NEW YORK (AP) — Actor Blake Lively asked a judge on Thursday to dismiss a countersuit filed against her by her “It Ends With Us” costar Justin Baldoni, calling his claims “vengeful and rambling” after she sued for sexual harassment and retaliation.
Lively’s lawyers wrote in papers filed in Manhattan federal court that Baldoni and his production company's claims that he and his companies were defamed were a “profound abuse of the legal process.”
“The law prohibits weaponizing defamation lawsuits, like this one, to retaliate against individuals who have filed legal claims or have publicly spoken out about sexual harassment and retaliation,” the lawyers said.
Lively sought unspecified damages when she sued Baldoni in late December for alleged sexual harassment and retaliation. He countersued for $400 million, accusing Lively and her husband, “Deadpool” actor Ryan Reynolds, of defamation and extortion.
On Wednesday, lawyers for Reynolds filed papers in the countersuit urging that he be dismissed as a defendant from the countersuit to Lively's claims that Baldoni and related parties launched a social media campaign to “destroy” her after she privately called out alleged sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct against her and others on the movie set.
“So what does Ryan Reynolds have to do with that, legally speaking, other than being a supportive spouse who has witnessed firsthand the emotional, reputational and financial devastation Ms. Lively has suffered?” they wrote.
In recent court papers, Baldoni’s attorneys wrote that slanderous statements and actions by Lively and related parties had ruined their clients.
“Their reputations are destroyed, their businesses lie in tatters, and their own Film was taken from them,” they said in court papers.
Both sides have accused the other of trying to ruin them.
“It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel that begins as a romance but takes a dark turn into domestic violence, was released in August, exceeding box office expectations with a $50 million debut. But the movie’s release was shrouded by speculation over discord between Lively and Baldoni.
Lively became widely known after she appeared in the 2005 film “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.” She bolstered her stardom on the TV series “Gossip Girl” from 2007 to 2012 before starring in films including “The Town” and “The Shallows.”
Baldoni starred in the TV comedy “Jane the Virgin,” directed the 2019 film “Five Feet Apart” and wrote “Man Enough,” a book pushing back against traditional notions of masculinity.
Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press
