Justin Baldoni Taylor Swift has been drawn into her heated legal battle with It Ends With Us star Blake Lively.
Baldoni has accused Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, of civil racketeering, defamation, and more in a $400 million lawsuit — which happens to mention international pop star Swift.
The lawsuit filed by the “Jane the Virgin” star comes on the heels of Lively's lawsuit, where she was The actor was accused of sexual harassment During the filming of the movie “It Ends with Us”. However, Baldoni insisted that Lively “falsely” accused him in an attempt to repair her reputation following the fallout from the film's press tour after she took control of the film.
In an attempt to show how Lively controlled the film's production, Baldoni's legal team claimed that the actress used her friendship with Swift to threaten him. While working on the film, Lively insisted on rewriting the famous rooftop scene. Baldoni was hesitant about the idea, but told the 37-year-old actress that he would “take a look at what she had put together,” according to the complaint.
Justin Baldoni mentioned Taylor Swift in his lawsuit against Blake Lively. (Getty Images)
Lively then invited Baldoni to her home in New York City, where the actor said he felt that Swift and Reynolds pressured him to use the rewritten scene. “Later, Baldoni felt compelled to text Lively to tell her he liked her pages and didn’t need Reynolds and her famous boyfriend to pressure him,” the complaint said.
“…I really like what you did. It really helps a lot. Makes it more fun and interesting. (And I would feel this way without Ryan and Taylor (emoji) You are truly an all-around talent. Really excited and grateful to be doing this together,” it read. Baldoni texted, according to the complaint.
Lively shared a lengthy response in which she referred to Swift and Reynolds as “dragons” protecting her.
“The message couldn't have been clearer. Baldoni wasn't just dealing with Lively. He was also facing Lively's 'dragons', two of the most influential and wealthy celebrities in the world, who weren't afraid to make things very difficult for him.”
Lively and Swift have had a friendship for years. (Gotham)
“Both Ryan and (Redacted) have proven themselves to be absolute giants as writers and storytellers outside of their core work — just singing, just acting, or (Redacted) just directing. I am so fortunate to be their creative barometers,” Lively wrote, included in the complaint, And read. “But also to be people who support me and make sure I'm seen for everything I can, and what I offer. Because they know first-hand everything I contribute. They also know that I'm not always good at making sure I'm seen and exploited for fear of threatening my ego, or fear of influencing my “The ease of the process. They don't care about that, and that's why everyone listens to them with so much respect and enthusiasm. I think I should stop worrying about people I like.”
Baldoni believes “the message could not be clearer,” according to the lawsuit. “Baldoni wasn't just dealing with Lively. He was also facing Lively's 'dragons,' two of the most influential and wealthy celebrities in the world, who weren't afraid to make things very difficult for him.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Swift's rep for comment.
Quick chats with Lively, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman at the Kansas City Chiefs game. (Dustin Satloff)
Baldoni accused Lively of torturing him, his family and his colleagues throughout the film's production process in a lawsuit filed Thursday and obtained by Fox News Digital. The actor requested a jury trial and a $400 million judgment.
Baldoni's legal team She claimed that Lively had no evidence of an intentional smear campaign, and instead worked to repair her reputation by accusing the actress and others of sexual harassment.
Lively “could not tolerate her publicly tarnished image for even a moment, and she also could not accept that it was entirely of her own doing,” the lawsuit said. “She needed a scapegoat. Instead of acknowledging and taking responsibility for her mishaps, she chose to blame the plaintiffs in a malicious, public, and inexcusable way.
“When she and Reynolds were unable to force Baldoni and Wayfarer to read a statement she and her representatives had prepared, blackmailing them into ‘taking responsibility’ in defense of Lively’s actions, she waited for months, preparing to publicly attack Baldoni with the false claim that he had sexually harassed her.”
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Baldoni sued Lively and Reynolds for $400 million. (Getty Images)
A representative for Lively criticized Baldoni's lawsuit.
“This latest lawsuit filed by Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its partners is another chapter in the abuser’s playbook,” the statement provided by Lively’s legal team read. “This is an old story: A woman speaks out with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser tries to turn the tables on the victim. This is what experts call DARVO. Denial. Attack. Victim-offender reversal.”
The statement continued in part: “Their response to sexual harassment claims: She wanted it, and it's her fault. Their justifications for why this happened to her: Look what she was wearing. In short, while the victim focuses on the abuse, the abuser focuses on the victim. The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate, and no The evidence in Ms. Lively's complaint is rebutted, and will fail.
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Lively and Baldoni starred together in the film “It Ends With Us.” (Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
Vivid detailed allegations of sexual harassmentRetaliation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and more were filed by Baldoni and film producer Jami Heath in a complaint filed first with the California Department of Civil Rights and later in federal court.
Some of the issues that were allegedly addressed in an “all hands” meeting before filming began included no more showing nude videos or photos of women to Lively, no mention of Baldoni's previous “pornography addiction”, and no further discussions about… His personal experiences with sex. No more descriptions of their genitals, no more adding sex scenes outside of the original script, no more discussions about Lively's weight or dead father, and more.
Baldoni's lawyer denied the allegations in a statement to The New York Times.
He added, “These allegations are completely false, outrageous, and intentionally offensive with the intent to publicly cause harm and reshape the narrative in the media.”
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