Blake Lively’s legal team is claiming she suffered $161 million in damages due to Justin Baldoni’s alleged “smear campaign” against her as the It Ends With Us drama continues.
In documents originally filed in July and seen by Us Weekly on Thursday, November 6, Lively’s attorneys claimed the actress faced substantial financial losses due to reputational damage. Variety was the first to report the news.
Lively’s legal team claimed the potential financial losses include $56.2 million for past and future earnings attached to the Another Simple Favor star’s acting and producing career as well as from speaking engagements and endorsements.
The Gossip Girl alum’s attorneys also claimed that Lively, 38, lost $49 million of potential earnings from her beauty brand, Blake Brown due to her image being damaged. In addition, they claimed Lively’s beverage brand Betty Buzz/Betty Booze has also suffered potential losses to the tune of $22 million.
The documents also cited reputational damage of at least $34 million, which they based on an estimated 65 million negative impressions of Lively via social media.
Us Weekly has reached out to Lively and Baldoni’s representatives for comment.
The documents also named a number of high-profile celebrities, including Taylor Swift, Emily Blunt, Scooter Braun, Hugh Jackman and Gigi Hadid, identifying them as “individuals who are likely to have discoverable information” related to Baldoni’s alleged misconduct. Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds is also named in the filing.
Lively filed her initial lawsuit against Baldoni, 41, producer Jamey Heath, studio head Steve Sarowitz, and their publicists in December 2024. The trial is scheduled for March 2026.
The legal back-and-forth began in 2024 after the actress accused her It Ends With Us costar and director of sexual harassment and of orchestrating an alleged smear campaign against her.
Baldoni has denied all of the allegations. He subsequently countersued Lively and Reynolds in January, accusing the couple of extortion and defamation. Lively and Reynolds denied the allegations. A judge dismissed Baldoni’s case against Lively in June.
After the judge dismissed Baldoni’s lawsuit against Lively and Reynolds, Lively took to her Instagram Story to react to the decision the same month.
“Last week, I stood proudly alongside 19 organizations united in defending women’s rights to speak up for their safety,” she wrote via her Instagram Story at the time. “Like so many others, I’ve felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us.”
Baldoni and his team had the chance to amend their claims for breach of implied covenant and tortious interference with contract. The judge gave them a deadline of June 23. However, Baldoni ultimately opted not to do so. Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman later explained that they were refocused on striking down Lively’s original December 2024 lawsuit.
“The Court’s decision on the motion to dismiss has no effect whatsoever on the truth that there was no harassment nor any smear campaign, and it does not in any way affect our vigorous defense against Ms. Lively’s claims,” Freedman told People in June. “Discovery is proceeding and we are confident that we will prevail against these factually baseless accusations. Instead of revising the existing claims, our clients will be pursuing additional legal options that are available to us.”
Read the full article here
