Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's legal battle: What have the It Ends With Us co-stars accused each other of?
Both actors filed lawsuits against each other after appearing together in the film It Ends With Us. Since then, even more lawsuits have been filed and a judge has dismissed some of the claims. Here, we explain the row so far.
Tuesday 10 June 2025 16:25, UK
Actress Blake Lively and her co-star聽Justin Baldoni have been locked in a legal battle for months.
Both filed lawsuits against the other following an initial legal complaint from Lively, after the pair worked together on the 2024 film It Ends With Us.
The dispute between them has been ongoing since December last year - and is pretty complicated.
So here is everything you need to know about Hollywood's latest legal off-screen drama, and how it has unfolded so far.
Film's release overshadowed by speculation
The release of It Ends With Us in August 2024 was somewhat overshadowed by speculation about discord between its two main actors.
The film is an adaptation of Colleen Hoover's bestselling 2016 novel and follows Lively's character, Lily Bloom, as she navigates an abusive relationship with Baldoni's character, Ryle Kincaid.
Baldoni took a backseat in promoting the film, even though he also directed and produced the project, while Lively took centre stage along with husband Ryan Reynolds, who was on the press circuit for Deadpool & Wolverine at the same time.
Lively appeared to take the brunt of negative media attention around the same time the film was released, with some also criticising her for promoting her own businesses - beverage company Betty Buzz and hair care brand Blake Brown - at the same time.
In an interview with NBC News' Today programme, Baldoni touched on the online speculation by broadly saying making a movie involves "navigating complex personalities" to get on the same page.
He added at the time: "And mistakes are always made, and then you figure out how to move past them."
Lively's legal complaint
On 21 December, The New York Times published an article called 'We Can Bury Anyone': Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine, which revealed Lively had filed a legal complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department.
In the complaint, Lively, 37, accused Baldoni, 41, of sexual harassment and alleged that he, along with the studio behind It Ends With Us, embarked on a subsequent "multi-tiered plan" to damage her reputation.
Concerns raised in the filing included Baldoni showing pictures of nude women to Lively, mentioning his previous porn addiction, and making comments about Lively's weight.
Baldoni has denied all the allegations.
Tension between the two actors was addressed in a meeting in January 2024, where a new code of conduct for the set of the film was put in place, according to the complaint.
Alleged smear campaign
As part of the sexual harassment complaint, lawyers representing Lively demanded the release of any messages relating to what they referred to as an attempt to damage the actor's reputation.
The complaint claims Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios - the production company behind It Ends With Us - hired a crisis communications firm in order to carry out a "sophisticated, coordinated, and well-financed retaliation plan" meant to "bury" and "destroy" Lively, if she went public with her on-set concerns.
She alleges the plan included a proposal to plant theories on online message boards, engineer a social media campaign and place news stories critical of her.
It also claimed Baldoni "abruptly pivoted away from" the film's marketing plan and "used domestic violence 'survivor content' to protect his public image".
In messages that were later made public, exchanges between Jennifer Abel, of PR firm RWA Communications, Melissa Nathan, of The Agency Group PR, and Baldoni, appear to discuss the plan.
In one exchange Ms Nathan apparently tells Ms Abel: "We can't write it down to him… We can't write 'we will destroy her'... You know we can bury anyone. But I can't write that to him."
Lively told The New York Times that she hoped the complaint would help to "pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted".
These allegations were also strenuously denied by Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives.
Bryan Freedman, a lawyer representing all three, called the claims by Lively "completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media".
Baldoni's counter lawsuits dismissed
Just before the start of the year, Baldoni sued The New York Times for libel.
The lawsuit sought at least $250m (£199m) in damages and was filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court on the exact same day Lively filed a federal lawsuit against Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and others - going further than her previous legal complaint.
Baldoni, along with others that are named in Lively's lawsuit, accused The New York Times of accepting a "self-serving narrative" from the actor in order to write its article 'We Can Bury Anyone': Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.
The paper responded at the time saying it plans to "vigorously defend" its reporting.
In a separate lawsuit, filed on 16 January, Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios sued Lively and Reynolds for damages, including lost future income.
The suit is sought at least $400m (£296m) and was filed to a New York court.
Both counter lawsuits were dismissed by a US judge in June 2025.
US District Court Judge Lewis Liman ruled that Baldoni can't sue Lively for defamation over claims she made in her lawsuit, because allegations made in a lawsuit are exempt from libel claims.
He also ruled that Baldoni's claims that Lively stole creative control of the film didn't count as extortion under California law.
Mr Liman said Baldoni's legal team can revise the lawsuit if they want to pursue different claims related to whether Lively breached a contract, the judge said.
In a statement, lawyers representing Lively said the dismissal was a "total victory". The statement added: "As we have said from day one, this '$400 million' lawsuit was a sham, and the court saw right through it.
"We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys' fees, treble damages and punitive damages against Baldoni, Sarowitz, Nathan, and the other Wayfarer Parties who perpetrated this abusive litigation."
Communications specialist sues Lively
In another lawsuit, crisis communications expert Jed Wallace is suing Lively for defamation.
Mr Wallace and his company, Street Relations, filed the $7m (£5.6m) case in federal court in Texas on 4 February after Lively accused him of being behind much of the alleged social media manipulation that turned public sentiment against her in the build-up to the release of It Ends With Us.
Lively sought to get an order for a deposition - a sworn statement taken from a witness outside of court - from Mr Wallace.
But Mr Wallace has now claimed neither he nor his company "had anything to do with the alleged sexual harassment, retaliation, failure to investigate or aiding and abetting the alleged harassment or alleged retaliation".
Read more from Sky News:
Lively and Baldoni's lawyers told to stop discussing cases
Amber Heard reacts to Lively's complaint about Baldoni
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Mr Wallace is not named in Lively's federal lawsuit but is mentioned in court papers and The New York Times story that started the legal battle between the two actors.
Lively's lawyers said in response that Mr Wallace's lawsuit "is not just a publicity stunt" and that they were glad he had "finally emerged from the shadows".