New allegations are emerging about the It Ends With Us set.
A revised lawsuit filed by Blake Lively on February 18th, during her ongoing dispute with Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, also contains fresh accusations directed at Baldoni and his associate Jamey Heath. Among these allegations is that Lively isn’t the sole actress who felt uneasy on set due to inappropriate behavior.
According to a complaint acquired by TopMob News on February 19th, it wasn’t just Ms. Lively who voiced concerns about Mr. Baldoni. The incidents involving Ms. Lively and several others were recorded as they happened, starting from May 2023. Crucially, contrary to the storyline the Defendants have constructed, Mr. Baldoni admitted the complaints in writing at the time. He was aware that women other than Ms. Lively also felt uneasy and had voiced their discomfort about his actions.
In May 2023, a female actor expressed apprehensions about Mr. Baldoni’s inappropriate conduct directly to Ange Gianetti, who is Sony’s point person for the movie and also one of its producers. This was her report.
Despite the female actor’s significant apprehensions about speaking out, she still chose to voice her concerns, stating that the production of the film was being negatively affected by Mr. Baldoni’s actions.
The documents further state that although Baldoni supposedly addressed the actress’s grievances in writing during June 2023, acknowledging her concerns and promising necessary changes, “It was reported that Wayfarer failed to launch an investigation into this alleged behavior or establish protective measures at that point in time.
In that very month, the document states that another actress from the cast shared with Ms. Lively her discomfort on set, as well. It further claims these events transpired, and were recorded in written form, nearly a year prior to the film’s editing process commencing.
The revised lawsuit, submitted to a federal court in New York, states that the identities of the two witnesses are not disclosed, along with some conversation screenshots, because they are withheld out of concern for the “dangerous atmosphere of threats, harassment, and intimidation instigated by the Defendants’ retaliation efforts.
The document goes on to explain that these witnesses have granted Ms. Lively authorization to disclose the essence of their conversations, and they are prepared to provide testimony and relevant documents during the discovery phase.
TopMob News has reached out to Baldoni’s legal team for comment but has not yet heard back.
Lively’s revised lawsuit arises amidst growing legal disputes involving herself, her husband Ryan Reynolds, Baldoni, and Wayfarer Studios. The disagreement initially started as whispers of a feud between the film’s co-stars, but it escalated in December 2023 when Lively filed a complaint for sexual harassment and retaliation in California – allegations that Baldoni’s lawyers have disputed.
Since then, they’ve both initiated legal actions against each other, along with additional parties, all the while refuting the allegations made against them personally.
For a complete breakdown and timeline of the It Ends With Us drama, keep reading.
Four months following the release of the movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s book “It Ends With Us,” Blake Lively submitted a complaint to the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) on December 20th, as reported by The New York Times. In the complaint reviewed by TopMob News, Justin Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer Studios, its CEO Jamey Heath, cofounder Steve Sarowitz, Baldoni’s publicist Jennifer Abel, RWA Communications, crisis communications specialist Melissa Nathan, The Agency Group PR LLC (TAG), contractor Jed Wallace and Street Relations Inc. were named as defendants.
Lively claimed in her complaint that Baldoni and his Wayfarer associates initiated a complex press and digital campaign in retaliation for expressing concerns about alleged on-set misconduct – with Lively stating she and other cast and crew members “encountered invasive, unwelcome, unprofessional, and sexually inappropriate behavior” from Baldoni and Heath.
The actress further asserted that this campaign caused significant harm to her both personally and professionally. The charges outlined in the complaint include sexual harassment; retaliation; failure to investigate, prevent, or remedy harassment; aiding and abetting harassment and retaliation; breach of contract; intentional infliction of emotional distress; negligence; false light invasion of privacy; and interference with prospective economic advantage.
The following day, an article appeared in The New York Times, detailing a suspected counter-attack smear operation carried out by Baldoni and his allies against Lively – referencing her CRD complaint. In their piece, the publication shared messages exchanged between Baldoni, Abel (his publicist), Nathan (crisis communications specialist), and others, which were included in her complaint. Furthermore, readers had access to the court documents on The New York Times‘ website.
Lively told the outlet, “I hope my legal action will expose these underhanded retaliatory strategies aimed at harming those who speak out about misconduct, and safeguard others who might be targeted in a similar manner.
Following Lively’s allegations, Bryan Freedman – legal representative for Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and their associates – fiercely rejected her claims. In a statement on The New York Times website, he stated that it was disgraceful for Lively and her representatives to make such serious and blatantly false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and their representatives. He further mentioned these allegations were an attempt to improve her damaged reputation, stemming from her own remarks and actions during the film campaign, which were publicly observed in real-time and unedited. The claims were entirely false, outrageous, deliberately sensational, and intended to harm Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios publicly.
