Justin Baldoni's Lawsuit Over Blake Lively Article Alleges 'Doctored' Texts and More: Everything to Know About the Case

What really happened behind the scenes of It Ends With Us? Justin Baldoni presents a different picture than Blake Lively in a newly filed lawsuit.

On Dec. 20, Lively filed a complaint accusing Baldoni, her director and costar in the romantic drama, his production company Wayfarer Studios, and others of retaliation following allegations of sexual harassment. The allegations were publicized in a bombshell report by The New York Times the next day.

By Dec. 31, Lively officially filed a federal complaint in the Southern District of New York. That same day, Baldoni took legal action of his own, suing the Times for $250 million over the article and putting forth his side of the story on many of Lively's claims, which he previously denied in a statement to the outlet.

Bryan Freedman, the attorney representing Baldoni, said "the irony is rich" and alleged that Lively is the one who "fully orchestrated" a "vicious smear campaign" against Baldoni, not the other way around.

Freedman claims the Times "cowered to the wants and whims of two powerful untouchable Hollywood elites," meaning Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds. "While their side embraces partial truths, we embrace the full truth — and have all of the communications to back it," said Freedman.

A spokesperson for the Times responded, saying, "Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported," and that the outlet plans to "vigorously" defend against Baldoni's lawsuit.

Lively's lawyers said "nothing" in Baldoni's lawsuit "changes anything about the claims advanced in" Lively's original complaint. "While we will not litigate this matter in the press, we do encourage people to read Ms. Lively’s complaint in its entirety," her legal team said. "We look forward to addressing each and every one of Wayfarer’s allegations in court."

Read on for some of the biggest accusations laid out by Baldoni's lawyers in his lawsuit.

Related: Everything Blake Lively Claims in Complaint Against Justin Baldoni: Unwanted Kissing, Watching Her Naked and Smear Campaign

Text messages were "cherry-picked" out of context

Baldoni's lawyer Freedman accused the Times of "disregarding journalistic practices and ethics" by "using doctored and manipulated texts and intentionally omitting texts which dispute their chosen PR narrative."

A spokesperson for the outlet said the article at the center of the lawsuit "was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article."

Titled "'We Can Bury Anyone': Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine," the article included screengrabs of texts that were included as exhibits in Lively's complaint, including exchanges between Baldoni and his publicists.

One back-and-forth appeared to show his PR team boasting about a Daily Mail article with a headline questioning if Lively would be "canceled." "Wow. You really outdid yourself with this piece,” one publicist wrote to the other, who replied, “That’s why you hired me right? I’m the best." Baldoni's complaint, however, showed more of that correspondence, including the publicist saying the story was "not me" and that all the anti-Lively content "now looks like it's me."

While Lively has accused Baldoni of launching an online smear campaign, his lawsuit suggests "her actions naturally triggered organic public criticism and unleashed a cycle of negative coverage."

Baldoni's lawyers say the text messages were "cherry-picked" and "stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead" and fit Lively's "self-serving narrative."

In one alleged text exchange featured in Lively's complaint, one of Baldoni's publicists says, "He wants to feel like she can be buried." Another rep responded, "Of course," but added: "We can’t write 'we will destroy her.' Imagine if a document saying all the things that he wants ends up in the wrong hands. You know we can bury anyone."

Freedman has said the messages were “internal scenario planning” and that the publicists did nothing out of the ordinary.

Blake Lively is alleged to have "invited" Justin Baldoni into her trailer while pumping

In her complaint, Lively said Baldoni invaded her privacy by "entering her makeup trailer uninvited while she was undressed, including when she was breastfeeding her infant child." (She had welcomed her fourth child months before filming.)

Lively "felt comfortable" working while breastfeeding as long as "she was given the time and space to cover herself. She did this frequently, because she was not given breaks to feed her baby, but Ms. Lively did not expect or consent to anyone entering her private spaces while topless, exposed and vulnerable with her newborn, or during body makeup application or removal," read the complaint.

Her lawyers said Baldoni "showed a shocking lack of boundaries by invading her personal space when she was undressed and vulnerable."

In Baldoni's lawsuit, which was first reported by Variety, Baldoni shared an alleged text from Lively on June 3, 2023 that read, "I'm just pumping in my trailer if you wanna work out our lines." He responded, "Copy. Eating with crew and will head that way." Baldoni's lawyers claimed this illustrated that Lively "invited Baldoni into her trailer" on this one occasion.

Related: Blake Lively Is 'Ready to Tackle Whatever Comes Her Way' After Suing Justin Baldoni (Exclusive Source)

The birth video shown to Blake Lively was "benign" with "no sexual overtone," he argues

Lively recalled an instance in her complaint when producer Jamey Heath, a business partner of Baldoni's, played her a video from his wife's home birth and she "thought he was showing her pornography and stopped him." She was "alarmed" and "stunned that Mr. Heath had shown them a nude video," according to the complaint, adding that she was made to feel "weird for not welcoming it."

Baldoni's complaint called that version of events "patently absurd," saying the video was a "deeply personal one with no sexual overtone" and was part of a creative discussion about the film's birth scene.

