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Blake Lively has filed an amended complaint against Justin Baldoni.
This legal update comes as Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against Lively, her husband, and the New York Times (after the NYT reported on his alleged sexual misconduct) shows no end in sight.
According to Lively’s attorneys, she was not the only one to voice complaints about Baldoni’s alleged behavior on the set of It Ends With Us.
The existence of other complaints could fly in the face of Baldoni’s timeline — and his claim that Lively fabricated her complaints as part of a creative struggle.
Blake Lively has filed an amended complaint
Putting together a case to file a lawsuit can take time. But even then, sometimes people need to update their court case ahead of trial.
On Tuesday, February 18, Blake Lively filed an amended complaint in New York federal court. The 163-page document adds to her December 31 lawsuit against Justin Baldoni.
People reports that, according to her attorneys Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, the filing “provides significant additional evidence and corroboration of her original claims” and also “includes previously undisclosed communications” involving Lively, Sony, Wayfarer Studios and “numerous other witnesses.”
Additionally, the attorneys noted that Blake Lively’s amended complaint “also added a new claim for defamation.”
They added that the defamation claim is “based on the repeated false statements the defendants have made about Ms. Lively since she filed her original complaint, and adds Jed Wallace and his company as defendants.”
Wallace is suing Lively after she described Baldoni as using his PR firm to run a smear campaign against her. Late last year, many saw screenshots of communications in which he appeared to be doing exactly that.
What does Blake Lively’s amended complaint say?
One portion of the amended complaint has attorneys for Blake Lively write that Baldoni’s “false narrative crumbles under the indisputable truth.”
The filing notes that Lively “was not alone in complaining about Mr. Baldoni and raised her concerns contemporaneously as they arose in 2023.”
That is an important point. Her attorneys continue, saying that she spoke about this in 2023 and “not in connection with some imagined power play for control of the film in 2024.” Baldoni’s argument has been that Lively fabricated allegations of misconduct as part of a creative power struggle, but her team says that this does not match the timeline.
Additionally, a spokesperson for Blake Lively specifies that the amended complaint “details the corroboration that backs up Blake’s original sexual harassment and retaliation concerns.”
According to this statement, the filing demonstrates that “other women confided in Blake about their discomfort and fear of coming forward, and their concern about the current public vitriol.”
There were indications during the initial press tour for It Ends With Us that some of Blake Lively’s costars were reluctant to discuss Justin Baldoni in any way. It is possible that some of them will end up testifying in court in a year — and giving depositions before then.
This will not go to trial until May 2026
This next year or so will likely be full of back-and-forth filings in the courtroom.
The judge has discouraged both parties from saying anything to taint a potential jury pool. That has not stopped Lively and her husband from making a brief SNL cameo, or Baldoni from publishing alleged, cherrypicked texts to a website that seems dedicated to influencing public opinion.
Public opinion is a fickle thing and easily influenced, especially through disinformation vectors like TikTok. There is no telling what this case will look like in the eye of everyday people (who have not read the legal filings) by the time that it goes to trial.
Justin Baldoni’s billionaire backer threatened to protect Wayfarer “like Israel protected itself from Hamas” if Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds dared to speak up months after It Ends With Us wrapped.
“There were 39,000 dead bodies. There will be two dead bodies when I’m done.”
— Molly McAleer (@molls.bsky.social) February 19, 2025 at 10:01 AM
And people who have not read the legal filings are missing some key details. For example, Steve Sarowitz, a partner in Wayfarer Studios, seemingly vowed to “protect” the studio with massive retaliation.
According to Lively’s filing, Sarowitz vowed to a witness to go after Lively and Reynolds if they spoke out against Baldoni. “I will protect the studio like Israel protected itself from Hamas,” Sarowitz allegedly threatened, referring to the genocide perpetrated in Gaza. “There were 39,000 dead bodies. There will be two dead bodies when I’m done.”
If this quoted text is true, it might explain Baldoni’s massive lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds, and a major newspaper. And, if other allegations are true, this sort of backing could hypothetically explain why an actor and director could feel that he could act however he wishes towards an A-list costar with impunity.
