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Justin Baldoni has dragged Taylor Swift into her heated legal battle with her “It Ends With Us” co-star Blake Lively.
Baldoni accused Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, of civil extortion, defamation and more in a $400 million lawsuit, which names global pop star Swift.
The “Jane the Virgin” star’s lawsuit followed Lively’s, where she accused the actor of sexual harassment while filming “Finish Us.” However, Baldoni insisted that Lively “falsely” accused him in an attempt to repair her reputation following the fallout from the film’s press tour after she took control of the film.
In an attempt to show how Lively allegedly took control of the film’s production, Baldoni’s legal team claimed that the actress used her friendship with Swift to threaten him. While working on the film, Lively insisted on rewriting the infamous rooftop scene. Baldoni had been hesitant about the idea, but told the 37-year-old actress to “take a look at what she put together,” according to the complaint.
Justin Baldoni named Taylor Swift, in the box, in his lawsuit against Blake Lively. (Getty Images)
Afterward, Lively invited Baldoni to her home in New York City, where the actor said he felt Swift and Reynolds pressured him into using the rewritten scene. “Later, Baldoni felt compelled to text Lively to tell her that he had liked her pages and hadn’t needed any pressure from Reynolds and her mega-celebrity friend,” the complaint says.
“…I really love what you did. It really helps a lot. It makes it so much more fun and interesting. (And I would have felt that way without Ryan and Taylor (emoji). You really are a talent across the board. Really excited and ( sic) grateful to do this together,” Baldoni’s text read, according to the complaint.
Lively shared a lengthy response, in which she referred to Swift and Reynolds as “dragons” who protect her.
“The message couldn’t have been clearer. Baldoni wasn’t just dealing with Lively. He was also dealing with Lively’s ‘dragons’, two of the most influential and richest celebrities in the world, who weren’t afraid to make things very difficult for him. “
Lively and Swift have had a friendship for years. (Gothic)
“Both Ryan and (redacted) have established themselves as absolute titans as writers and storytellers outside of their main work: just singing or just acting or (redacted) just directing. I’m very lucky to have them as creative barometers,” Lively wrote. , included in the complaint, read. “But also having them as people who support me and make sure they see me in everything I can and offer. Because they know firsthand everything I bring to the table. They also know that I’m not always so good at making sure they see me and use me for fear of threatening egos, or for fear of affecting the ease of the process. They don’t give a damn about that and because of that, everyone listens to them with immense respect and enthusiasm. I guess I have to stop worrying about people liking me.
Baldoni believed “the message could not have been clearer,” according to the lawsuit. “Baldoni wasn’t just dealing with Lively. He was also dealing with Lively’s ‘dragons’, two of the most influential and richest celebrities in the world, who weren’t afraid to make things very difficult for him.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Swift’s representative for comment.
Swift chats with Lively, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman at a Kansas City Chiefs game. (Dustin Satloff)
BLAKE LIVELY’S END WITH US’ COSTARS BRANDON SKLENAR, JENNY SLATE ‘ADMISTER THEIR VALUE’ AMID LAWSUIT
Baldoni accused Lively of tormenting him, his family and his colleagues throughout the film’s production process in a lawsuit filed Thursday and obtained by Fox News Digital. The actor requested a jury trial and a $400 million sentence.
Baldoni’s legal team He claimed that Lively has no evidence of a deliberate smear campaign and instead worked to repair her reputation by accusing the actor and others of sexual harassment.
Lively “could not tolerate her publicly tainted image for even a moment, and furthermore could not accept that it was entirely of her own creation,” the suit reads. “He needed a scapegoat. And instead of admitting and taking responsibility for his own setbacks, he chose to blame the plaintiffs, in a malicious and unforgivable way in public.
“When she and Reynolds couldn’t force Baldoni and Wayfarer to read a statement she and her representatives prepared, blackmailing them into ‘taking responsibility’ in defense of Lively’s actions, she lay in wait for months, preparing to publicly attack Baldoni falsely claiming that he had sexually harassed her.
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Baldoni sued Lively and Reynolds for $400 million. (Getty Images)
A representative for Lively criticized Baldoni’s lawsuit.
“This latest lawsuit from Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and their associates is another chapter in the abuser’s playbook,” read the statement provided by Lively’s legal team. “This is an old story: a woman speaks out with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser tries to turn the tables on the victim. This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender.”
The statement continues, in part: “Her response to the sexual harassment allegations: She wanted it, it’s her fault. Her justification for why this happened to her: Look what she was wearing. In short, while the victim focuses on the abuse , the “The abuser focuses on the victim. “The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate, does not refute the evidence in Ms. Lively’s complaint and will fail.”
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Lively and Baldoni starred together in “It Ends With Us.” (José Pérez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
Animated and detailed accusations of sexual harassmentretaliation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and more made by Baldoni and film producer Jamey Heath in a complaint filed first with the California Department of Civil Rights and then in federal court.
Some of the issues supposedly addressed at an “all-hands” meeting before filming began included no longer showing nude videos or images of women to Lively, no longer mentioning Baldoni’s previous “pornography addiction,” no more discussions about personal experiences with sex, no more descriptions of her own genitals, no more adding sex scenes outside of what was in the original script, no more discussions about Lively’s weight or her deceased father, and more.
Baldoni’s lawyer denied the allegations in a statement to the New York Times.
“These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally lewd with the intent to publicly hurt and repeat a narrative in the media,” he said.
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