- Justin Baldoni sued The New York Times over its story about Blake Lively’s harassment claims.
- The lawsuit claims the Times relied on Lively’s narrative, causing Baldoni damage.
- The Times defended its story as “meticulously reported.”
Justin Baldoni sued The New York Times over its bombshell story on “It Ends With Us” costar Blake Lively’s sexual-harassment claims against him.
The libel lawsuit, reviewed by Business Insider, accused the Times of relying “almost entirely” on what it described as “Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative” and said the newspaper disregarded “an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives” in its December 21 story.
The suit said Lively embarked on a smear campaign against Baldoni, and that she falsely accused him of sexual harassment to gain control over every aspect of the production. The lawsuit included screenshots of messages that it said contradicted the Times’ reporting.
The suit is the latest legal action to emerge from the romantic drama, which premiered last summer.
A New York Times spokesperson on Wednesday said the story was “meticulously and responsibly reported” based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including text messages and emails quoted “accurately and at length in the article.”
“We published their full statement in response to the allegations in the article as well,” the spokesperson said. “We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”
A rep for Lively, who is not named as a defendant in the libel lawsuit, said in a statement Wednesday that “nothing in the lawsuit changes anything” about the claims in her California Civil Rights Department Complaint, which the Times story had cited, or a federal complaint she filed on December 31. The rep said they planned to address the suit’s allegations in court.
Reps for Baldoni, Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds, and others named in the suit did not respond to requests for comment.
The suit said the plaintiffs — including Baldoni, his publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, and producers Jamey Heath and Steve Sarowitz — suffered damages that amounted to at least $250 million.
“This lawsuit seeks to hold the Times accountable for its role in this defamation campaign, but plaintiffs are not done,” lawyers for Baldoni said in the suit. “There are other bad actors involved, and make no mistake — this will not be the last lawsuit.”
Here’s a breakdown of the top takeaways in the suit:
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