We all knew a lawsuit from Justin Baldoni against Blake Lively was coming over what did or did not go down on It Ends With Us and the PR aftermath, and now it has – with a $400 million price tag attached.
“At bottom, this is not a case about celebrities sniping at each other in the press,” says the defamation, extortion and four other claims complaint filed today in federal court in New York by the IEWU co-star and director, his Wayfarer Studios, PR team Melissa Nathan, Jennifer Abel and others against Lively, Ryan Reynolds, PR chief Leslie Sloane and more.
“This is a case about two of the most powerful stars in the world deploying their enormous power to steal an entire film right out of the hands of its director and production studio,” the 179-page filing from attorney Bryan Freedman adds. “Then, when Lively and Reynolds’ efforts failed to win them the acclaim they believed they so richly deserved, they turned their fury on their chosen scapegoat. Tolerating a year and a half of their behavior while remaining polite and professional at every turn offered Badoni and Wayfarer no protection.”
Having already sued the New York Times on New Year’s Eve for $250 million over its December 21 story about Lively’s December 20 sexual harassment and retaliation filing with the California Civil Rights Department and sent a widely accusing and somewhat self-pitying evidence preservation letter to Disney and Marvel over Deadpool & Wolverine, Baldoni and team Thursday invoked the horrific wildfires that have devastated LA in their latest legal action.
“Lively moved forward with her plan with ruthless precision, doubling down in the face of abundant evidence casting doubt on the veracity of her story,” the new complaint says. Lively even went so far as to serve her lawsuit on the Los Angeles-based defendants as they evacuated their homes in the midst of devastating fires engulfing their city. On a day when Defendants were gathering their kids and pets, preparing ‘go bags’ and monitoring evacuation orders while fearing for their homes, Lively—from the safety of her penthouse in New York— deployed process servers in the midst of these troubling times.”
“Lively stole Wayfarer’s movie, hijacked Wayfarer’s premiere, destroyed Plaintiffs’ personal and professional reputations and livelihood, and aimed to drive Plaintiffs out of business entirely,” the heavily email and text message illustrated documents exclaims.
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