him by creating the character of Nicepool in the film 'Deadpool and Wolverine' to "mock" him.

Photo: vancityreynolds / Instagram

According to his lawyers (including Bryan Freedman, photo) and their writings in the court filings of January 16, Baldoni refutes the accusations Blake Lively has made against him regarding events during the filming, post-production, and promotion stages of the movie.

"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 team, and their respective companies by disseminating grossly edited, unsubstantiated, new and doctored information to the media," Freedman said about his client's 179-page complaint.

"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," Freedman said.

It all started with a lawsuit filed in December by the actress against Baldoni and the film's producer, Jamey Heath, for se*ual harassment and defamation. She refers to a document she had Baldoni sign on set, in which he'd promised not to behave in an inappropriate way anymore.

In his lawsuit, Baldoni claims that the document he signed - a condition for Lively to return to the set - was actually full of lies. He only agreed to sign it for the good of the film.

The actor also refuted almost all of the actress's claims about the alleged harassment. To be more specific, where she recalls inappropriate comments about her intimate experience or lack thereof, he recalls a friendly chat that he started in order to improve some scenes in the film. He also emphasizes that he was willing to deal with the modifications Lively made to the script with the help of her husband, Reynolds.

As for the actress, after her co-star's lawsuit against her came to light, her legal representatives said that Baldoni was trying to turn things around by wanting to make Blake look guilty. "This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of se*ual harassment and retaliation, and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim," Lively's lawyers said in a statement.

"The cast and others had their own negative experiences with Mr. Baldoni and Wayfarer [the studio]. The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate, it does not refute the evidence in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and it will fail," they said.

The actress's lawyers said they will prove that Sony, the studio responsible for distributing the film, asked Lively to supervise a different edition of the movie than the one presented by its director. The lawyers say that Lively's version was the one that finally reached theaters and became a success.

In early 2025, Lively filed a federal lawsuit against Baldoni and others associated with the film. It accused them of harassment and a coordinated campaign to attack her reputation for speaking out about the mistreatment she received on set.

The same day, but hours earlier, the actor and the others accused by Lively sued The New York Times. They demanded at least $250 million for defamation from the paper, arguing that the New York Times and Blake Lively were carrying out a coordinated campaign against him with an article about her allegations.

The New York Times, for its part, stood by its report and said it plans to "vigorously defend itself" against the lawsuit.

Baldoni also accuses Reynolds of making fun of him in a scene of the new 'Deadpool' movie that ultimately never made the cut. In it, Reynolds appears with his hair half-up in a bun, Baldoni-style, while talking about Blake Lively's supporting character, Ladypool.

Photo: vancityreynolds / Instagram

"Oh my goodness, wait til you've seen Ladypool. She is gorgeous. She just had a baby too and [you] can't even tell," says the character Nicepool. The footage was released through social media and Baldoni assumed Nicepool was imitating him.

In the image, Lively and Gigi Hadid at the premiere of 'Deadpool and Wolverine'

Blake gave birth to her fourth child with Ryan in February 2023, shortly before filming began on 'It Ends with Us.' On the set of that film, Baldoni made comments about her postpartum weight. For that reason, he thinks Ryan Reynolds is mocking him in the social media post.

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