Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have filed competing lawsuits that heighten the battle over allegations of what happened on the set of their movie It Ends With Us.
Lively filed a lawsuit in New York on Tuesday against the actor and his publicist team, alleging sexual harassment on the film’s set and a plan to “destroy” her reputation.
Baldoni, meanwhile, filed a lawsuit against The New York Times, which first reported Lively’s legal action, accusing the reporters of working with the actress to defame him and ignoring evidence that contradicted her claims.
The newspaper rejected his accusations and said its original story was “carefully and responsibly published”.
Livelyn’s legal case includes many of the same allegations that appeared in her civil rights lawsuit, often a precursor to a lawsuit, that was filed in California in December.
She is seeking compensatory damages, including “lost wages” and money for “mental pain and suffering.” She does not specify the monetary amount.
In its own lawsuit against The New York Times, first reported by Variety, Baldoni claims defamation and fraud. He accuses reporters of working with the actress to “damage” his reputation and of not giving his team enough time to respond to the “bombshell story.”
Baloni’s lawsuit alleges that the Times relied on “‘picked-and-edited’ communications “devoid of necessary context and deliberately stitched together to mislead.”
The New York Times said in a statement to BBC News his report “is based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including text messages and emails that we quote accurately and extensively in the article.”
“We published theirs [Baldoni and his team’s] complete press release in response to the allegations in the article.”
Baldoni quit his talent agency after the allegations were published in the newspaper. His lawsuit is seeking a jury trial and $250m (£199m) in damages.
The actor’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, told CBS News that the newspaper “aided and abetted” a “smear campaign designed to revitalize Lively’s … faltering public image.”
Baldoni’s lawsuit includes many of the same text messages and communications cited by Lively, which she used to accuse his team of orchestrating a social media campaign to sway public opinion against her.
In her own lawsuit, Lively accuses Baldoni and his team of attacking her public image after a meeting that discussed “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior.”
At the meeting, she said she made 30 demands related to the alleged misconduct to ensure they could continue producing the film, which included not depicting genitalia on set and not adding intimate scenes other than those previously approved by Lively.
Lively’s legal team further accused Baldoni and his film studio Wayfarer of running a “multi-layered plan” to destroy her reputation, which included manipulating social media and using friendly journalists to spread certain narratives.
Baldoni’s lawyers previously told the BBC that the claims made by Lively were “categorically false” and said they had hired a crisis manager because Lively had threatened to pull the plug on the film if her demands were not met.
BBC News has contacted representatives for Lively, Baldoni and The New York Times for further comment.
The movie It Ends with Us was released last summer, and Lively plays a woman in a relationship with a charming but violent boyfriend, played by Baldoni.
The film is based on the bestseller by Colleen Hoover. The 45-year-old author said that her inspiration was the domestic abuse her mother experienced.
