Credit: International New York Times Photo
Actor Blake Lively filed an amended complaint Tuesday in her lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, claiming that her co-star in the film "It Ends With Us" made two other actresses on the set "uncomfortable," and that they were prepared to testify about their experiences.
The two women were not named in the complaint, which expands on a lawsuit filed by Lively in December where she accused Baldoni, who also directed the 2024 film, of sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign. The complaint has also been updated to include a new defamation claim against Baldoni and his associates.
Baldoni, who is also a founder of the studio that produced the film, Wayfarer, has denied the claims of misconduct. He said in a countersuit filed in January that he was the victim of an effort to harm his reputation and wrest creative control of the film by Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds.
In May 2023, Lively reported her concerns about inappropriate behavior by Baldoni and Jamey Heath, the film's lead producer, to a representative for Sony Pictures Entertainment, the film's distributor, according to the amended complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Over the next three days, another actor on the set reported her concerns about Baldoni to a Sony Pictures Entertainment representative and one of the film's producers, the complaint said.
"Notwithstanding that female cast member's considerable reservations with coming forward, she nonetheless spoke up and conveyed her feelings that the work on the film was suffering as a result of Baldoni's behavior," the complaint said.
Baldoni responded to the woman in writing and said that he was aware of the concerns and that adjustments would be made, according to the complaint.
The next month, the same woman told Lively that her concerns were growing about conditions on the set and that she had "found it difficult to talk to Baldoni," the complaint said.
Yet another actress also confided in Lively that she was "uncomfortable" on set, according to the complaint. The claims were documented in writing almost one year before editing of the film began, the complaint said.
Sony Pictures Entertainment did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bryan Freedman, a lawyer for Baldoni, said in a statement: "Her underwhelming amended complaint is filled with unsubstantial hearsay of unnamed persons who are clearly no longer willing to come forward or publicly support her claims."
"Since documents do not lie and people do, the upcoming depositions of those who initially supported Lively's false claims and those who are witnesses to her own behavior will be enlightening," Freedman continued. "What is truly uncomfortable here is Lively's lack of actual evidence."
Lively's lawyers, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, said in a statement that the amended complaint "includes significant contemporaneous evidence" supporting Lively's claims, and that she "was not alone" in raising those concerns.
In addition to the new claims from the actresses, the complaint included a new defamation claim that said Baldoni, Heath and their associates had used media platforms "to overwhelm and confuse the public's understanding of Ms. Lively's allegations, and to drive negative sentiment against Ms. Lively and anyone who supports her or speaks out against Mr. Baldoni."
It said statements made by Freedman after the initial complaint was filed are defamatory and retaliatory.
The amended complaint also added Jed Wallace and his public relations company, Street Relations Inc., to the lawsuit as defendants. Wallace was named in the complaint that Lively filed with the California Civil Rights Department on Dec. 20. He was not named in the original federal complaint she filed Dec. 31 in the Southern District of New York.
Wallace sued Lively on Feb. 4 for defamation in Texas federal court.
Charles Babcock, a lawyer for Wallace and his company Street Relations, said that they were disappointed that the claims were not being made in Texas, where the company is based. "They are particularly disappointed that the claim was brought in New York in a case that has a whole bunch of other stuff going on," Babcock said Wednesday.
Lively and Baldoni have been engaged in a heated legal saga since Lively came forward with allegations against him in December.
The New York Times and other media outlets reported on her civil rights complaint in a story published the next day. Baldoni has sued the Times for libel, claiming that the newspaper relied on Lively's "unverified and self-serving narrative."
The Times has said that the story was "meticulously and responsibly reported," and that the newspaper planned to "vigorously defend" against the lawsuit.
After Lively filed her suit, Baldoni filed a lawsuit in January against Lively and Reynolds, claiming that the two were using their fame and power to "steal" the film from Baldoni.
Baldoni's complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York and also names as defendants the couple's publicist, Leslie Sloane, and her company, Vision PR.
This month in the first public hearing in the suits, Judge Lewis J. Liman of US District Court in Manhattan ordered lawyers on both sides to tamp down their commentary outside of the court. The dispute has been highly publicized and Liman noted that the court documents gave "the public plenty to feast upon."