"To distort this benign event into an act of sexual misconduct is outrageous and emblematic of the lengths to which Lively and her collaborators are willing to go to defame Plaintiffs," his lawyers wrote.

In Lively's complaint, it's alleged that Baldoni would "often reference pornography" to her.

Ryan Reynolds allegedly "berated" Justin Baldoni in a meeting

Lively's complaint explains there was an "all-hands" meeting in January 2024 before filming resumed, saying it was "convened to address the hostile work environment that had nearly derailed production." She opted to have husband Ryan Reynolds there as her "agreed-upon right to have a representative present."

Baldoni claimed in his complaint that the meeting, held at Lively and Reynolds' New York City apartment, saw an "enraged" Reynolds "aggressively berate" him for "fat-shaming" Lively, which Baldoni denied doing.

"Reynolds launched into a tirade, berating Baldoni in what Baldoni later described as a 'traumatic' encounter, stating he had 'never been spoken to like that in his life,' " the complaint alleges.

His lawyers characterize the alleged exchange as an "inappropriate and humiliating berating of Baldoni — delivered, perhaps intentionally, as other celebrity friends were coming in and out of their penthouse."

Related: Justin Baldoni's Lawyer Says ‘the Truth’ About Blake Lively’s Legal Complaint Will Expose ‘Those Who Believe Themselves Untouchable’ (Exclusive)

Justin Baldoni claims Ryan Reynolds pressured his agents to cut ties with him

Baldoni claimed he was told that Reynolds, while at the premiere of his blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine with Lively, "approached Baldoni’s agent at William Morris Endeavor and demanded that the agent 'drop' Baldoni."

In the complaint, Baldoni's attorneys write, "The wielding of power and influence became undeniable. Baldoni and Wayfarer grew increasingly fearful of what Lively and Reynolds were capable of, as their actions seemed aimed at destroying Baldoni’s career and personal life."

WME did stop working with Baldoni after news of Lively's complaint. In response to Baldoni's allegation in his new lawsuit, the agency denied the claim: "This is not true. ... Nor was there any pressure from Reynolds or Lively at any time to drop Baldoni as a client."

Blake Lively allegedly made threats in order to take over control of the film

It’s been previously reported that there were creative differences between Lively and director Baldoni, who had secured rights to author Colleen Hoover’s source material years before Lively came on board as the lead actress.

In his complaint, Baldoni claims Lively “threatened” not to promote the film if she didn’t get to make her own cut, which would be tested with audiences along with Baldoni’s version, and the winning one would be released in theaters. Baldoni claims he often conceded to Lively’s vision during production, and that she once gave him an “ultimatum” to either do things “her way" or recast her.

The final version of It Ends With Us that audiences ultimately saw is Lively’s version, says Baldoni's complaint, which she made, it reads, by hiring different editors and composers (who typically work with Reynolds) than the crew Baldoni enlisted. She was given a producer credit.

Since Lively came forward with her complaint, Hoover has spoken out in support of her. Prior to that, Tony Vinciquerra, Sony Pictures Entertainment chair-CEO, praised Lively’s “passion and commitment to advancing the conversation around domestic violence” and added, “We love working with Blake, and we want to do 12 more movies with her.”

Justin Baldoni claims Blake Lively's PR team planted negative stories about him

Baldoni argues that a smear campaign was in motion against him so he felt the need to hire a crisis PR firm to protect himself. Lively, in her initial filing, accused Baldoni of orchestrating a retaliatory smear campaign on her, hurting her reputation and businesses, though his side has argued that the backlash was "organic" and based on her own actions.

His lawyers claimed that Lively's publicist "[planted] a false story alleging that there were 'multiple' HR complaints during production."

Ahead of Baldoni's lawsuit coming to light, Lively's publicist Leslie Sloane denied planting stories: "It’s clear that Mr. Baldoni and his Wayfarer associates are suggesting that I originated press stories about HR complaints on set, which is false,” she wrote, in part.

Related: What Is Astroturfing? Experts Break Down the PR Tactic Used in Alleged Smear Campaign Against Blake Lively (Exclusive)

Blake Lively allegedly did not want Justin Baldoni at the film's premiere

Lively allegedly "initially refused to permit" Baldoni from attending the premiere of It Ends With Us, the movie he directed and starred in alongside her, according to his complaint. "Only after significant pressure did she reluctantly agree to allow Baldoni and the Wayfarer team to attend, but under humiliating conditions," his lawyers claimed.

The premiere was held in New York City on Aug. 6, and Baldoni's arrival was spaced out from the rest of the cast, and Baldoni walked the carpet with his wife Emily, who has a cameo in the film.

They were "segregated from the main cast" and "barred from the exclusive afterparty," he claimed.

Much of the internet's speculation about a rift among the cast began after fans noticed how removed Baldoni was from the rest of the costars during the film's promotion.

Baldoni claims he was also shut out of going to the June Book Bonanza event in Grapevine, Texas, where the film was shown to fans for the first time. Lively attended that event with costars Brandon Sklenar and Isabela Ferrer, plus author Colleen Hoover. (Hoover and Sklenar have spoken out in support of Lively since she filed her complaint.)

Read the original article on People