Yahoo Lifestyle Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni: What you need to know
From the moment Justin Baldoni announced in 2019 that he was adapting the best-selling book It Ends With Us into a film, there was a widespread frenzy.
There are few books in recent years that have become as big a cultural phenomenon as Colleen Hoover's novel - it has sold 20m copies and became an internet sensation on TikTok with more than one billion tags on the app.
When Blake Lively, who rose to fame in the 2000s in Gossip Girl, was cast as the main character, fans became even more excited, describing her as the perfect choice to play Lily Bloom, a young woman who grew up witnessing domestic abuse and winds up in the same position years later.
Lily, a florist in Boston, navigates a complicated love triangle between her charming but abusive boyfriend Ryle Kincaid - played by Jane the Virgin's Justin Baldoni - and her compassionate first love, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar).
Released last August, the film became a box office success bringing in more than $350m (£280m) globally.
But despite its financial success, everything wasn't running so smoothly behind the scenes. Rumours of a feud between Baldoni and Lively began swirling before the film was even released.
In December, Lively filed a legal complaint against her co-star, accusing him of sexual harassment and starting a smear campaign against her. Baldoni strongly denies that and has sued her in response.
Here is the story so far:
It Ends With Us press tour
For a film about domestic abuse, the press tour for It Ends With Us was probably not what you would have expected. There were pink carpets, flowers galore and the promotion of Lively's new haircare brand and her husband's gin company.
Instead of advocacy on the red carpet, Lively highlighted fashion and florals.
At the London premiere, press were told to keep questions "fun and light-hearted" with one event organiser telling me to "steer away from questions on domestic abuse".
One of her remarks made at the New York premiere - "you are so much more than just a survivor or just a victim" - sparked backlash on social media.
Domestic abuse survivor Ashley Paige criticised Ms Lively's language and told the BBC that Lively was promoting the film like it's "the sequel to Barbie".
Lively was also criticised for her comments in another clumsy promotional tour video where she said: "Grab your friends, wear your florals and head out to see it."
Justin Baldoni's absence
Alongside the press tour being described as "tone-deaf", people started asking questions about why the Lively and Baldoni weren't photographed on the red carpet together at the film's New York premiere.
The pair also did no interviews together during the press tour and at the London premiere, which Baldoni didn't attend, I was warned by Lively's team to not "ask any questions about Justin".
Internet sleuths also spotted that cast members including Lively and author Hoover did not follow Baldoni on social media.
Neither Lively or Baldoni addressed rumours of a feud during the press tour and the only reference to each other was Baldoni telling Today that his co-star was a "dynamic creative".
"She had her hands in every part of this production, and everything she touched made [it] better," he said about the 37-year-old.
'Smear campaign'
During the film's press tour, Baldoni hired a crisis manager, Melissa Nathan, whose previous clients include Johnny Depp and Drake.
Shortly after the press tour, Lively faced a barrage of criticism on social media relating to her comments on that tour as well as from old interviews.
One of the interviews to resurface was one shared by a Norwegian journalist, Kjersti Flaa, who posted a video on YouTube of her interviewing Lively in 2016. It was titled "The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job."
Flaa has since said she had "nothing to do with Justin Baldoni and his smear campaign".
Actor Brandon Sklenar, who plays Atlas in the film, defended Lively and said in a post on Instagram that people had been "vilifying" the women involved in the film online.
He said it was "disheartening to see the amount of negativity being projected" and that someone close to him who had experienced a relationship similar to Lily's had credited the film with "saving her life".
Legal complaint
Four months after the film's launch, Lively filed a legal complaint against Mr Baldoni in which she accused him of sexual harassment.
The complaint also listed Wayfarer Studios, Mr Baldoni's production company which produced It Ends With Us, as a defendant.
The legal filing accuses Mr Baldoni and Wayfarer CEO Jamey Heath of "repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behaviour". Some other female cast and crew had also spoken up about their conduct, the filing alleges.
It also alleges that Ms Lively, Mr Baldoni and other people involved in the development of the film attended a meeting in January to address "the hostile work environment" on set. Her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, attended the meeting alongside her, according to the complaint.
At the meeting, attendees agreed to a list of demands, including Mr Baldoni and Mr Heath making "no more descriptions of their own genitalia", requiring an intimacy coordinator on set at all times when Ms Lively was in scenes with Mr Baldoni and no "friends" of the producers and directors being on set during scenes when Ms Lively was in a state of nudity.
The list of demands also implied that Mr Baldoni had asked Ms Lively's trainer how much she weighed and alleged that Mr Baldoni and Mr Heath had spoken about their "pornography addiction" to Ms Lively.
Plan to 'destroy' reputation
In the filing, Ms Lively also alleges that Mr Baldoni and his team attacked her public image after the meeting.
She accuses him of orchestrating a plan to "destroy" her reputation in the press and online, including hiring a crisis manager who led a "sophisticated, coordinated, and well-financed retaliation plan" against her and used a "digital army" to post social media content that seemed authentic.
