Blake Lively: What The Dismissal Of Justin Baldoni’s Lawsuit Against Her Means To Domestic Violence Survivors – And What Taylor Swift Has To Do With It

In my previous blog entry, I compared the smear campaign put against Hailey Bieber by journalists and hardcore Jelena fans to the one put against Blake Lively; or better yet, the smear campaign Lively put on herself. Bieber was mentioned in Lively’s lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, actor, producer and director of the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel, It Ends With Us, in which Lively co-starred and held a producing credit despite not doing much of the work of a producer. In the lawsuit against Baldoni, Lively claimed that allegedly used a negative social media post about Bieber as an example of how he hoped his public relations team could organize a retaliatory smear campaign against her.

I personally have a hard time believing this claim, especially by having followed Lively’s press tour for the film so closely. As a domestic violence survivor, it was embarrassing to watch make such a fool of herself. In the movie, she played Lily Bloom, a young woman who’d witnessed domestic violence unfold in the marriage of her parents and than experienced it herself at the hands of her husband, Ryle Kincaid, played by Baldoni.

On July 16th, Judge Lewis Liman said Lively’s claims against Jed Wallace, the social media expert Lively claimed orchestrated the smear campaign against her along with Baldoni, which accuse him of working with Baldoni and others on her team to plant negative news stories about her, do not sufficiently argue that his conduct took place within or had significant connections to the jurisdiction of the New York court.

During the press tour, the subject of domestic violence seemed to have been a joke to the actress. Initially, Lively promoted the film with a lighter tone, which drew criticism from some fans, particularly survivors of domestic violence like me, who felt the marketing downplayed the severity of the issue. She didn’t even promote it as a film about domestic violence, but rather that of a romantic comedy. No one could ever forget her ‘Grab your friends, wear your florals’ marketing slogan to get fans to see the movie in theatres. Many found the promotion misleading and insensitive, as the film depicts domestic abuse, and they felt viewers were not adequately warned about the potentially distressing content. To break things down more thoroughly:

• Initial Promotion: Lively’s initial promotion of It Ends With Us was criticized for not adequately conveying the film’s serious theme of domestic violence. 

• Misleading Marketing: Survivors of domestic violence felt the marketing failed to warn them about the potentially triggering content, leading to unexpected and distressing reactions. 

• Lack of Sensitivity: Some viewers felt that the promotional material, including Lively’s comments, didn’t reflect the gravity of the subject matter, with some finding it lighthearted and insensitive, according to BBC. 

• Impact on Survivors: Many survivors reported experiencing flashbacks, anxiety, and other negative reactions after watching the film, highlighting the need for more sensitivity and appropriate warnings in the promotion of such content, according to the Survivors Network. 

• Allegations of Harassment: In her lawsuit against Baldoni, Lively has also accused the film’s studio of harassment and a coordinated effort to discredit her after she spoke out about the issues she perceived with the film’s production and marketing. 

Watching the film was triggering. For the first hour of it, it seemed like it was, in fact, the love story that Lively, Hoover, and the rest of the cast with the exception of Baldoni, promoted it to be. Then you see the signs of abuse, and you realize just how far-fetched and, I’d even go as far as saying, decisively stupid Lively was in her promotional tour. Of course she decided to promote it that way because it’d bring the film more money in the box office. Hoover knew that and therefore went along with her plan. And it worked. The movie ended up making a whopping $351 million in the box office.

Baldoni’s promotion of the film represented it for exactly what it was – a film about survival. And with it, he put a great emphasis to his efforts to bringing awareness to the cause. It seemed as though he was the only one who knew what the movie was even about. Lively, on the other hand, obviously didn’t even know who her character was to begin with. She didn’t even read the book for her to fully understand her character. Her portrayal of Lily didn’t fully capture the essence and the complexities of the source material’s exploration of domestic violence. Her portrayal of Lily didn’t fully capture the emotional depth and vulnerability of the character as depicted in the book, particularly her experiences with domestic abuse. Lively’s comments about her character not being defined by her victimhood during her press tour were interpreted by some as minimizing the severity of character’s experiences. 

