Justin Baldoni sues The New York Times for $250 Million, claims article on Blake Lively's allegations was misleading

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni legal feud

Actor and filmmaker Justin Baldoni has filed a lawsuit against The New York Times, seeking $250 million in damages. The legal action follows a detailed article by the newspaper that supported sexual harassment claims made by his It Ends With Us co-star, Blake Lively. Baldoni has dismissed the article, accusing it of being solely based on Lively's "self-serving narrative."

On Tuesday, Variety reported that Justin Baldoni has filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times in Los Angeles Superior Court. Along with Baldoni, the lawsuit includes publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, and It Ends With Us producers Jamey Heath and Steve Sarowitz. They are accusing the newspaper of libel and false light invasion of privacy. The lawsuit centers around a December 21 article titled "We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine."

The lawsuit asserts that the New York Times relied on "‘cherry-picked’ and altered communications stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead." . The article focused on Blake Lively's account of her ongoing legal dispute with Baldoni, in which she accuses him of sexual harassment and running a smear campaign against her. In his 87-page complaint, Baldoni argues that it was, in fact, Blake who orchestrated the smear campaign against him, describing the article as manipulative.

The New York Times has stood by its article and pledged to contest the lawsuit. A spokesperson for the newspaper told Variety, "The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead. Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article. To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the other subjects of the article and their representatives have not pointed to a single error. We published their full statement in response to the allegations in the article as well. We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit."

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The article and its aftermath led to Baldoni being dropped as a client by WME. Blake had previously filed her own lawsuit, accusing Baldoni of harassment. The new lawsuit also includes claims of 'mental anguish.' The two starred together in the 2023 film It Ends With Us, but their collaboration was strained, with neither appearing together during the film's promotions.