Justin Baldoni shares photos of family ‘being held’ in basement at ‘It Ends With Us’ premiere
Bright lights and basements.
Amid the endless lawsuits between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively, the “Jane the Virgin” star is now doubling down on his claim that he and his family were “held” in a basement at the New York premiere of their movie “It Ends With Us” on Aug. 6, 2024.
Baldoni, 40, is suing Lively, 37, and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, 48, for $400 million over alleged defamation and extortion over the ongoing “It Ends With Us” saga, which centers on Lively’s allegations of sexual harassment against Baldoni.
Filed Thursday in the Southern District of New York by Baldoni’s attorneys on behalf of Baldoni, “It Ends With Us” producer Jamey Heath, publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis publicist Melissa Nathan — the suit claims that Lively took certain measures to gain control over the 2024 film.
In images cited in the court documents, Baldoni, his wife Emily, and his friends and family sit at a table in a room that appears to be a basement and smile big for the camera. Boxes of popcorn and bottles of water and soda can be seen.
In another image cited in the court docs, Baldoni poses with his friends against stacks of packs of Dasani water bottles. Baldoni, gleefully raising his arms in the air, is clad in the same pink suit he wore to the “It Ends With Us” red carpet that same day.
In his Jan. 16 filing, Baldoni alleged that his guests were “ushered” inside and were subsequently “held” in the room where the photos were taken to “avoid even a chance of interaction with Lively or her guests” once she arrived to the event.
Additionally, his suit alleges that Lively used “threats and extortion” to “relegate” her colleagues to “sit out their own premiere” in the basement.
“They were confined to a makeshift holding area surrounded by concession stand stock, with only fold-out tables and chairs arranged in a square,” Baldoni’s suit said. “Surrounded by close friends, family, soda bottles, and a lot of love, the irony of being held in a basement on what was arguably one of the most important nights of Baldoni’s career thus far, was not lost on anyone.”
The actors’ legal battle began in December, when Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, who not only co-starred in “It Ends With Us” but also directed it.
The hit movie, which came out over the summer, is about a domestic violence relationship between their characters, and it’s based on a best-selling novel by Colleen Hoover.
Lively’s lawsuit alleged that Baldoni sexually harassed her on the set.
According to the legal docs, the “Gossip Girl” also accused Baldoni of “a coordinated effort to destroy her reputation” after the movie was released.
In the docs, Lively said that the alleged smear campaign caused harm to her business and led to her family experiencing “severe emotional distress.”
At the time that “It Ends With Us” was released, there were rumors of a feud between Lively and Baldoni, as they didn’t appear together to promote the film. Baldoni also did not pose with any of the cast on the red carpet at the premiere.
In late December, Baldoni sued the New York Times for $250 million for libel and false-light invasion of privacy over a Dec. 21 article titled “’We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine” about the drama.
A spokesperson for the Times told the Post, “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.”
In Baldoni’s 179-page complaint obtained by The Post, he accuses Lively, Reynolds and their associates of civil extortion, defamation, false light invasion of privacy, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, intentional interference with contractual relations, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage.
Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, said in a statement, “This lawsuit is a legal action based on an overwhelming amount of untampered evidence detailing Blake Lively and her team’s duplicitous attempt to destroy Justin Baldoni, his team and their respective companies by disseminating grossly edited, unsubstantiated, new and doctored information to the media.”
He added, “It is clear based on our own all out willingness to provide all complete text messages, emails, video footage and other documentary evidence that was shared between the parties in real time, that this is a battle she will not win and will certainly regret.”
Lawyers for Lively issued a response to the complaint, claiming his accusations are “retaliation against sexual harassment allegations.”
“This latest lawsuit from Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its associates is another chapter in the abuser playbook,” Lively’s legal team said in a statement to The Post.
“This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim. This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender.”
The statement continued, “Wayfarer has opted to use the resources of its billionaire co-founder to issue media statements, launch meritless lawsuits, and threaten litigation to overwhelm the public’s ability to understand that what they are doing is retaliation against sexual harassment allegations.”
“They are trying to shift the narrative to Ms. Lively by falsely claiming that she seized creative control and alienated the cast from Mr. Baldoni. The evidence will show that the cast and others had their own negative experiences with Mr. Baldoni and Wayfarer,” Lively’s lawyers added. “The evidence will also show that Sony asked Ms. Lively to oversee Sony’s cut of the film, which they then selected for distribution and was a resounding success.”