Freedman also justified Wayfarer’s decision to hire a crisis manager before the movie’s marketing campaign. Later, he explained that their representatives had taken no proactive measures nor retaliated against Lively. Instead, they only responded to media inquiries to ensure balanced and accurate reporting and monitored social activity. Notably absent from the selectively presented correspondence was evidence of a lack of proactive measures with media or otherwise; what was missing was proof of internal scenario planning and private communication for strategic purposes, which is standard practice among public relations professionals.
After an article published by The New York Times on December 21, William Morris Endeavor (WME) chose to end their relationship with Baldoni. This decision was confirmed by Ari Emanuel, CEO of the agency’s parent company Endeavor, to the outlet. However, it’s important to note that WME denies any involvement from Ryan Reynolds in their decision to part ways with Baldoni, a claim made later in a lawsuit filed against The New York Times. In Baldoni’s filing, there is a statement suggesting that Reynolds pressured Baldoni’s agent at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere. WME, which represents both Reynolds and Lively, has clarified that this is not true. Additionally, Baldoni’s former representative was not present at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere, and there was no pressure from Reynolds or Lively to drop Baldoni as a client at any point in time.
After Lively’s CRD filing and the New York Times article, several well-known individuals expressed their support for her allegations against Baldoni. For instance, the author of ‘It Ends With Us’, Hoover, posted on Instagram Stories, “At you, Blake Lively, you have always been honest, kind, supportive, and patient since we first met…Never change. Never wilt.”
Jenny Slate, who played Baldoni’s character Ryle’s sister, also expressed her support for Lively. On December 23, she made a statement to Today, saying, “As Blake Lively’s castmate and friend, I voice my support as she takes action against those reported to have planned and carried out an attack on her reputation.” She added, “Blake is a leader, loyal friend, and a trusted source of emotional support for me and so many who know and love her. What has been revealed about the attack on Blake is terribly dark, disturbing, and wholly threatening. I commend my friend, I admire her bravery, and I stand by her side.”
Brandon Sklenar, a love interest for Lively’s character Lily Bloom in the series, shared a screenshot of the complaint published on The New York Times’ website and linked to the outlet, writing “For the love of God read this.”
Lastly, Lively’s Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants costars America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel, and Amber Tamblyn wrote they “stand with her in solidarity.
Liz Plank recently shared on Instagram that she is stepping down from her co-host role on The Man Enough Podcast. In her post, she expressed gratitude for the trust, stories, and community that the show provided over the past four years. She also emphasized her commitment to upholding the values they had built together. While the reason for her departure was not specified, it came shortly after Blake Lively’s complaint against Baldoni and his associates at Wayfarer. Plank assured her followers that she would share more details as she processes everything that has happened, and vowed to continue supporting those who fight injustice.
As a devoted admirer of Baldoni,
Back in December, Stephanie Jones, Baldoni’s former publicist, and her agency, Jonesworks LLC, took legal action against Baldoni, his company Wayfarer, his current publicist Abel, and crisis communications specialist Nathan, right here in New York. According to the lawsuit (which NBC News got their hands on), these individuals secretly conspired for months to publicly and privately attack Jones and Jonesworks. They aimed to breach multiple contracts, induce contractual breaches, and steal clients and business prospects.
The conspiracy was so intricate that they did it all behind Jones’ back! They coordinated with Baldoni and Wayfarer to launch an aggressive media smear campaign against one of Baldoni’s film co-stars. Then, they used this contrived crisis as a chance to drive a wedge between Jones and Baldoni, and to publicly blame Jones for the very smear campaign she had no part in!
Abel, who worked at Jonesworks until last summer according to her LinkedIn profile, is accused of falsely implicating Jones now that their own misconduct is being exposed. The lawsuit claims they’ve defamed and attacked her within the industry.
As for Baldoni and Wayfarer, since they are no longer Jonesworks clients, the suit alleges they have repudiated their contractual obligations with Jonesworks and refused to settle this dispute privately in arbitration.
I reached out to the defendants for a comment on these serious allegations, but haven’t heard back yet.
In a statement given to Variety on December 23, Lively’s legal team explained they obtained the texts mentioned in The New York Times article through a subpoena issued to Jonesworks. Freedman, who represents Nathan, Abel, Baldoni, and their Wayfarer associates, further clarified that neither of his clients were summoned regarding this matter. He also expressed his intention to sue Jones for disclosing messages from Abel’s phone to Lively’s lawyers without authorization.
