Justin Baldoni Escalates Blake Lively Legal Battle by Launching Website, Leaking New Texts from Ryan Reynolds

Justin Baldoni Escalates Blake Lively Legal Battle by Launching Website, Leaking New Texts from Ryan Reynolds

“I happen to adore you, Justin,” Reynolds allegedly wrote to Baldoni in a February 2023 text message shared on the new website

Justin Baldoni files $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan  Reynolds in 'It Ends With Us' legal battle - Entertainment News | The  Financial Express

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds; Justin Baldoni. PHOTO:

THEO WARGO/WIREIMAGE; ARAYA DOHENY/VARIETY VIA GETTY

As his legal battle with Blake Lively continues, Justin Baldoni is trying to take their conflict to the court of public opinion — and using previously unseen texts to do so.

Less than a month after Baldoni’s team first shared plans to launch a website to bolster his accusations against Lively, 37, the It Ends with Us actor-director has published a website linking to a new, amended complaint, filed in court on Friday, Jan. 31, that details his side of the stars’ behind-the-scenes conflict. TMZ was first to report the news.

PEOPLE reached out to attorneys for both Baldoni and Lively, as well as reps for Lively, for further comment.

As of the afternoon of Saturday, Feb. 1, the website, simply titled, “Lawsuit Info,” contains just one page featuring buttons linking to two different documents related to the costars’ ongoing legal battle.

The first, titled “Amended Complaint,” contains a link to the amended version of the complaint that Baldoni, 41 — along with a group of five other plaintiffs, including his production company Wayfarer Studios — filed against Lively on Jan. 16 in response to Lively’s initial filing against him.

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In December 2024, Lively sued Wayfarer Studios and Baldoni — plus It Ends with Us’ lead producer Jamey Heath, Baldoni’s publicist Jennifer Abel, crisis publicist Melissa Nathan and more — alleging sexual harassment and a smear campaign launched in retaliation for speaking out about alleged misconduct.

Baldoni has denied the sexual-harassment allegations, and subsequently countersued Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and their publicist Leslie Sloane, as well as Sloane’s PR firm Vision PR, Inc., on accusations of defamation and extortion.

The second button on the newly created website, titled “Timeline of Relevant Events,” is an exhibit to the amended complaint, and it offers a timeline of events leading up to and following the filming of the Colleen Hoover adaptation It Ends with Us, beginning with Baldoni’s first email exchange with the author in January 2019.

Justin Baldoni arrives to the "It Ends With Us" premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on August 06, 2024 in New York City. Blake Lively at the 2024 CFDA Fashion Awards held at the American Museum of Natural History on October 28, 2024 in New York, New York.

Justin Baldoni; Blake Lively.

JAMES DEVANEY/GC IMAGES; KRISTINA BUMPHREY/WWD VIA GETTY

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Throughout 168 pages, the timeline uses texts, emails and more correspondences — some of which have not previously been made public — shared in chronological order to paint Baldoni’s version of events. The document claims to “[provide] a summarized account of the sequence of key events,” and is “intended to be read in conjunction” with the amended complaint also linked on the new website.

Among the newly publicized messages is one in which Lively, while discussing rewrites to the rooftop scene’s banter in April 2023, allegedly wrote: “if you knew me (in person) longer you’d have a sense of how flirty and yummy the ball busting will play. It’s my love language. Spicy and playfully bold, never with teeth….”

Another text exchange dated February 2023 shows Reynolds, 48, allegedly texting Baldoni: “I’m excited for you to work together. I’m excited for Blake to crack open her creative piggy bank with someone as dynamic as you. This is gonna be INCREDIBLE. … I happen to adore you, Justin.”

Additionally, the amended complaint and timeline leak alleged emails from New York Times reporters and his PR team, and reveal a statement that Lively and Reynolds allegedly crafted for Baldoni to release in August 2024 amid the negative media attention on the film, which he says he denied putting his name on.

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Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively

Justin Baldoni; Blake Lively.

JOHN NACION/VARIETY VIA GETTY (2)

News of Baldoni’s latest effort in his ongoing legal battle with Lively comes ahead of the stars’ pre-trial conference on Monday, Feb. 3. Both cases in Lively v. Wayfarer Studios et al. are now scheduled for trial on March 9, 2026, Judge Lewis J. Liman outlined in an order filed Monday, Jan. 27, but the pre-trial conference was scheduled to hash out Lively’s prospective request for a gag order.

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After Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman released a 10-minute video from the set of the movie — intended to refute some of Lively’s claims — and announced plans to share evidence in support of Baldoni on a website, Lively’s team asked Liman to address “the appropriate conduct of counsel.” They stated in their letter to Liman that “federal litigation must be conducted in court and according to the relevant rules of professional conduct” and claimed Freedman’s actions risked “tainting” a potential jury pool.

Another Baldoni attorney, Kevin Fritz, responded in a Jan. 23 letter, calling the move an “intimidation tactic” and asked Liman to reject any prospective gag order Lively’s team may request. He argued that Lively “initiated” a “media feeding frenzy” by allegedly supplying The New York Times with a copy of her initial complaint with the California Civil Rights Department.

 

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