Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively Engage in Legal Dispute Amid Allegations

The legal battle between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively has intensified as both parties escalate accusations against one another. On Tuesday, Jan. 7, Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, issued a statement obtained by PEOPLE, responding to Lively’s lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and retaliation.

Freedman called it “painfully ironic” that Lively accused Baldoni of “weaponizing the media” while claiming her team orchestrated a media campaign by allegedly sharing “grossly edited documents” with The New York Times prior to filing her complaint. Freedman stated, “We are releasing all of the evidence which will show a pattern of bullying and threats to take over the movie,” adding that Baldoni’s legal team has “receipts and more” to support their claims.

Lively’s lawsuit, initially filed on Dec. 20, 2024, alleges sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign orchestrated by Baldoni, 40, and his associates at Wayfarer Studios. The actress claims Baldoni and another producer entered her trailer uninvited while she was in a state of undress, pressured her into simulating nudity for a birth scene, and engaged in “improvised physical intimacy” without prior discussion or an intimacy coordinator.

Lively’s legal team, in a statement to PEOPLE on Monday, Jan. 6, asserted that her claims are supported by “concrete facts.” They emphasized that her lawsuit addresses “serious claims of sexual harassment and retaliation,” which they intend to litigate in federal court. “Media statements are not a defense to Ms. Lively’s legal claims,” her lawyers noted, accusing Baldoni’s team of employing tactics to distract and discredit her allegations.

In a related development, Baldoni filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The New York Times on Dec. 31, alleging the publication engaged in a “calculated smear campaign” by publishing Lively’s allegations. Freedman previously dismissed Lively’s claims as “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious,” suggesting her lawsuit was a strategy to “fix her negative reputation.”

This dispute follows the actors’ collaboration on the film It Ends with Us, which Baldoni directed and produced. As the legal proceedings unfold, both sides continue to defend their positions vigorously, with significant implications for their reputations and careers.