A group consisting of Baldoni, Wayfarer, Heath, Sarowitz, Nathan, TAG, Abel, RWA Communications, Wallace, and Street Relations filed a lawsuit against The New York Times on December 31.
In this lawsuit, obtained by TopMob News, The New York Times is accused of libel, false light invasion of privacy, promissory fraud, and breach of implied-in-fact contract concerning an article about a supposed retaliatory smear campaign the plaintiffs allegedly conducted against Lively following her expressions of concern regarding purported misconduct on set.
The report was deemed “false” by the plaintiffs, who also argued that the information used in the article and complaint were taken out of context. The lawsuit states, “Despite its claim to have ‘reviewed these along with other documents,’ the Times relied almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative, lifting it nearly verbatim while disregarding an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives.”
The plaintiffs also allege that it was Lively, not them, who engaged in a calculated smear campaign. However, she has denied this claim.
In response, The New York Times stated it plans to “vigorously defend against the lawsuit.” According to TopMob, the newspaper said, “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.
On the very same day, Lively initiated a legal action against Baldoni, Wayfarer, Heath, Sarowitz, It Ends With Us Movie LLC, Nathan, his company TAG, and Abel in New York. According to court documents obtained by TopMob News, she is accusing these defendants of sexual harassment, retaliation, failing to address harassment, aiding and abetting such actions, breach of contract, intentionally causing emotional distress, negligently causing emotional distress, false light invasion of privacy, and more.
The claims made in the lawsuit were initially outlined in the CRD complaint Lively filed earlier that month. In response to the lawsuit filed against them (which does not include Lively as a defendant), Baldoni and his associates counter-sued The New York Times, regarding which her lawyers stated to TopMob: “The claims made in this lawsuit do not alter anything about the allegations in her CRD and federal complaints.”
Her attorneys further clarified that “the premise of this Wayfarer lawsuit—that Lively’s administrative complaint against Wayfarer and others was a ruse, and litigation was never her ultimate goal—is false.” As evidenced by the federal complaint filed by Lively today, this perspective on the Wayfarer lawsuit is inaccurate.
In their lawsuit against The New York Times, Baldoni and his team have made it clear that they are not finished with their legal actions. According to the court documents, there are still other parties involved who have acted wrongly, and they plan to file more lawsuits as a result. In an interview with NBC News on January 2nd, Baldoni’s attorney Freedman confirmed that they intend to sue Lively as well.
The buzz surrounding Baldoni and Lively hasn’t subsided, and some social media users have suggested that Reynolds may have teased Baldoni in his film Deadpool & Wolverine by using the character Nicepool. However, Reynolds has not addressed these rumors. In response, Baldoni’s lawyer Freedman shared his opinion during an interview on The Megyn Kelly Show (available on YouTube as of Jan 7). He stated, “If your wife is sexually harassed, you don’t make light of Justin Baldoni’s situation. You treat it seriously and follow proper legal procedures. What you shouldn’t do is joke about it.
In response to your lawsuit, Lively’s legal team asserts there have been ongoing acts against her that go beyond a simple disagreement or he-said-she-said scenario. The allegations involve sexual harassment and retaliation, supported by factual evidence. These actions taken by Wayfarer and its associates are illegal forms of retaliatory astroturfing, as Lively was only trying to ensure a safe work environment on the film set. Since the filing of the lawsuit, these attacks against Lively have persisted.
During this legal process, they remind everyone that sexual harassment and retaliation are unacceptable in any workplace or industry. A common tactic to divert attention from such misconduct is to blame the victim, implying they were responsible for the actions or misunderstood the intentions. Another strategy is to switch the roles of the victim and offender, claiming the offender was actually the one who was wronged.
Lively’s legal team emphasizes that these tactics serve to minimize and trivialise serious allegations of misconduct. They also clarify that media statements are not a defense for her claims, and they will present their case in court.
On January 16th, in New York, Baldoni, Heath, Wayfarer, publicist Abel, crisis communication specialist Nathan, and It Ends With Us Movie LLC filed a lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds, Leslie Sloane (Lively’s publicist), and Vision PR. The lawsuit alleges that all defendants committed civil extortion, defamation, and false light invasion of privacy. Lively and Reynolds were individually accused of breaching the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, as well as intentional and negligent interference with contractual relations and economic advantage.