In his own lawsuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, Baldoni himself claimed that Lively didn’t read the book before taking on the role of Lily. He, along with others on his team, were reportedly concerned that Lively’s creative decisions, such as rewriting scenes, particularly the balcony scene where their characters met, which she herself admitted during the press tour was rewritten by her husband, and directing intimate moments, were influenced by her lack of understanding of the book. It’s also important to mention that Reynolds rewrote the scene during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA Writers’ Strike.

There were ongoing tensions between Baldoni and Lively during the making of the film, which possibly stemmed from differing interpretations of the book’s themes, particularly regarding domestic violence. Viewers also noticed a lack of on-screen chemistry between Lively and Baldoni, and some felt her responses during press tours downplayed the seriousness of domestic violence, further fueling speculation about her understanding of the book’s themes. 

Since the entire saga between them unfolded so publicly, Baldoni’s lawsuits against Lively, Reynolds and The New York Times have been dismissed by a judge. And as if things Baldoni couldn’t get any worse, in most recent events, he was sued yet again by his insurer who Wayfarer’s, Baldoni’s production company, didn’t cover Lively’s harassment claim. Harco National Insurance Company filed a lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. It’s seeking a declaration that its two policies issued to Wayfarer — one effective from July 15, 2023-July 15, 2024 and one effective from July 15, 2024-July 15, 2025 — were signed after ‘Lively and others complained of sexual harassment during pre-production and production of the Film’ as early as May 2023, outside the time parameters of the policy. The lawsuit claims, ‘Despite the acknowledged pre-July 2023 complaints by Lively and others, Wayfarer’s July 2023 Application for the 2023 Policy includes a letter from Wayfarer which warrants that no person or entity for whom the insurance is intended has any knowledge or information of any act, error, omission, fact or circumstance which may give rise to a claim which may fall within the Employment Practices Liability coverage if issued by Harco (the “2023 Warranty”). The 2023 Warranty also states that “IT IS AGREED THAT IF SUCH KNOWLEDGE OR INFORMATION EXISTS, ANY CLAIM ARISING THEREFROM (WHETHER OR NOT DISCLOSED HEREIN), … IS EXCLUDED FROM THE PROPOSED COVERAGE.’

In her complaint, Lively claimed that Baldoni created a hostile work environment through sexual harassment and boundary violations, such as improvising kissing scenes during filming. It’s truly hard to believe that her claims are based on a reliable source. There’s actually evidence that none of it ever happened. Scarlett Johansson, who was previously married to Ryan Reynolds, disputed Lively’s claims highlighted the positive experience she had with Wayfarer, stating they were “super supportive” of her film, Eleanor the Great, which also marks her directorial debut. She told Vanity Fair, ‘They were super supportive throughout the process. Yeah, such weird timing.’

None of Baldoni’s colleagues or clients ever accused him of any wrongdoings in his dealings as a professional. In fact, his former Jane The Virgin co-stars have all publicly supported him since the show’s end in 2019. This included praising his performance in It Ends With Us after it came out in 2024. Gina Rodriguez, who played the title character, calling him a “sweet soul” and “brother forever”. Brett Dier and Yael Grobglas, who also starred in the show, have also shown support for Baldoni’s work on his film. Grobglas even called Baldoni “our genius friend” in a social media post about the movie. Back in May of this year, when Dier was asked about the situation between Baldoni and Lively, he said, ‘I probably shouldn’t say much, but I’ll say this: I always loved Justin. He’s always been an amazing friend to me.’ He also added that he hoped everything would be resolved in time.

The lawsuit filed by Lively certainly put a financial and emotional strain on Baldoni. It’s causing him stress, according to sources. His entire career was forever changed because of it. With all the evidence at hand, as well the contracdicting statements and testaments made by those that worked with Baldoni before, it’s pretty hard to take the allegations against him made by Lively seriously. It’s also worth mentioning that since she made the lawsuit filing made by her, Ryan Reynolds has made jokes about it, particularly on SNL’s 50th anniversary celebration. He also poked fun at her co-star, Brandon Sklenar, who played Atlas in the film, for getting romantic in the film with his wife. He also admittedly based the character of Nicepool on Baldoni in his own film, Deadpool & Wolverine, which came out at the same time as It Ends With Us. I just don’t know any man who’d turn his wife’s sexual harassment experiences into a laughable material.

