Justin Baldoni Stands Firm: 'Doing Wonderfully' Amid Blake Lively Legal Showdown
BLAKE LIVELY VS JUSTIN BALDONI: THE BOMBSHELL LAWSUIT THAT'S TAKING HOLLYWOOD BY STORM
The drama is heating up in the courtroom as Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively engage in a very public and very messy battle. The It Ends With Us star, 41, has been accused of sexual harassment by his former costar, and things are about to get even uglier.
Despite being in the midst of a high-profile lawsuit, Baldoni seems to be taking it all in stride. When asked how he was managing the stress, he told TMZ at Los Angeles International Airport that he's "actually doing wonderful" and feeling "very grateful," "very positive," and "a lot of love." But don't let his sunny disposition fool you – things are about to get very nasty.
Baldoni's team has just been bolstered by powerhouse attorney Alexandra Shapiro, who has a reputation for taking on the biggest names in Hollywood. Shapiro has represented big hitters like Sean 'Diddy' Combs and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, but can she take down Blake Lively?
The latest developments in the case have revealed some explosive allegations against Baldoni. According to court documents obtained by The Scholarly Note, an individual alleged repeated "negative interactions" with the actor and his team on a past project. The accuser claimed they experienced "verbal abuse" from Baldoni and even asked him to be excluded from marketing and publicity efforts.
But that's not all – it appears that this individual is likely to testify against Justin in Lively's trial, which could spell big trouble for the actor. And things are about to get even worse for Baldoni – Blake Lively has just filed a sweeping new motion seeking attorney's fees, treble damages, and punitive damages against Wayfarer Studios and its executives.
In the 30-page filing in federal court, Lively's lawyers argued that Wayfarer's defamation lawsuit against her was "baseless from the start." They claimed that the company's lawsuit was a retaliatory attack after she reported harassment and retaliation. And it gets even juicier – Lively's team accused the company of attempting to "damage her credibility and conceal their own unlawful acts" by flooding the public docket with redacted exhibits and character attacks.
But what really takes the cake is the alleged threat made by Wayfarer Studios' executive, Sarowitz. According to court documents, Sarowitz vowed to spend $100 million to ruin Lively's life – and that of her husband Ryan Reynolds. In a chilling statement, he declared: "I will protect the studio like Israel protected itself from Hamas. There were 39,000 dead bodies. There will be two dead bodies when I'm done. Minimum. Not dead, but 'you're dead to me.' So that kind of dead. But dead to a lot of people."
This is just the latest development in a lawsuit that's been going on for months. In December 2024, Blake Lively sued Justin Baldoni for allegedly sexually harassing her on set – claims he vehemently denied. The actor and his company, Wayfarer Studios, fired back with a defamation suit against Lively, her husband, and publicist Leslie Sloane.
But it looks like the judge has finally weighed in – and it's not good news for Baldoni. In June, a judge dismissed his lawsuit against The New York Times, alleging defamation and extortion. The judge ruled that all of Lively's allegations were made within privileged court papers, and therefore, Wayfarer Studios couldn't prove that the Times would have seriously doubted these statements.
The drama is far from over – in fact, it's just getting started. Stay tuned for more updates on this juicy Hollywood saga!
