Blake Lively sues Justin Baldoni for emotional distress, lost wages
Blake Lively has filed a second lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, The Post can confirm.
The actress, 37, is suing her “It Ends with Us” co-star and director, alleging he caused her to suffer “severe emotional distress and pain, humiliation, embarrassment, belittlement, frustration, and mental anguish” in addition to lost wages. TMZ was first to report the news.
Lively filed her lawsuit against Baldoni, 41, and others on Tuesday in a New York federal court. “It Ends with Us,” the blockbuster movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, was filmed primarily in New York.
Lively is seeking punitive damages at “an amount to be determined at trial.”
Lawyers for Lively provided a statement to The Post following news of the actress’ latest lawsuit.
“Earlier today, Ms. Lively filed a federal complaint against Wayfarer Studios and others in the Southern District of New York,” the statement began, referring to the studio that produced “It Ends with Us.”
“Ms. Lively previously sent her California Civil Rights Department Complaint in response to the retaliatory campaign Wayfarer launched against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns.”
The star’s lawyers continued, “Unfortunately, Ms. Lively’s decision to speak out has resulted in further retaliation and attacks. As alleged in Ms. Lively’s federal Complaint, Wayfarer and its associates have violated federal and California state law by retaliating against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns.”
“Now, the defendants will answer for their conduct in federal court. Ms. Lively has brought this litigation in New York, where much of the relevant activities described in the Complaint took place, but we reserve the right to pursue further action in other venues and jurisdictions as appropriate under the law.”
Lively’s reps also referred The Post to a statement the actress gave on Dec. 21 after she filed her first complaint.
“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,” Lively said.
The Post has reached out to reps for Baldoni for comment.
“The Age of Adaline” actress’ second lawsuit follows legal action she took earlier this month against Baldoni and his crisis managers, Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, in addition to Wayfarer Studios, which produced “It Ends with Us.”
Lively’s first lawsuit was filed with the California Civil Rights Commission.
In the suit, Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and orchestrating a “coordinated smear campaign” to destroy her reputation.
Like her recent New York action, the actress’ California filing accused Baldoni and others of causing harm to her business, leading to her family experiencing “severe emotional distress.”
In court documents, Lively alleged that “things got so bad during filming [‘It Ends with Us’], there was an all-hands-on-deck meeting to address what she claims was a hostile work environment.”
Actor Ryan Reynolds, Lively’s husband, reportedly attended the meeting.
Lively claimed that she and Reynolds demanded there would be “no more showing nude videos or images of women to Lively, no more mention of Baldoni’s alleged previous ‘pornography addiction,’ and no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Lively.”
They also insisted that Baldoni “should not make inquiries about Lively’s weight” and make “no further mention of her dead father.”
Lively also told Baldoni that there would be “no more adding of sex scenes, oral sex or on camera climaxing” outside the scope of the script she approved upon joining the project.
Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman previously rebuffed the allegations Lively made in her California lawsuit.
In a statement given to The Post earlier this month, Freedman said, “It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions.”
“These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media,” Freedman added.
The lawyer claimed Baldoni had hired a crisis manager due to “multiple demands and threats” he alleged Lively made, including “threatening to not showing up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met.”
