The publicized battle between former costars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni will soon get even messier.
On Saturday (Dec. 28), a Deadline article, per the Daily Mail, shared that Baldoni will reportedly file a countersuit against Lively, who sued the It Ends With Us actor-director for sexual harassment earlier this week. In the countersuit, which is said to be filed when courts reopen following the holiday break, Baldoni reportedly plans to accuse Lively of leading a smear campaign against him, presenting WhatsApp messages out of context, planting negative stories about Baldoni, and alleging that the actress' lawsuit is her attempt at rebuilding her public image.
But after her legal filing, Lively, who's married to Ryan Reynolds, received mass support from the likes of It Ends With Us author Colleen Hoover, former costar Jenny Slate, Amber Heard, her brother, Bart Johnson, and others.
In Lively's bombshell lawsuit, obtained by The New York Times, the actress alleged that Baldoni's actions caused her and her family "severe emotional distress" and that he attempted to start a smear campaign against her, accused him of making inappropriate comments about her weight, and would converse about his sex life and past "pornography addiction," to which Lively held a meeting for these instances to stop.
"I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted," Lively said in a statement through her attorney.
Baldoni's podcast co-host, Liz Plank, resigned from their project, his agents at WME fired him, and a women's solidarity award, the Vital Voices Global Partnership, was rescinded this week. Baldoni's ex-publicist, Stephanie Jones, is also suing him for defamation and breach of contract.
