All Counterclaims About Blake Alive in Justin Baldoni’s Legitimacy

Justin Baldoni pushes back against the accusations made by him It Ends With Us costar Blake Lively in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, December 31.

Baldoni, 40, is suing The New York Times for $250 million, alleging libel and false light invasion of privacy for a story the paper ran on December 21. The article, titled, “We Can Bury Any: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,” alleged that Baldoni sexually harassed Lively for months while on set.

Baldoni and his lawyers claim that Lively pursued a “strategic and manipulative” smear campaign against the actor, who also directed the film. (Lively also accused Baldoni of organizing a smear campaign against her.)

“The Times story relied almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative, quoting it almost verbatim while dismissing a wealth of evidence that contradicted her claims and revealed her true motives,” the legal case reads.

The lawsuit, obtained by Us Weeklyoutlines Lively’s accusations and counters them with Baldoni’s interpretation of the events.

Lively’s attorney has already responded to the lawsuit, saying in a statement to Us that Baldoni’s allegations do not change anything about her accusations against him.

“Nothing in this lawsuit changes anything about the allegations presented in Ms. Lively in California, or her federal complaint, which was filed earlier today,” the statement read. “This lawsuit is based on the patently false premise that Ms. Lively’s administrative complaint against Wayfarer and others was a sham based on the choice ‘not to file a lawsuit against Baldoni, Wayfarer,’ and that ‘litigation was his ultimate goal.’ As demonstrated by the federal complaint filed by Ms. Lively earlier today, that frame of reference for the Wayfarer lawsuit is false. Although we will not litigate this issue in the press, we encourage people to read Ms complaint. Lively as a whole. We look forward to addressing each of Wayfarer’s claims in court.”

Keep scrolling for every counterclaim in his lawsuit.

The ‘Cervical Campaign’ Texts Allegedly Out of Context

The Times highlight an alleged effort by Baldoni’s publishers Melissa Nathan a Jennifer Abel to generate bad press for Lively. The lawsuit, however, states that the story omitted key communications between them that paint a different picture.

The article shared text in which Abel appears to congratulate Nathan on a negative story about Lively, but the lawsuit says it omits an upside-down smiley face, which is often used to indicate sarcasm. Nathan’s answer seemed to show that she took credit for the story, but The Times leaving out a line that preceded the exchange, which could have shown that Nathan was only joking.

“Damn this is unfair because neither am I,” she wrote in the since-missed message.

Baldoni Says Blake Was Invited Into A Trailer During Breastfeeding Events

Lively has accused Baldoni of repeatedly walking in on her while she was breastfeeding. Baldoni did, however, provide a text message from Lively in which she appeared to invite him to her trailer.

“I’m pumping my trailer if you want to work out our lines,” the message says.

“Copy. Eat with the crew and it will go that way,” replied Baldoni.

Ryan Reynolds allegedly ‘Berated’ Baldoni for a ‘Fat-Shaming’ Incident

Baldoni remembered Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynoldsberating him for an alleged example of fat shaming. The moment in question happened when Baldoni asked about Lively’s weight before filming a scene where he was supposed to pick her up. His lawsuit called it a “reasonable inquiry into essential information needed to ensure safety and avoid injury at a scene.”

Baldoni said that after the incident, Reynolds subjected her to “inappropriate and humiliating terror” in his and Lively’s New York City apartment. The actor wondered if the explosion was deliberate, “as other famous friends were coming in and out of their penthouse” at the time.

The lawsuit quoted a producer on the film who said “in his 40-year career he had never seen anyone talk to someone like that in a meeting.” A Sony A rep added that she regretted “not stopping Reynolds from stealing Baldoni.”

Baldoni Claims He Is ‘Following The Tune’ Set By Lively

Baldoni countered two of Lively’s accusations by claiming she was only following her costar’s example. He allegedly referred to women on set, including Lively, as “sexy,” and when Lively expressed her discomfort, he allegedly deflected, undermining her concerns.

But Baldoni claims he was only using the same terminology Lively herself used. She also provided a text message from Lively saying that her character’s outfit needed to be “much sexier.”

“Set the tone vibrantly, a tone that Baldoni respectfully observed during the creative process,” the suit says.

Lively also accused Baldoni of sharing personal details about his sex life and asking about her. Baldoni countered by saying that she was the one who first brought up the subject and he was just following suit.

The Pornographic Video is alleged to be a Video of Baldoni’s Wife Giving Birth

Lively also said in an HR complaint that Baldoni showed her pornographic videos featuring his wife. Baldoni claims it is fake and the video in question was from his wife giving birth, and that it shows Lively in the context of a discussion about a birth scene in the film.

“The distortion of this benign incident into an act of sexual misconduct is outrageous and emblematic of the extent to which Lively and her colleagues are willing to go to defame plaintiffs,” the suit states.

Baldoni Claims Lively ‘Feeling Good’ About Film’s Sex Scenes

While Lively has accused Baldoni of adding unwanted nudity and unwanted kissing scenes to the film, Baldoni claims she was in no rush to meet with the intimacy coordinator to address her concerns .

“I feel good. I can meet her when we start 🙂 thanks though!” he wrote in a text to Baldoni, reportedly the intimacy coordinator.

Baldoni Pushes Back Against Lively’s Repeated Use of ‘No More’

In addition to the events Baldoni disputes, he disagreed with how Lively presented her complaints to HR. She made HR aware of 30 problems she was having with production, often using the phrase “no more” when asking them to stop.

“The repeated use of the phrase ‘no more’ before each request falsely suggests that these alleged incidents have occurred previously and need to stop,” the suit states. “This implication is not only misleading but completely false.”