Every Counterclaim Made in Justin Baldoni’s $250 Million Lawsuit Against The New York Times

Justin Baldoni is pushing back against the accusations made by his It Ends With Us costar Blake Lively in a lawsuit filed 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 Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,” alleged that Baldoni sexually harassed Lively for months while on set.

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

“The Times story relied almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative, lifting it nearly verbatim while disregarding an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives,” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit, obtained by Us Weekly, outlines 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 claims change nothing about her accusations against him.

“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,” the statement read. “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.”

Keep scrolling for every counterclaim in his lawsuit.

The ‘Smear Campaign’ Texts Allegedly Omitted Context

The Times highlighted an alleged effort from Baldoni’s publicists Melissa Nathan and 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 a 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, often used to indicate sarcasm. Nathan’s reply seemed to show her taking credit for the story, but The Times left out a line that preceded the exchange, which could show Nathan was only joking.

“Damn this is unfair because it’s also not me,” she wrote in the omitted message.

Baldoni Says Blake Lively Invited Him Into Trailer During Breastfeeding Incidents

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

“I’m just pumping in my trailer if you wanna work out our lines,” the message states.

“Copy. Eating with crew and will head that way,” Baldoni responded.

Ryan Reynolds Allegedly ‘Berated’ Baldoni for ‘Fat-Shaming’ Incident

Baldoni recalled Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, berating him for an alleged instance of fat-shaming. The moment in question happened when Baldoni inquired about Lively’s weight prior to filming a scene in which he was supposed to lift her up. His lawsuit called it a “reasonable inquiry into crucial information needed to ensure safety and avoid injury in a scene.”

Baldoni said that after the incident, Reynolds subjected him to an “inappropriate and humiliating berating” at his and Lively’s New York City apartment. The actor wondered whether the outburst was intentional, “as other celebrity 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 speak to someone like that in a meeting.” A Sony representative added that she regretted that she “didn’t stop Reynolds’ berating of Baldoni.”

Baldoni Claims He Was ‘Following the Tone’ Set by Lively

Baldoni countered two of Lively’s accusations by claiming he was merely following his costar’s lead. 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 alleges he was only using the same terminology that Lively used herself. He also provided a text message from Lively saying her character’s attire needed to be “much sexier.”

“Lively set the tone, a tone that Baldoni respectfully heeded during the creative process,” the suit says.

Lively also accused Baldoni of sharing intimate details of his sex life and asking about hers. Baldoni countered by saying she was the one who first brought up the topic and he was merely following suit.

The Pornographic Video Was Allegedly Video of Baldoni’s Wife Giving Birth

Lively also stated in an HR complaint that Baldoni showed her pornographic videos featuring his wife. Baldoni claims that is false and the video in question was of his wife giving birth, and that he showed Lively in the context of a discussion about a birthing scene in the movie.

“To distort this benign event into an act of sexual misconduct is outrageous and emblematic of the lengths to which Lively and her collaborators are willing to go to defame plaintiffs,” the suit states.

Baldoni Claims Lively ‘Felt Good’ About the Film’s Sex Scenes

While Lively accused Baldoni of adding gratuitous nudity and unwanted kissing scenes to the movie, Baldoni alleges she was in no hurry to meet with the intimacy coordinator to address her concerns.

“I feel good. I can meet her when we start 🙂 thank you though!” she wrote in a text to Baldoni, allegedly about the intimacy coordinator.

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

In addition to the incidents that Baldoni disputes, he took issue with how Lively presented her complaints to HR. She made HR aware of 30 issues that she had with production, frequently using the phrase “no more” when requesting they not continue.

“The repeated use of the phrase ‘no more’ before each demand falsely suggests that these alleged incidents had previously taken place and needed to cease,” the suit says. “This implication is not only misleading but entirely untrue.”