Lively has a lot of power in the entertainment industry. Much more so than Baldoni, even though it’s such a male-dominated indtry. Her family comes from power. Her father, the late Earnie Lively, was an actor. Her mother, Elaine Lively, is a former talent agent. Her siblings, Lori, Robyn, and Jason, all work as actors. Her brother-in-law, Bart Johnson, is an actor and an actor coach. To add to that, her husband is one of, if not the most powerful figures in the entertainment industry. Baldoni, on the other hand, started his career from the ground up. His breakthrough role was on Jane The Virgin after starring in several Hallmark movies. He made a name for himself as an actor, producer, and director on his own time and his own terms, with no connections in sight to help further his career.

Knowing what we know now about Lively and her mistreatment of others, it’s hard to take her claims seriously. Since she first the filing, her reputation has seen a mix of support and criticism. While she received public backing from fellow celebrities and the author of It Ends With Us, her reputation was also negatively impacted, with some accusing her of being dismissive, rude, and difficult to work with. The lawsuit, which accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and defamation, led to a counter-suit from Baldoni, creating a public feud. To break things down more thoroughly:

Support: 

• Celebrity Support: America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, and Alexis Bledel, who starred with Lively in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Lively’s breakthrough role, publicly supported her, as did It Ends With Us author Colleen Hoover. 

• Industry Support: Sony, the studio behind It Ends With Us, publicly condemned “any reputational attacks” on Lively. 

• Legal Victory: Lively’s legal team celebrated the dismissal of Baldoni’s countersuit, calling it a “sham”. 

Criticism and Negative Impact: 

• Public Perception Shift: Some online commentators criticized Lively’s behavior, describing her as dismissive, rude, and overly chipper, especially during the It Ends With Us press tour. 

• Online Attack: Reports emerged of a possible targeted online smear campaign against Lively, potentially linked to the legal battle, which negatively impacted her brand. 

• Business Impact: Lively’s hair-care business also experienced a decline in sales, potentially due to the negative publicity surrounding the lawsuit. 

• Baldoni’s Counter-suit: The countersuit from Baldoni, which Lively’s legal team called a “sham,” further complicated the situation and fueled negative narratives. 

To me, it seems pretty clear and self-explanatory. Blake Lively didn’t like Justin Baldoni because he wouldn’t give her what she wanted out of him, so she decided to take matters into her own hands and try to destroy his career and use her Hollywood connections to make him ‘disappear’. She succeeded. In the past 6 months since she filed the lawsuit, she’s been unstoppable. We see her everywhere; even where we don’t want her to be. She had a movie come out. She’s released several products. She’s attended events looking pretty with her long blonde hair, smiling ear to ear and having the time of her life. Baldoni, on the other hand, has been lying low since the filing was made. The only activity we’ve seen from him since then was the Instagram post he made celebrating his mom and wife on Mother’s Day.

Last month, it was revealed that Baldoni’s lawsuits against Lively, Reynolds and The New York Times were dismissed. The court found Baldoni’s defamation claims, which alleged that Lively, Reynolds, and The New York Times spread false information to damage his reputation, to be legally insufficient. Specifically, the judge found that Baldoni failed to prove the defendants acted with the required malice or recklessness. These claims, including the bulk of Baldoni’s defamation claims, are essentially over in this particular lawsuit. He’s no longer eligible to refile them in the same case. A few claims, like those related to alleged interference with contracts, were dismissed without prejudice. This means Baldoni can amend his complaint and refile those specific claims, potentially addressing the judge’s concerns about their legal sufficiency. 

Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni, in which she accuses him of sexual harassment and retaliation, is still ongoing and a court date is set for March 2026. Some say the dismissal of Baldoni’s lawsuit might be a strategic move, allowing them to focus on the remaining claims and potentially refile others with more specific details. The dismissal also highlights the legal protections afforded to individuals making allegations of sexual harassment, particularly in the context of legal documents and reporting on those allegations. 

Regardless, no matter the case, it doesn’t mean it’s over for Baldoni. He still has a chance to fight and prove to the court of law that Lively’s claims aren’t true. Baldoni’s case was dismissed because a judge stated that he had ‘not adequately alleged that Lively’s threats were wrongful extortion rather than legally permissible hard bargaining or renegotiation of working conditions.’ He also emphasized that Baldoni failed to attribute any statements to Lively other than those contained in court documents, which are protected by privilege and cannot be deemed as defamatory. The claim against the New York Times was dismissed on the basis that ‘actual malice’ could not be proven, especially considering the initial claims made in a complaint regarding sexual harassment allegations to the California Civil Rights Department. Baldoni initially filed a $250 million lawsuit against the publication for libel and privacy invasion connected to Lively’s claims when they published her complaint against him, with the title, We Can Bury Anyone.

Even though she’s seen victory come along the way, Lively also has had to face some consequences for the fact. For one, her long lasting friendship with Taylor Swift, with whom she’d been friends for a decade up until this point, is now reportedly over. Though Swift has nothing to do with the lawsuit, Lively made her an implication to the case. For one, Baldoni previously alleged that Lively had texted him about the power of her ‘dragons’ – alluding to her friends and associates within the industry, with many speculating that Taylor was one of these people. Later, Baldoni’s team were granted permission to see text messages between Swift and Lively that had anything to do with the movie. The judge wrote, ‘Given that Lively has represented that Swift had knowledge of complaints or discussions about the working environment on the film, among other issues, the requests for messages with Swift regarding the film and this action are reasonably tailored to discover information that would prove or disprove Lively’s harassment and retaliation claims.’

Baldoni’s team previously issued a subpoena for Swift — meaning she would’ve had to testify in the trial. The request was thrown out by the court, but not before Swift gave Baldoni the information that he needed. As we all know, Swift is a powerful figure in the entertainment industry, even more so than Lively, and she’s never been one to be used for clout, which according to sources, was exactly what she felt like by Lively’s actions. According to sources who spoke with Page Six, ‘She will forever be furious at how Blake quite clearly was using her for clout and leverage in her dealings with Justin. She really hates that Blake would even think like that, let alone write the things she did in that text. The damage Justin did by revealing those texts — the ‘dragons’ text most especially, and by his initial subpoena, even though he dropped it — is lasting and probably permanent.’

All of this comes down to power. She has power over people who don’t have it, like Baldoni. Lively surrounds herself with powerful people because she knows they can give her what she wants. Those that benefit from Lively (and Reynolds) monetarily will take her side. WME and Sony execs have both dropped Baldoni as a client in favour of Lively and Reynolds – because they bring the companies more money. They’re much more valuable to them than Baldoni. That said, regardless of who’s right or wrong or whose side they’re on, they’ll take the side of the person who brings their companies a financial revenue. Ari Emanuel said of the matter, ‘I’ve known Ryan and Blake for over a decade. They’re really incredible people. In Hollywood, they have been incredibly successful. People work with them, they’ve never had any bad mojo out there or treated people badly. They are charitable, they’ve given tons of money away. If what is alleged in her lawsuit that what happened on social media is true, just because she complained to the studio that things were unhealthy on the set, and that he was director and this man was the producer, and they did to her what is being alleged—they’re really bad people. I am a ride or die. And they are good people.’

Swift doesn’t need anything from either Lively or Reynolds. She has enough power of her own. She has enough money of her own. She doesn’t need their help to get ahead in her career. They need her more than she needs them. There was no official confirmation that the friendship is indeed over, but Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, unfollowed Reynolds on Instagram. The legal dispute between Lively and Baldoni is a significant factor in the reported end of their friendship. Claims are made that Lively used her friendship with Swift to her advantage in the legal battle, leading to Swift feeling exploited and blindsided.  It’s safe to say that Lively automatically being friends with someone like Swift would benefit her in her battle against Baldoni, but to no avail. In reality, Lively should’ve known better than that. All Swifties know that the singer is never one to be part of someone else’s drama.

