The legal drama surrounding the film It Ends with Us continues. There's an old saying that the best defense is a good offense. That seems to be the approach lawyers for actor/director Justin Baldoni are taking. In the wake of a lawsuit filed against him by actress Blake Lively, Baldoni has now sued the NY Times for $250 million claiming the paper misled readers.

The lawsuit, which seeks $250 million in damages, accuses The Times of uncritically accepting a “self-serving narrative” by the actress that Mr. Baldoni, his production company and their public relations team worked to harm her reputation after she complained about misconduct during the film’s shooting. It asserts that the Dec. 21 article deliberately omitted portions of text exchanges and other information that contradicted the actress’s version of events.

“The article’s central thesis, encapsulated in a defamatory headline designed to immediately mislead the reader, is that plaintiffs orchestrated a retaliatory public relations campaign against Lively for speaking out about sexual harassment — a premise that is categorically false and easily disproven,” the lawsuit said.

They aren't claiming that the text messages mentioned in the previous story are false, only that they don't provide a full context. I guess we'll see what they can come up with but I'm not sure how you can spin this in a different direction.

In an initial planning document sent to Wayfarer and Mr. Baldoni on Aug. 2, Ms. Nathan suggested media talking points, including that Ms. Lively used an imbalance of power to take creative control of the film.

But Mr. Baldoni wanted more.

“Not in love with the document they sent,” he responded in a text exchange that included Ms. Abel and Mr. Heath. “Not sure I’m feeling the protection I felt on the call.”

Ms. Abel relayed his frustration to Ms. Nathan: “I think you guys need to be tough and show the strength of what you guys can do in these scenarios. He wants to feel like she can be buried.”

“Of course- but you know when we send over documents we can’t send over the work we will or could do because that could get us in a lot of trouble,” Ms. Nathan responded, adding, “We can’t write we will destroy her.”

Moments later, she said, “Imagine if a document saying all the things that he wants ends up in the wrong hands.”

As I pointed out before, Baldoni has made a name for himself as an outspoken male feminist. In 2018 he gave a Ted Talk titled "Why I'm done trying to be 'man enough'" in which he rejected "toxic" masculinity. And that really became Baldoni's brand. This is from a Forbes story published in 2022:

The last time I interviewed actor, director and changemaker Justin Baldoni was in 2017, right before he delivered his now viral TEDTalk “Why I’m Done Trying to Be Man Enough,” which has been viewed over 8 million times. Since then, his exploration into what it means to be a man today, which began for him as a personal inquiry, has evolved into the Man Enough Movement, founded on the belief that by “undefining traditional roles and traits of masculinity, men will be able to realize their potential as humans and their capacity for connection.” He has written a book, Man Enough: Undefining My Masculinity, and co-hosts the popular Man Enough podcast, along with author and journalist Liz Plank and award-winning music producer Jamey Heath. The video podcast features thoughtful, candid conversations with a wide array of celebrities and thought leaders talking about relationships, body image, success, parenthood, mental health and more, investigating “how traditional structures and attitudes toward masculinity oppress and negatively affect men, women and humanity as a whole.”  

So with all of that anti-toxic masculinity stuff as a backdrop, you can imagine how allegations of sexual harassment on a set where he was both lead actor and director have hit him pretty hard. Since the NY Times reported on Lively's lawsuit just over a week ago, Baldoni's career has taken a nosedive.

Since The Times article was published, the talent agency William Morris Endeavor dropped Mr. Baldoni as a client. Liz Plank, who has co-hosted the “Man Enough” podcast with Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath, announced she would no longer be appearing on the show.

Colleen Hoover, author of the book “It Ends With Us”; Jenny Slate and Brandon Sklenar, cast members of the movie; and Alex Saks, one of the producers, are among those who have publicly supported Ms. Lively.

Lively's initial lawsuit was filed in California but this week she followed with a federal lawsuit in New York alleging she has faced more retaliation since the NY Times story was published.

Lively, in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in New York federal court, accuses Baldoni and his public relations team of marshaling a sophisticated, multi-tiered plan to undermine her reputation in retaliation for speaking up about sexual misconduct on the set of the film. The complaint names Baldoni; his film studio, Wayfarer and the public relations representatives, Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, both of whom are alleged to have helped lead the effort to undermine the actress.

In a statement, Lively’s attorneys said she was subjected to “further retaliation and attacks” after she went public with misconduct allegations against Baldoni and his public relations team in a New York Times report. “Wayfarer and its associates have violated federal and California state law by retaliating against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns,” she added. “Now, the defendants will answer for their conduct in federal court. Ms. Lively has brought this litigation in New York, where much of the relevant activities described in the Complaint took place, but we reserve the right to pursue further action in other venues and jurisdictions as appropriate under the law.”

As for Baldoni's lawsuit, it also claims that Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds pressured William Morris Endeavor to drop him as a client, but the agency has already denied it.

...in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, WME has denied Baldoni's claims about being pressured to drop him.

“In Baldoni’s filing there is a claim that Reynolds pressured Baldoni’s agent at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere. This is not true,” the agency said on Wednesday, Jan. 1, per THR. “Baldoni’s former representative was not at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere nor was there any pressure from Reynolds or Lively at any time to drop Baldoni as a client.”

I don't think we should take any powerful Hollywood player's denials at face value, but if Baldoni was hoping for an easy win on this part of his claim it looks like he's not going to get it. His problem more broadly is that he's up against an actress who, together with her husband, has unlimited resources to make her case. Ryan Reynolds is very close to being a billionaire. So unless Baldonia comes up with something that actually undercuts Lively's claims it's hard to see how his career could survive this.