"To safeguard against the risk of Ms Lively ever revealing the truth about Mr Baldoni, the Baldoni-Wayfarer team created, planted, amplified, and boosted content designed to eviscerate Ms Lively's credibility," her team wrote in the filing.
It adds: "They engaged in the same techniques to bolster Mr Baldoni's credibility and suppress any negative content about him."
In the filing, Ms Lively says that this had led to "substantial harm" that affected "all aspects" of her life.
Mr Baldoni's legal team told the BBC the allegations are "categorically false" and said they hired a crisis manager because Ms Lively had threatened to derail the film unless her demands were met.
Responding to the legal complaint, Mr Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, said on Saturday: "It is shameful that Ms Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives."
Mr Freedman accused Ms Lively of making numerous demands and threats, including "threatening to not show up to set, threatening to not promote the film", which would end up "ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met".
Support for Lively
Hollywood stars including America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel have publicly backed Blake Lively after she filed her complaint.
Ferrera, Tamblyn and Bledel, who starred with Lively in 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, issued a joint statement on Instagram, on Sunday saying they "stand with her in solidarity".
"Throughout the filming of It Ends with Us, we saw her summon the courage to ask for a safe workplace for herself and colleagues on set, and we are appalled to read the evidence of a premeditated and vindictive effort that ensued to discredit her voice," they wrote.
Colleen Hoover, the author of It Ends With Us, also showed her support, describing Ms Lively as "honest, kind, supportive and patient".
Baldoni's award rescinded
In early December Baldoni was awarded a women's solidarity honour by Vital Voices, a global non-profit organisation that focuses on empowering women.
The organisation has rescinded the award after the legal complaint filed by Lively alleged "abhorrent conduct" by the actor, his studio and a crisis public relations team that it said was "contrary to the values" it held.
And since the legal complaint, Baldoni's podcast co-host Liz Plank announced she was leaving The Man Enough show.
The podcast bills itself as creating "a safe environment" for exploring issues such as how "masculinity" shows up in relationships, as well as "sex, success" and "mental health".
Baldoni sues New York Times for libel
On 31 December Baldoni's lawyers filed a $250m libel lawsuit against New York Times over its reporting of Lively's allegations against him.
The paper published an article on 21 December entitled: "'We Can Bury Anyone': Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine."
Baldoni and nine other plaintiffs including publcist Melissa Nathan accuse the paper of libel and false-light invasion of privacy.
The lawsuit says the paper "'cherry-picked' and altered communications stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead".
A New York Times spokesperson said the story was "meticulously and responsibly reported" and it plans to "vigorously defend" itself.
Baldoni files $400m lawsuit against Lively
On 16 January, Baldoni filed a lawsuit against Lively and her husband Ryan Ryenolds.
He's suing them for $400m (£326m) damages on claims of civil extortion, defamation and invasion of privacy.
His lawyer Bryan Freedman said the actress and her partners had disseminated "grossly edited, unsubstantiated, new and doctored information to the media".
He also said Lively and her team had "attempted to bulldoze reputations and livelihoods for heinously selfish reasons".
In response, Lively's legal team described the lawsuit as "another chapter in the abuser playbook".
Out-takes and voicemail released
On 21 January, Baldoni released three out-takes of a romantic scene from the film as evidence that Lively's claims of sexual harassment are unfounded.
The video's caption says the footage shows both actors "clearly behaving well within the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism".
However, Lively's lawyers said the footage showed him "repeatedly leaning in toward Ms Lively and attempting to kiss her".
They added that every moment was "improvised by Mr Baldoni with no discussion or consent in advance, and no intimacy co-ordinator present".
"Any woman who has been inappropriately touched in the workplace will recognise Ms Lively's discomfort," they said.
The following week, a voicemail of Baldoni apologising to Lively during an exchange about a script rewrite in April 2023 was also released.
A judge has set a date for their case to trial - 9 March 2026.
Baldoni publishes website with timeline of events
Baldoni has published a website called Lawsuit Info with his amended complaint and a timeline of events related to his lawsuits against Lively and New York Times.
Published on 1 February it contains two legal documents: Baldoni's latest court filings against Lively and Reynolds, and a 168-page document entitled "timeline of relevant events" related to the dispute and the production of the film.
The latter includes alleged text message exchanges between him and Lively.
Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, told BBC News that Baldoni amended his lawsuit due "to the overwhelming amount of new proof that has come to light".
Lively's representatives are yet to comment, but a New York Times spokesperson told BBC News that Baldoni's legal filings were "rife with inaccuracies" about the newspaper, "including, for example, the bogus claim that The Times had early access to Ms Lively's state civil rights complaint".
First court hearing
On 3 February, a pretrial meeting was held at a federal court in Manhattan.
The hour-and-a-half hearing became heated as lawyers for each side claimed the other was badmouthing their client outside of court.
Judge Liman said both sides have "given the public plenty to feast upon" and added that if the case ended up being "litigated in the press", he could be forced to make the March 2026 trial date earlier, so jurors do not become prejudiced against either of the defendants.
He also said he is barring the lawyers from making statements publicly that could sway the outcome of a trial.
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