This is a case that has caused a lot of discussion across the Atlantic. Whilelast August they shared the poster for the film “It ends with us”, “Jamais plus”in the French-speaking version, Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively are at war. They had already shown signs of disagreement during the promotion of the feature film but nothing had yet leaked before last December. The media TMZ revealed on December 21, 2024 that the actress had decided to file a complaint against the director of the film for sexual harassment, but not only that! Ryan Reynolds’ wife also accused him of having orchestrated an entire smear campaign towards him in order to damage his reputation in full promotion of “Never again”. The actress had been singled out in the press for her rather light speech around the heavy subject of the film, that of domestic violence. According to a source who spoke to the Daily Mail, Justin Baldoni would have been “macho” et “almost abusive” on the set of the film, so much so that an emergency meeting had to be called. Ryan Reynolds was present for the occasion as claimed by TMZ and several important points would have been discussed.
For example ? “No longer show videos or images of naked women to Blakestop mentioning Baldoni’s alleged ‘pornography addiction’, stop talking about sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, stop mentioning the genitals of cast and crew, stop asking about weight of Blake and no longer mention Blake’s deceased father”we could read. After Blake Lively’s complaint, the Jane the Virgin actor did not speak directly but let his lawyer take care of it. This is how Bryan Freedman declared to the media Variety that the attack on the actress is “shameful” et “false”. He did not stop there since he declared to Deadlineshortly before filing a complaint on behalf of the actor that “the truth will shock those who have fallen for Blake Lively’s manipulative and deceptive storytelling.”
New turnaround in this affair since a complaint was, this time, filed against the New York Times which had extensively relayed the actress’s accusations. According to information from VarietyJustin Baldoni takes the media to court for “defamation, invasion of privacy, disclosure of false information and implicit breach of contract”. Alongside him, nine other plaintiffs are demanding a total of no less than $250 million in compensation.
The New York Times responds
Bryan Freedman, Justin Baldoni’s lawyer, explained to People media that “The New York Times has bowed to the desires and whims of untouchable Hollywood elites” and that his client would currently be the victim of a “vicious smear campaign entirely orchestrated by Blake Lively and her team“. The accused media took the floor to defend itself and clarified that the investigation was “meticulous and responsible”. “Our article is based on the review of thousands of pages of original documents, including text messages and emails that we cite accurately and in detail in the article. To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the others people affected by the article and their representatives have not reported a single error”declared the spokesperson for the American newspaper.