The plaintiffs refuted Lively’s claims of sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign against her. Instead, they accused her of taking control over It Ends With Us and collaborating with Reynolds, Sloane, Jones, and others to tarnish the plaintiffs’ reputation in the media after she faced criticism for promoting the film. (Lively stated that she promoted the movie according to Sony’s marketing plan.)
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim that the defendants collaborated with The New York Times to release a sensational news piece that was both damaging and untrue. However, the media outlet has maintained its stance on the report’s accuracy.
In response to TopMob, Freedman stated, “Either Blake Lively was significantly misinformed by her team or she deliberately and knowingly distorted the truth.
Lively’s legal team described his lawsuit as “an additional tactic in the script of an abuser,” explaining in a statement to TopMob News, “This scenario is quite familiar: A woman presents evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation, and the abuser tries to shift blame onto the victim. This tactic is often referred to as DARVO – Deny allegations, Attack the accuser, Reverse the roles of Victim and Offender.
Additionally, she alleged that he reacted adversely after she brought accusations towards him, stating that Baldoni aims to change the storyline by suggesting that Lively took creative control and distanced the cast from Mr. Baldoni.
It’s clear from the evidence we’ll present,” it went on, “that both the cast and others encountered unfavorable interactions with Mr. Baldoni and Wayfarer. Furthermore, the evidence will demonstrate that Sony requested Ms. Lively to supervise their part of the film. This selection proved successful, as it was chosen for distribution and achieved considerable success.
Her team went on to slam Baldoni’s reaction to her allegations of harassment.
In a nutshell, the defendants’ approach to the sexual harassment accusations revolves around blaming the victim, implying she invited it and her attire was responsible. However, as her legal team emphasized, this tactic is futile. It shifts focus from the abusive act to the victim and fails to counteract the evidence presented in Ms. Lively’s complaint. In essence, while the victim seeks justice for the abuse, the abuser attempts to evade responsibility by attacking the victim instead.
In a recent development, Baldoni’s legal team shared unseen footage from the set of ‘It Ends With Us’, stating that the actor’s behaviors depicted in the video contradict Ms. Lively’s portrayal of him.
According to Baldoni’s lawyers, the particular moment was intended to depict the blossoming romance between the two characters, as they yearned for closeness. It’s evident that both actors were acting appropriately and professionally during this romantic scene.
Nevertheless, Lively’s legal representatives argue that the video aligns exactly with Lively’s account as stated in her lawsuit, suggesting that every scene was impromptu on Baldoni’s part without any prior discussion or consent.
In a statement given to TopMob News, it was explained that the video depicts Miss Lively leaning back repeatedly and requesting the characters to converse instead of acting inappropriately. This action is likely to resonate with any woman who has experienced unwanted physical contact at work, as it conveys her obvious discomfort.
In simpler terms, they wrote a letter to the presiding judge asking for Freedman, who leads Baldoni’s lawyers, to be restricted from speaking publicly during their court case to prevent any inappropriate behavior.
I, a die-hard fan, can’t help but share some intriguing insights that have recently surfaced! A seven-minute voice note supposedly sent by Baldoni to Lively during the filming of “It Ends With Us” has been leaked online. In this recording, it seems Baldoni alludes to the iconic rooftop scene that Lively rewrote and discusses the presentation of these changes during an alleged meeting with Reynolds and our beloved Taylor Swift, their pal!
He expressed to Lively that it’s not just their exceptional creativity that makes them great friends, but rather the extraordinary magic that the three of them create together is simply unimaginable.
In the recording, Baldoni appeared to express an apology to the actress for his cool response to her script, stating, “I made a mistake. Something important for you to understand about me is that I will acknowledge and apologize when I fall short.
A court hearing for the legal dispute between Lively and Baldoni was scheduled on March 9, 2026, exactly one month following the submission of the lawsuit by Lively.
Read More
- Solo Leveling Season 3: What You NEED to Know!
- Rachel Zegler Claps Back at Critics While Ignoring Snow White Controversies!
- OM PREDICTION. OM cryptocurrency
- Oblivion Remastered: The Ultimate Race Guide & Tier List
- Captain America: Brave New World’s Shocking Leader Design Change Explained!
- Oshi no Ko Season 3: Release Date, Cast, and What to Expect!
- Gold Rate Forecast
- Fantastic Four: First Steps Cast’s Surprising Best Roles and Streaming Guides!
- How to Get to Frostcrag Spire in Oblivion Remastered
- Meta launches ‘most capable openly available LLM to date’ rivalling GPT and Claude
2025-02-19 18:22