Baldoni's Lawsuit Against The New York Times Claims Reynolds Pressured It Ends With Us Co-Star and Director's Former Agent at Deadpool & Wolverine Premiere
Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and Justin Baldoni
WME Denies Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively Pressured Agency to Drop Justin Baldoni
Just over 10 days after parting ways with Justin Baldoni, his agency, WME, which also represents his It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, issued a statement clarifying that the married stars did not pressure the agency to drop Baldoni.
This clarification follows Baldoni’s lawsuit against The New York Times, filed on Tuesday, accusing the publication of fraud, breach of contract, and libel. Baldoni claims the Times conspired with Lively’s team to promote an “unverified and self-serving narrative” by using "cherry-picked and altered communications stripped of necessary context" and ignoring evidence that contradicted her allegations. The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Baldoni’s Lawsuit Claims Reynolds Pressured WME to Drop Him; Agency Denies Allegations
In his lawsuit, Justin Baldoni alleges that Ryan Reynolds approached his WME agent at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere and demanded that the representative drop him as a client. Baldoni claims, “The wielding of power and influence became undeniable,” adding that he and his company, Wayfarer, grew increasingly fearful of Lively and Reynolds’ attempts to ruin his career and personal life.
However, WME has denied these claims. In a statement released on New Year’s Day, the agency stated, “In Baldoni’s filing, there is a claim that Reynolds pressured Baldoni’s agent at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere. This is not true. Baldoni’s former representative was not at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere, nor was there any pressure from Reynolds or Lively at any time to drop Baldoni as a client.”
Baldoni was dropped from WME on December 21, just hours after Blake Lively filed a legal complaint accusing him of sexual harassment.
Both Lively and Baldoni filed lawsuits on Tuesday, continuing their legal battle. Lively has accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and of orchestrating a smear campaign, alleging that his PR team retaliated against her for speaking out about misconduct on the set of It Ends With Us, a Sony-distributed film based on Colleen Hoover's novel.
Blake Lively Files Lawsuit Alleging Sexual Harassment and Smear Campaign by It Ends With Us Co-Star Justin Baldoni
Blake Lively’s lawsuit, filed in New York federal court, comes just 10 days after she made an initial legal complaint accusing Justin Baldoni of harassment and a coordinated effort by his team to damage her reputation. The suit targets Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer (which produced It Ends With Us), and public relations representatives Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, who are accused of assisting in the effort against Lively.
In the lawsuit, Lively details several claims of inappropriate conduct during filming, including allegations that Baldoni attempted to add a graphic sex scene without her consent and asked invasive questions about her and Ryan Reynolds’ sex life. She claims that Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath pressured her to simulate full nudity for a scene involving her character giving birth and made inappropriate remarks toward her. Lively also alleges that Heath walked into her trailer while she was topless and receiving body makeup removal and continued staring at her despite her requests for him to turn around.
The lawsuit further claims that Lively raised concerns before filming began about Baldoni allegedly improvising “physical intimacy” that had not been rehearsed, choreographed, or discussed with her, and that no intimacy coordinator was involved. Despite making multiple attempts to report the misconduct, the suit states that Lively’s concerns went largely uninvestigated.