Justin Baldoni is suing Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and a publicist for defamation and more, seeking $400 million in damages

Baldoni alleges that Lively and her publicist started a smear campaign against him to grab control of the film. He feels like Lively was trying to paint him as the villain, especially after some backlash she faced during the press tour. It’s wild!
The drama apparently kicked off back in 2023 when they started filming. Lively had a plan to take over the creative direction, and things got tense during a meeting about a key scene. Baldoni says he felt ambushed when Lively and Reynolds rewrote it without his input.
He even mentioned that Taylor Swift jumped in to support their version, which made him feel pressured to go along with it. There are also some pretty revealing texts and emails in the lawsuit, including one where Lively compared herself to Khaleesi from “Game of Thrones.”
Baldoni claims he caved to many of Lively’s demands because she threatened not to promote the film unless she got her way. He eventually felt he had to step down as director.
What’s even crazier is that Lively never even read the book that inspired the movie! Instead, she was Googling details about her character. After the film came out, the whole cast unfollowed Baldoni on social media, which he took as support for Lively.
He also accuses Lively’s publicist of trying to shift the blame and frame her as a martyr in the media. This whole situation is just a mess!