Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s lawsuits explained

What began as a humble book adaptation of It Ends With Us in 2024 has now snowballed into one of the most explosive celebrity legal battles witnessed in years, fought between Blake Lively and her former co-star Justin Baldoni.

Cracks began appearing when the pair avoided each other throughout the press tour, including at the premiere, culminating in a lawsuit against Justin, with Blake claiming that he had harassed her on set and conspired to discredit her by destroying her reputation. 

While Justin’s countersuit was dismissed on June 9 alongside his suit against The New York Times, Blake’s claims won’t go to court until March 2026, giving the internet plenty of time to become acquainted with all the major players. 

From Ryan Reynolds to Taylor Swift, join HELLO! as we take a closer look at those involved in this messy dispute. 

Blake Lively

The It Ends With Us star kicked off the entire saga after she sued Justin – her co-star and the film’s director – for alleged harassment during filming followed by a targeted smear campaign against her. 

After their press tour was dogged with controversies painting Blake in a bad light, the actress filed a suit against Justin to reclaim her voice and help “protect others who may be targeted” for speaking out against misconduct in the workplace. 

Blake also claimed in her suit that she took her complaints to the higher-ups at the production company Wayfarer Studios, but swift action was not taken to address the issue.  

Justin Baldoni

Justin refuted the claims made in Blake’s lawsuit and hit her with a countersuit denying the allegations, calling her legal action “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to hurt”.

He also filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times for libel, claiming that they had falsely reported on Blake’s suit and failed to uphold balanced reporting standards. 

Justin filed a third suit against Blake, her husband Ryan Reynolds, publicist Leslie Sloane and her PR firm, alleging that the party had attempted to extort and defame him. Both this suit and his claims against The Times have been dismissed as of June 9. 

Ryan Reynolds

Blake’s husband was pulled into the fray when she revealed that he had written a scene for the film, allegedly undermining Justin’s authority as the director. 

The Jane the Virgin star claimed that Ryan berated him at a “traumatic” meeting inside their NYC home, recalling that he had “never been spoken to like that in his life”.

Justin also claimed that Ryan yelled at him for “fat-shaming” Blake when in reality he was nervous about lifting her in a scene due to extensive back injuries. 

Jamey Heath

Justin’s podcast co-host Jamey also works as the CEO of Wayfarer Studios and was a producer on It Ends With Us. 

He was named in Blake’s lawsuit for allegedly engaging in “invasive, unwelcome, unprofessional” behavior towards her alongside Justin, and is also one of his closest friends. 

Steve Sarowitz

Steve co-founded Wayfarer Studios with Justin, thanks to his billion-dollar fortune, and is named in the suit because of his connection to the production company. 

In a statement to Forbes following Blake’s filing, he claimed that “the actual harassment and smear campaign both occurred and continues to occur against us,” adding that the actress was spreading “vicious lies about my business partners”.

Leslie Sloane

Leslie is Blake’s publicist and was named in Justin’s suit as he claimed that she planted stories about him to destroy his reputation. She denied this and filed to dismiss the claims against her, alleging that his suit was an attempt to “discredit and blame his victims and punish anyone who speaks out against him.” 

Leslie added that Justin thought Blake was “too ambitious, too outspoken, and she should have accepted Baldoni’s bizarre and abusive practices without complaint – no matter how uncomfortable they made her and other women on set.”

Jennifer Abel

Jennifer is one of two publicists named in Blake’s suit after the mother of four alleged that she worked to ruin Blake’s reputation via a calculated smear campaign. She worked with TAG PR, the crisis firm hired by Justin during the press tour for It Ends With Us. 

“No negative press was ever facilitated, no social combat plan, although we were prepared for it as it’s our job to be ready for any scenario,” she wrote in a statement. “But we didn’t have to implement anything because the internet was doing the work for us.”

Melissa Nathan

Melissa is the second publicist named in the suit and is the founder of TAG PR. She previously worked with Johnny Depp as a crisis manager, and her alleged texts went viral after The Times published her communications with Jennifer in their explosive article. 

“We can bury anyone,” she allegedly wrote. Justin’s suit against The Times claimed that the messages were taken out of context. 

Taylor Swift

Justin named the megastar in his lawsuit, alleging that Blake used Taylor’s star power to intimidate him into letting her make changes to the script. 

Despite being subpoenaed by Justin’s lawyers, it was quickly dropped when Taylor’s legal team claimed that his lawyers had engaged in an “unwarranted fishing expedition”, as per Variety.

Both Taylor and Blake’s teams have denied that the singer had any involvement whatsoever in the making of the film. 

Colleen Hoover

While she has not been named in either lawsuit, the author’s smash-hit book It Ends With Us started it all when she sold Justin the rights in 2019. Colleen has spoken out in support of Blake amid the legal drama, sharing a message on Instagram about her unwavering strength. 

“@blakelively, you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met,” she wrote alongside a photo of herself hugging the Blake Brown founder. “Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt.”

 To learn more about Blake’s legal battle, watch below…