LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� actor and director Justin Baldoni has sued his co-star and her husband, 鈥淒eadpool鈥� actor , for defamation and extortion on Thursday in the latest move in a bitter legal battle surrounding the dark romantic drama.
The suit filed in federal court in New York by Baldoni and production company Wayfarer Studios seeks at least $400 million for damages that include lost future income. It alleges that Lively and Reynolds hijacked the production and marketing of 鈥淚t Ends With Us" and manipulated media to smear Baldoni and others on the production with false allegations of sexual and other harassment.
鈥淭his is a case about two of the most powerful stars in the world deploying their enormous power to steal an entire film right out of the hands of its director and production studio,鈥� the suit says. 鈥淭hen, when Lively and Reynolds鈥� efforts failed to win them the acclaim they believed they so richly deserved, they turned their fury on their chosen scapegoat.鈥�
The lawsuit comes about two weeks after and several others tied to the film, alleging they retaliated against her for coming forward about her treatment on the set.
Her lawyers called Baldoni's new lawsuit 鈥渁nother chapter in the abuser playbook.鈥�
"This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim," they said in a statement Thursday night. 鈥淭his is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender.鈥�
鈥淚t Ends With Us,鈥� based on the , was released in August and with a $50 million debut. It begins as a standard romantic drama before taking a dark turn into domestic violence. The fallout in its aftermath has made major waves in Hollywood and led to discussions of the treatment of female actors both on sets and in media.
鈥淗eartbreakingly, a film that Baldoni envisioned years ago would honor the survivors of domestic violence by telling their story, with the lofty goal of making a positive impact in the world, has now been overshadowed beyond recognition solely as a result of Lively鈥檚 actions and cruelty,鈥� the lawsuit says.
Lively鈥檚 allegations of sexual and other harassment followed by retaliation are utterly false, Baldoni's suit alleges.
鈥淟ively was so close and comfortable with Baldoni that she freely breast-fed in front of him during meetings,鈥� the suit says.
She would later take moments like these that she encouraged and recast them as sexual harassment and misconduct, his lawsuit alleges.
Lively's Dec. 31 lawsuit came just hours after Baldoni sued the New York Times for libel, alleging the paper worked with Lively to smear him. The Times said it stood by its reporting and planned to 鈥渧igorously defend鈥� against the allegations.
Baldon's new suit also says that counter to Lively's allegations, every request she made for an intimacy coordinator to help with sensitive scenes on the film was honored. It focuses especially on a a birthing scene, saying Lively's contention that she was 鈥渕ostly nude鈥� with non-essential people present including the film's financier were "knowingly false."
Baldoni says that at another point during the production, because he has back problems, he privately and politely asked Lively her weight so that he could work with his personal trainer to be able to safely lift her in the film.
Reynolds later 鈥渟wore at Baldoni and accused him of fat-shaming his wife," the suit says.
鈥淚n fact, Lively had earlier expressed insecurity about her postpartum figure, and Baldoni made every attempt to genuinely reassure her,鈥� his lawsuit says.
Baldoni took a backseat in promoting the film while Lively took center stage along with Reynolds, who was on the press circuit for at the same time.
The backlash against Baldoni led to his being dropped by his agency WME, which also represents both Lively and Reynolds. The suit alleges Reynolds was responsible for this, saying that he approached a WME executive at the 鈥淒eadpool & Wolverine鈥� premiere and 鈥渆xpressed his deep disdain for Baldoni, suggesting the agency was working with a 鈥榮exual predator.鈥欌��
Prior to 鈥淚t Ends With Us,鈥� Baldoni starred in the TV comedy directed the 2019 film 鈥淔ive Feet Apart,鈥� and wrote 鈥淢an Enough,鈥� a book pushing back against traditional notions of masculinity.
鈥淟ively knew full well that making those allegations would be a career death sentence for Plaintiffs, especially given that Baldoni has lived his private and public life as an impassioned advocate for gender equality and healthy masculinity,鈥� his lawsuit says.
But Lively's lawyers' statement said that evidence will show that other cast members had similar experiences with Baldoni.
鈥淚n short, while the victim focuses on the abuse, the abuser focuses on the victim,鈥� the attorneys said. "The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate, it does not refute the evidence in Ms. Lively鈥檚 complaint, and it will fail.鈥�
Lively came to fame through the 2005 film 鈥淭he Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,鈥� and bolstered her stardom on the TV series 鈥淕ossip Girl鈥� from 2007 to 2012. She has since starred in films including 鈥淭he Town鈥� and 鈥淭he Shallows.鈥�
Baldoni's lawsuit says Lively's cruelty even extended to her serving the papers from her lawsuit on Baldoni and his co-defendants in the days after she filed it during the onset of the , saying that on a day when they were "gathering their kids and pets, preparing 'go bags' and monitoring evacuation orders while fearing for their homes, Lively 鈥� from the safety of her penthouse in New York 鈥� deployed process servers.鈥�
Baldoni鈥檚 attorney, Bryan Freedman, said in a statement Thursday that 鈥渢his is a battle she will not win and will certainly regret.鈥�
鈥淢s. Lively will never again be allowed to continue to exploit actual victims of real harassment solely for her personal reputation gain at the expense of those without power,鈥� he said.
Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press
