Justin Baldoni Files $250 Million Libel Lawsuit Against New York Times Over Blake Lively's Sexual Harassment Claims

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Justin Baldoni, the director of 'It Ends With Us', who is at the forefront of sexual harassment allegations made by hollywood A-lister Blake Lively, has slapped a $250 million libel lawsuit on The New York Times, according to an AP report. The suit, filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court, claims the NYT and Lively“coordinated a smear campaign” against him and nine other, the report added.

The NYT in its statement has said that it will“vigorously defend” against the lawsuit, as per the report. The NYT report in question ''We Can Bury Anyone': Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine', was published on December 21 and was written by Megan Twohey, Mike McIntire and Julie Tate.

Apart from Baldoni , other plaintiffs in the libel suit include the film's lead producer Jamey Heath, its production company Wayfarer Studios, and PR Melissa Nathan, whose text message was quoted in the NYT story.

The story was reportedly based on Lively legal complaint with the California Civil Rights Department over her allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation. Both the story and complaint alleged that Baldoni hired publicists to“destroy” the actresses' reputation if she made public her complaints from the sets of 'It Ends With Us', the report added.

Notably, Baldoni's lawsuit does not include Lively as a defendant.“Nothing in this lawsuit changes anything about the claims advanced in Ms. Lively's California Civil Rights Department Complaint,” her lawyer said in a statement, as per the AP report.

According to Baldoni's lawsuit, the NYT“relied almost entirely on Lively's unverified and self-serving narrative, lifting it nearly verbatim while disregarding an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives. But the Times did not care.”

“If the Times truly reviewed the thousands of private communications it claimed to have obtained, its reporters would have seen incontrovertible evidence that it was Lively , not Plaintiffs, who engaged in a calculated smear campaign,” it added.

However, Danielle Rhoades, spokesperson for the NYT in a statement asserted“our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It 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. To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni , the other subjects of the article and their representatives have not pointed to a single error.”

'It Ends With Us', a romantic drama that adapted author Colleen Hoover 's 2016 best-selling novel of the same name, was released in August 2024. It made a below-expectation $50 million debut and the promotion period was rife with speculation over discord between Lively and Baldoni.

Baldoni took a backseat in promoting the film while Lively took centerstage along with her husband Ryan Reynolds , who each promoted their movies at the same time. Reynold's 'Deadpool & Wolverine' released around the same time as Lively's film.

Lively gained fame from her 2005 movie 'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants', which she followed up with the 2007-2012 popular TV series 'Gossip Girl'. Her filmography also includes films like 'The Town' and 'The Shallows'.

Baldoni is known for his role in the comedy TV show 'Jane the Virgin', he directed 'Five Feet Apart' (2019) and wrote 'Man Enough' - a book pushing back against traditional notions of masculinity. During earlier interviews with the AP, he addressed concerns that 'It Ends With Us ' romanticizes domestic violence, saying critics were“absolutely entitled to that opinion.”

He was dropped by his agency, WME, immediately after Lively filed her complaint and the NYT published its story.

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