And that’s all it really is – drama. I have a truly hard time believing that Justin Baldo did all the things that Blake Lively is accusing him of. Theres just too much evidence saying otherwise, and the fact that Baldoni’s lawsuit was dismissed doesn’t change that. The case involves claims of sexual harassment and a smear campaign orchestrated by Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, against Lively. However, Baldoni has denied these claims and has accused Lively of attempting to manipulate the situation for creative control over the film. Further complicating matters are reports of a well-funded plan by Baldoni and his team to discredit Lively, including the use of a crisis communications specialist to create a favorable narrative on social media. 

Some of you might view Blake Lively suing Justin Baldoni as commendable. I’m here to tell you that it isn’t. I’m here to tell you that her suing him is solely based on ego. She didn’t like him, and she’s now using her power and connections in the industry to destroy him…because she can. Ari Emanuel she and Reynolds never had a bad mojo throughout her career, but they did; SHE did. She’s shown to have a bad mojo from the very beginning of her career. More and more people have come forward with their experiences encountering Blake Lively in person; telling the world what an unpleasant person she is. They’ve all practically said the same thing – that she thinks she’s better than everyone else around her. Amidst the controversy surrounding It Ends With Us, Lively’s past controversies resurfaced. These include:

• Lively and her Gossip Girl costar Leighton Meester reportedly “avoided each other like the plague” while filming.

• Rumors swirled that Lively was somehow involved in Armie Hammer’s exit from Gossip Girl.

• In 2012, Lively and Ryan Reynolds married at a slave plantation in South Carolina. Reynolds said the couple didn’t know about the venue’s history until after their ceremony.

• Lively’s now-defunct lifestyle website ran a fashion editorial that romanticized the Antebellum South in 2014.

• Lively is rumored to have had a falling out with her A Simple Favor costar, Anna Kendrick, although their costar denied any friction.

• After a clip from a resurfaced 2016 interview promoting Cafe Society, went viral, Lively was criticized for being rude to a journalist.

• Lively sparked outrage among sexual assault survivors for defending Woody Allen.

• Lively apologized for poking fun at Kate Middleton’s “photoshop fails” after the princess went public with her cancer diagnosis.

• Lively faced backlash for the way she promoted It Ends With Us, a film about a woman experiencing domestic violence.

• Lively has since accused Baldoni of sexual harassment on set and orchestrating a smear campaign to “bury her.”

These are facts, and while keeping these facts in mind, we can make our own conclusions on the case between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Me having an educational background in Human Resources only makes me that much more invested in the case . With that, with much confidence in me, I say that it’s most certainly not over between the two. Baldoni’s fight to clear his name isn’t over just yet. Never mind that his lawsuits against Lively, Reynolds, and The New York Times were dismissed. It’s not over for him just yet.

In fact, I think at this point, he’s already won. He’s won the general public vote of opinion, which was the most significant vote of the entire hate campaign against him. The fact of the matter is that he got someone like Taylor Swift to win him over. So much so that she gave him the information he needed to help with his case, and that’s despite the fact that Swift was friends with Lively. Swift is a loved figure in the entertainment industry. Many will follow her lead. That’s something that Lively really underestimated about the entire situation.

The vote of the public’s opinion is, I think, what Baldoni wanted more than anything, and he’s got it. He won the court of public opinion. Lively wanted so badly to be viewed as a victim, and she was successful at it for a while. She just didn’t think things would turn out the way they did. She didn’t think ahead. She didn’t think Baldoni would fight back. She didn’t think her own friend, the most powerful woman in the world, would turn against her in the fight. She didn’t think any of her cases would be dismissed. She only thought of the narrative that’s truthful in her head rather than the reality itself. She thought what most people would consider to be brave in the world of #MeToo, but it all backfired. And while the careers of both Lively and Baldoni are forever changed by the ongoing legal battle, the odds seem to be in Baldoni’s favour.