Blake Lively is set to take her former It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni to court next year for allegedly launching a smear campaign against her, and she’s reportedly asked a judge to award her $161 million in damages.
As reported by TMZ, court documents show that Lively’s attorneys have claimed that she lost $56.2 million in earnings as a result of Baldoni’s alleged smear campaign against her. Additionally, her legal team said the way he handled the fallout of It Ends With Us resulted in $49 million of losses for her haircare brand, Blake Brown, and $22 million in damages for her drink company, Betty Buzz/Betty Booze. They also stated that approximately 65 million negative impressions about her resulted in a $34 million hit to her reputation.
Last year, Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment. She alleged that Baldoni, who also directed the film, made her feel “fat-shamed” and kissed her for too long during the filming of one scene. In the complaint, she claimed that he launched a smear campaign against her, resulting in “severe emotional distress.”
During the production of the film, she reportedly held a meeting with Baldoni alongside her husband, Ryan Reynolds, in which she made several complaints about his on-set behavior. She asked him to stop showing “nude videos,” discussing sexual encounters, enquire about her weight, and limiting ”sex scenes, oral sex, or on-camera climaxing.” While she said he met her requests, she accused him of trying to “destroy” her reputation during the press cycle.
The lawsuit is finally set to go to court in March next year, unless a settlement is reached between the two parties. Baldoni later launched a $400 million countersuit against Lively and her husband, accusing them of tarnishing his reputation with false accusations. The suit was tossed by a judge earlier this year, but last month, it was lost entirely after he failed to amend the case by the October 31 deadline.