Celebrity News January 16, 2025
Justin Baldoni Drags Taylor Swift into His $400M Lawsuit Against Blake Lively

There is no end in sight in the “It Ends with Us” feud between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively… and now Taylor Swift’s name has been dragged into the mess.
Today, Justin fired off yet another lawsuit, this one suing Blake, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and publicist Leslie Sloane for $400 million. Scroll down to read Blake's response.
The 179-page complaint, obtained by “Extra,” includes countless emails and texts between Blake and Justin and accuses Blake and Ryan of extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy. Justin also alleges they tried to destroy his career with false allegations of sexual harassment.
The lawsuit states, “Lively stole Wayfarer’s movie, hijacked Wayfarer’s premiere, destroyed Plaintiffs’ personal and professional reputations and livelihood, and aimed to drive Plaintiffs out of business entirely."
The papers claim, “When Lively faced significant public backlash from what was often referred to as her ‘tone-deaf’ and insensitive press tour for the Film, she doubled down on her false and misleading accusations against Baldoni. She seemed determined to make Baldoni the real-life villain in her story. Her publicist, Leslie Sloane (“Sloane”), went so far as to propagate malicious stories portraying Baldoni as a sexual predator.”
Baldoni’s lawsuit claims Blake “did not expect, however, that Plaintiffs would be able to meet those allegations with concrete documentary evidence disproving her claims and demonstrating that they — not Lively — were the targets of a calculated and vitriolic smear campaign.”

Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni: The Latest from Their Dueling Lawsuits
View StoryBaldoni also claims Blake wanted more and more control over the script and editing of the film.
In the section pertaining to Taylor, Baldoni claims Lively “summoned” him to her New York penthouse, where Ryan Reynolds “launched into enthusiastic praise” for Blake’s version of a scene. Later that same night he claims “a famous, and famously close, friend of Reynolds and Lively, walked into the room and similarly began praising Lively’s script.”
Baldoni later texted Blake praising her rewrite and insisting, “I would have felt that way without Ryan and Taylor,” telling Blake, “You really are a talent across the board.”
In response, Blake praises Ryan and a redacted celebrity for being her “‘Dance Moms’ level stage moms.”
She later adds, “If you ever get around to watching ‘Game of Thrones,’ you’ll appreciate that I’m Khaleesi, and like her, I happen to have a few dragons. For better or worse, but usually for better. Because my dragons also protect those I fight for. So really we all benefit from those gorgeous monsters of mine. You will too, I can promise you.”
Baldoni’s takeaway? The docs state, “The message could not have been clearer. Baldoni was not just dealing with Lively. He was also facing Lively’s ‘dragons,’ two of the most influential and wealthy celebrities in the world, who were not afraid to make things very difficult for him.”
Justin's lawyer Bryan Freedman told "Extra" in a statement, “This lawsuit is a legal action based on an overwhelming amount of untampered evidence detailing Blake Lively and her team’s duplicitous attempt to destroy Justin Baldoni, his team and their respective companies by disseminating grossly edited, unsubstantiated, new and doctored information to the media. It is clear based on our own all out willingness to provide all complete text messages, emails, video footage and other documentary evidence that was shared between the parties in real time, that this is a battle she will not win and will certainly regret. Blake Lively was either severely misled by her team or intentionally and knowingly misrepresented the truth. Ms. 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. Let’s not forget, Ms. Lively and her team attempted to bulldoze reputations and livelihoods for heinously selfish reasons through their own dangerous manipulation of the media before even taking any actual legal action. We know the truth, and now the public does too. Justin and his team have nothing to hide, documents do not lie.”
Lively's legal team also responded with a statement obtained by "Extra," that says, “This latest lawsuit from Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its associates is another chapter in the abuser playbook. 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. This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender.
"Wayfarer has opted to use the resources of its billionaire co-founder to issue media statements, launch meritless lawsuits, and threaten litigation to overwhelm the public’s ability to understand that what they are doing is retaliation against sexual harassment allegations."
The statement continues, "They are trying to shift the narrative to Ms. Lively by falsely claiming that she seized creative control and alienated the cast from Mr. Baldoni. The evidence will show that the cast and others had their own negative experiences with Mr. Baldoni and Wayfarer. The evidence will also show that Sony asked Ms. Lively to oversee Sony’s cut of the film, which they then selected for distribution and was a resounding success.
"Their response to sexual harassment allegations: she wanted it, it’s her fault. Their justification for why this happened to her: look what she was wearing. In short, while the victim focuses on the abuse, the abuser focuses on the victim. The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate, it does not refute the evidence in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and it will fail.”
Justin’s lawsuit comes after Blake filed a legal complaint with the California Civil Rights Department claiming Baldoni sexually harassed her on set. At the time, she stated, “I hope that my legal action helps 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.”
After The New York Times ran a story about the case and her claim that she was the victim of a smear campaign, Baldoni filed a $250 million lawsuit against the paper for libel.
The Times released a statement saying, “We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”
Blake responded by filing a lawsuit against Baldoni and his PR team for sexual harassment and “unconscionable” retaliation.
In addition, Lively previously responded via her attorneys to Justin’s New York Times lawsuit with a statement that read, “Nothing in this lawsuit changes anything about the claims advanced in Ms. Lively’s California Civil Rights Department Complaint, nor her federal complaint, filed earlier today. This lawsuit is based on the obviously false premise that Ms. Lively’s administrative complaint against Wayfarer and others was a ruse based on a choice ‘not to file a lawsuit against Baldoni, Wayfarer,’ and that ‘litigation was never her ultimate goal.’
“As demonstrated by the federal complaint filed by Ms. Lively earlier today, that frame of reference for the Wayfarer lawsuit is false. While we will not litigate this matter in the press, we do encourage people to read Ms. Lively’s complaint in its entirety. We look forward to addressing each and every one of Wayfarer’s allegations in court."