'It Ends With Us': Blake Lively claims two other actresses are willing to testify against Justin Baldoni
Blake Lively's legal battle with her It Ends With Us director and co-star took a new turn late Tuesday night when she filed an amended complaint, claiming that two other actresses on the film's set are willing to testify about their own uncomfortable experiences with Baldoni or his Wayfarer Studios partner Jamey Heath.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in 'It Ends With Us.'
Sony Pictures/Everett Collection
The complaint does not name the actresses, quote directly from their messages, or give screen pictures for fear of retaliation. They are concerned that they may be subjected to the same type of harassment and threats that Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, allege they have had, as well as others linked with the Wayfarer-produced film.
According to a Lively spokesman, the complaint does not name the claimed victim-witnesses, quote from their texts, or offer screenshots due to concerns about their privacy. "Importantly, however, these victim-witnesses have given Ms. Lively permission to share their communications in the Amended Complaint as they are laid out, and they will testify and produce documents in the discovery process," the spokesman continued.
It Ends With Us, based from Colleen Hoover's blockbuster novel about a couple in love caught up in a never-ending cycle of domestic violence, made more than $351 million worldwide on a modest $25 million budget. Sony co-financed the sleeper hit, which it also marketed and released.
"Ms. Lively has filed an amended complaint today that provides significant additional evidence and corroboration of her original claims. That evidence includes previously undisclosed communications involving Ms. Lively, representatives of Sony and Wayfarer, and numerous other witnesses," her lawyers Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb said in a statement. "The complaint includes significant contemporaneous evidence that Ms. Lively was not alone in raising allegations of on-set misconduct more than a year before the film was edited; as well as evidence detailing the threats, harassment, and intimidation of not just Ms. Lively, but numerous innocent bystanders that have followed defendants' retaliatory campaign."
The petition might shake up the It Ends with Us legal and public relations war, which has hitherto been viewed primarily as a conflict between Lively and Baldoni. If two more women from the production report that they were abused by the director, the tale might shift from a nasty rivalry to a literal #MeToo.
Other accounts identify the two ladies as actresses Jenny Slate and Isabela Ferrer, who could not be reached for comment. Slate is a well-known humorist and actor, having been in Parks and Recreation and Everything Everywhere All at Once. While Ferrer is a rookie to the field and was only about 23 at the time of filming, when she played the younger version of Lively's character.
According to the amended lawsuit, Lively's and others' experiences were chronicled as they occurred, commencing in May 2023. On May 24, 2023, Lively texted a lady who was a mutual acquaintance of Baldoni and Heath: "I was going to invite you to the set tomorrow." Those folks. Whoa . . . It's like HR is crazy today. The two of them. I didn't expect that turn. I mean, it has always been there, but I sobbed today when I got home." Later in the conversation, Lively refers to Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath as "creeps." Like, keep your hormones to yourselves. This isn't mine. I do not want it. I don't want you [sic] to see, speak, or record videos of your nude wife. Yeah. It's shocking. Clowns," states the amended lawsuit.
A few days later, on May 26, 2023, Lively voiced her worries about Baldoni and Heath's uninvited and inappropriate conduct to Sony employee Ange Gianetti. According to the lawsuit, when Baldoni contacted one of the ladies, he accepted the concerns in writing.
Over the next three days, another female cast member expressed her own worries about Baldoni's inappropriate behavior to both Gianetti and one of the film's producers.
The updated case also includes a new claim for defamation based on the defendants' repeated false remarks about Ms. Lively since she filed her original complaint, as well as Jed Wallace and his firm as defendants, according to a spokesman for Lively. Wallace, a crisis PR manager and Internet expert, was hired by Wayfarer and has collaborated closely with Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, and crisis PR manager, Melissa Nathan.
The new case further claims that Wayfarer co-founder and millionaire Steve Sarowtiz told a witness that he would "protect the studio like Israel protected itself from Hamas." "There were 39,000 dead bodies." He continued, telling the witness that there would be two dead bodies when he was finished. Minimum. You may not be dead, but you are to me. So that's kind of dead. However, many people consider him dead. (Lively said in her first lawsuit that he had not disputed telling another third party that he was willing to spend $100 million to ruin Ms. Lively and her family's life."
Since revealing misbehavior charges during the making of It Ends With Us in December, Lively and Baldoni have been trading legal blows in dueling lawsuits in federal court in New York, as each side seeks public favor in the widely publicized feud. According to court filings, they have so far declined to negotiate a settlement.
Lively's latest charges, filed on Tuesday, elaborate on the scenario she revealed in her previous complaint, accusing Baldoni and his public relations staff of harming her image in reprisal for coming out about sexual assault on the production of the film. It's her first chance to reply in court to Baldoni's lawsuit against her and her husband for slander and extortion. In that lawsuit, Baldoni claimed that Lively objected to his actions, which included unexpectedly visiting her trailer while she was breastfeeding and creating an unwelcome kissing scene during production, in order to gain artistic control of the picture.
Lively's updated lawsuit attempts to depict a different picture, citing emails from Sony executives who support her edit of the film. It also appears that Wayfayer conducted an HR investigation last month.
Among the many reasons why the court drama has captivated Hollywood is the tangled web of ties between the primary participants in the case. WME, which also represents Lively and her megastar husband, Reynolds, issued a statement shortly after breaking ties with Baldoni, saying that the married stars did not put pressure on the agency to dump him.
The lawsuit has involved Baldoni's film company, Wayfarer, as well as its public relations specialists, Nathan and Jennifer Abel.
Baldoni's complaint against Lively also names Reynolds and Leslie Sloane, the actress's public relations representative at Vision PR.
