Justin Baldoni files $250million suit against New York Times for “cherry-picked” Blake Lively story

The suit claims a story about Lively's accusations of Baldoni's "sexual harassment" and "smear campaign" against her were "stripped of context"

Justin Baldoni has filed a $250million (£200million) lawsuit against the New York Times for a “cherry-picked” story about Blake Lively’s accusations against him.

The suit was submitted to the Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday (December 31), citing the article ‘We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine’, dated December 21.

Baldoni is one of 10 plaintiffs in the suit, alongside publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel and It Ends With Us producers Jamey Heath and Steve Sarowitz, who are suing the newspaper for libel and false light invasion of privacy. They claim the story in question relied on “cherry-picked” communications that were “stripped” of context in a deliberate attempt to mislead the reader (via Variety).

A New York Times spokesperson has responded: “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.”

The 4000-word article, written by Megan Twohey, Mike McIntire and Julie Tate, depicted Lively’s alleged sexual harassment at the hands of Baldoni and what the actress defines as a smear campaign that her co-star and director conducted against her while on the set of the romantic drama It Ends With Us in 2023.

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However, the new suit contends that it was in fact Lively that embarked on a “strategic and manipulative” smear campaign, using false “sexual harassment allegations to assert unilateral control over every aspect of the production”. It also claims that Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds aggressively berated Baldoni, accusing him of “fat-shaming” Lively and pressing Baldoni’s agency WME to drop the director.

WME, which also represents Lively, did drop Baldoni as a client on December 22, but they have denied that there was any pressure from Reynolds or Lively to do so.

Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman told Variety that the New York Times “cowered to the wants and whims of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elites, disregarding journalistic practices and ethics once befitting of the revered publication by using doctored and manipulated texts and intentionally omitting texts which dispute their chosen PR narrative.”

On December 20, Lively filed a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint with the California Civil Rights Department against Baldoni, claiming his behaviour on set caused her “severe emotional distress”. It also stated that the director created a hostile working environment on set and claimed he had been trying to tarnish Lively’s reputation with a targeted social media campaign.

Lively said in a statement to the New York Times, “I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.”

In recent days, Freedman had said that Baldoni’s team intended to produce a counterclaim against Lively that would “shock everyone who has been manipulated into believing a demonstrably false narrative”.

For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.