Justin Baldoni sues major U.S. newspaper with $250M libel lawsuit for Blake Lively article

Justin Baldoni won’t bear defamation amid his ongoing legal battle with Blake Lively.

The It Ends With Us actor and director took legal action against the New York Times, filing a $250 million defamation lawsuit following its story about sexual harassment allegations made by Blake Lively.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, centers on the article titled We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine, published on Dec. 21. Baldoni’s 87-page complaint accuses the outlet of “libel and false light invasion of privacy,” according to Variety.

Among the ten plaintiffs listed in the filing are Baldoni’s publicists, Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan, along with It Ends With Us producers Steve Sarowitz and Jamey Heath.

They claim the publication “cherry-picked and altered communications” to fit its narrative, without including necessary context.

“The Times story relied almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative, lifting it nearly verbatim while disregarding an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives,” the complaint alleges.

Additionally, the lawsuit accuses the news outlet of “promissory fraud and breach of implied-in-fact contract” concerning the allegations.

Baldoni’s filing also criticizes Lively’s decision to file a complaint rather than a lawsuit, stating it was “a choice that spared her from the scrutiny of the discovery process, including answering questions under oath and producing her communications.”

The document claims this approach “was no accident.”

Meanwhile, Blake Lively, 37, filed her own lawsuit against Baldoni on the same day, accusing the actor, 40, of emotional distress.