Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds sued by Justin Baldoni in $400M defamation case

Justin Baldoni sues Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds for $400M, alleging defamation, extortion, and contract meddling.

Actor-director Justin Baldoni has filed a $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, publicist Leslie Sloane, and Vision PR, Inc. 

The lawsuit, filed on Jan. 16 in the Southern District of New York, alleges defamation, extortion, and interference with contractual and economic relations amidst a dispute over the production of the film It Ends With Us.

Baldoni, 40, along with producer Jamey Heath and publicists Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan, accuses Lively, 37, of attempting to gain control of the project by disseminating doctored and misleading evidence to the media. The suit claims this was part of a calculated effort to damage Baldoni’s reputation and career.

In a statement, Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman described the case as a fight for truth, citing “untampered evidence” such as emails, text messages, and video footage. “Blake Lively and her team sought to destroy reputations and livelihoods through dangerous media manipulation,” Freedman stated.

This lawsuit follows Lively’s December complaint accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign. Lively’s legal filing alleged Baldoni’s behavior caused her “grief, fear, trauma, and extreme anxiety.”

Baldoni has also sued The New York Times over a December 31 article titled “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,” which he claims misrepresented communications to support Lively’s allegations. The newspaper has defended its reporting as “meticulously and responsibly” done.

Reps for Lively, Reynolds, and Sloane have not commented on the lawsuit.