In a dramatic twist to a Hollywood legal drama, Justin Baldoni has expanded his lawsuit to include allegations against actors Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and media giant The New York Times. Baldoni, who directed the film “It Ends With Us” starring Lively, is battling accusations surfaced through a story by The New York Times on December 21, claiming he and his team aimed to tarnish Lively’s reputation in retaliation against her harassment allegations on set.
The amended 224-page counterclaim, filed late last week, was followed promptly by the launch of a dedicated website presenting the lawsuit and a detailed timeline of events. Baldoni’s legal maneuvers suggest a narrative of conspiracy and media manipulation, alleging that Blake Lively had colluded with her public relations team and The New York Times for months to craft a smear campaign against him.
Central to Baldoni’s counterclaims is the charge that The New York Times had exclusive, preemptive access to Lively’s civil rights lawsuit—allied with the assertion that this access was used malevolently. Citing an article published by the newspaper titled “We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,” Baldoni’s legal team suggests The Times possessed this sensitive information at least 11 days before its official release.
Baldoni contends that the outlet, in plotting with Lively, “cherry-picked” communications to portray him unfavorably, stripping them of context and splicing them to misdirect readers. Adding another layer of intrigue, Baldoni’s lawsuit asserts that a potentially defamatory video companion to The Times’ story had been created almost nine days before the story itself was aired.
In response to these allegations, spokespersons for The New York Times have dismissed the claims about their early receipt and posting of Lively’s complaint as unfounded, attributing the cited date discrepancies to automatic dating functions of Google software they used.
Further stirring the Hollywood pot, the counterclaim introduces a peculiar accusation against Ryan Reynolds, asserting his character portrayal in the film “Deadpool & Wolverine” was a denigrating caricature of Baldoni, linking it to Lively’s allegations and media portrayal. The suit claims that Reynolds’ character, Nicepool, represented a “vicious caricature” of a ‘woke’ activist, whose narrative arc ends dramatically with the character’s demise at the hands of another character voiced by Lively herself.
With neither Lively’s nor Reynold’s representatives commenting on the recent allegations, the legal battle is poised to escalate with a scheduled court hearing just days away. Baldoni is seeking at least $400 million in compensatory damages as the controversy continues to unfold, highlighting a contentious intersection of celebrity, media influence, and legal integrity in Hollywood.
As this saga develops, it reminds onlookers of the potent mix of high stakes legal wrangling and the powerful undercurrents of public and media influence in celebrity disputes.
The trial concerning Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios is set to begin on March 9, promising further developments and potentially more revelations.
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