Blake Lively And Justin BaldoniIts reported rift made headlines a few months ago It ends with us The costars filed suit.

When Lively and Baldoni promoted the film in August 2024, rumors of an alleged feud between the pair began. Fans noticed that Lively was promoting the movie with some of her costars while Baldoni, who was one of the film's directors, did not attend for interviews or press opportunities. At the same time, Lively received backlash from fans for addressing the movie's domestic violence content. (She later Provided domestic violence resources.)

months later, The New York Times News broke that Lively had sued Baldoni for sexual harassment. Baldoni has denied all the allegations made against him December 2024 casewhich was obtained by our weekly.

Days later, Baldoni was among 10 plaintiffs who launched one $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times For coverage of Lively's complaint. (A spokesperson for The New York Times to say our (The outlet plans to "vigorously defend against the lawsuit.")

lively filed a lawsuit The same day a New York federal court action against Baldoni that mirrored his earlier claims — which was filed with the California Department of Civil Rights.

Scroll down for Lively and Baldoni's alleged feud and explanation of the lawsuit:

How did the alleged conflict begin?

In August 2024, speculation surrounding a possible rift on set began when fans noticed Lively was unfollowing Baldoni on Instagram — and neither was anyone else in the cast at the time. Fuel was added to the fire when Baldoni was notably absent from the joint press interview.

At the press launch for the movie, Lively revealed that her husband, Ryan ReynoldsWrote part of the rooftop scene It ends with us. In a separate interview, Baldoni made a comment that Lively should direct a sequel to the movie. Both comments went viral on TikTok and fueled speculation of a feud. a source told exclusively our At the time Lively and Baldoni were "Creative Differences" While shooting the movie.

"There were two camps in the film — Team Blake and Team Justin," the insider said. "This creative struggle sets the tone for negative experiences behind the scenes and grows in them no longer spoken."

Who is suing whom?

A few months after the film was released in theaters (and the same month it hit Netflix), Lively sued Baldoni for sexual harassment. In a December 2024 lawsuit, Lively accused Baldoni of launching a campaign of "social manipulation" against her to "ruin" her reputation.

in a statement The New York Times Regarding her lawsuit, Lively said, "I hope that my legal action will help pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics for those who speak up about misconduct and help protect those who may be targeted."

Baldoni's lawyer, Brian FriedmanIn a statement, Lively called the allegations "completely false, offensive and intentionally hurtful." ourclaims that Lively is suing to "fix her negative reputation" and "restore a narrative" about the movie's production.

Baldoni struck days later with his own lawsuit, in which he was listed as one of 10 plaintiffs in the suit. The New York Times for $250 million after Lively's lawsuit was reported. The suit alleges that Lively conducted a "strategic and manipulative" smear campaign against Baldoni by omitting key details and making "cherry picked" communications.

A spokesman for it The New York Times said in a statement our The publication stands by its story and plans to "vigorously defend against the lawsuit."

"The role of an independent news organization is to follow events where they lead," the statement said. "Our story was carefully and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including text messages and emails that we have quoted accurately and at length in the article. These texts and emails were the basis of a discrimination claim filed by Blake Lively in California against Justin Baldoni and his associates."

The statement continued, "In order to address certain inaccuracies in the litigation, while seeking comments from Mr. Baldoni and others who will be cited in the article, The Times We shared the information we wanted to reveal, including references to specific text messages and documents, asking them to spot any mistakes, provide additional context, and talk to our team. Mr. Baldoni chose not to have conversations with Wayfarer and others The Times or the address of a specific text message or document and instead a joint response email, which was published in full. (Also, they sent their responses The Times 11:16 pm ET on Dec. 20, 2:16 am ET on Dec. 21, the complaint said.)

Lively's lawyer our That the case was based on a "manifestly false premise," while Baldoni's attorney continues to deny any wrongdoing.

That same day, Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni in a New York court that mirrored her earlier claims, which were filed in California.

Who said what?

Among several claims in her lawsuit, Lively alleged that she was Not the only cast member to complain about Baldoni. Lively also claims there was a meeting - which Reynolds attended - held in January 2024 to address some of her concerns. It ends with us' production.

Some of Lively's demands that were addressed included "no more nude videos or pictures of women shown to Blake, no more mention of Baldoni's alleged previous 'pornography addiction,' no more discussions of sexual conquest in front of Blake, and others." No more inquiries about the cast and crew's genitalia, Blake's weight, and no more mention of Blake's dead father."

In the lawsuit filed by Baldoni along with other plaintiffs, Lively's allegations were addressed and countered with the actor's interpretation of events. An example is Lively fat-shaming when Baldoni claims he asked a trainer for Lively's weight because of her back problems. Lively claimed that Baldoni had a "long blast" that delayed production due to social media backlash to her outfit. Baldoni described the incident as "professional" and noted that while he "briefly snapped during the conversation", he said it was in response to what he "believed was a genuine compliment from Lively". He now believes the alleged comment was a "manipulative tactic." A third example involved claims about "pornography" on the set, which Baldoni claimed was a home birth film.

in A few more counterclaimsAllegation that what communication was omitted by the case The New York Times Like an emoji missing from the end of a text message — related to an alleged effort by Baldoni's team Melissa Nathan And Jennifer Abel To generate bad press for Lively.

In response to the case, Lively's attorney said in a statement our That Baldoni's claim changes nothing about the allegations against him.

How is Taylor Swift - and others - related to the case?

His in Lively's case former costars Leighton Meester, Anna Kendrick And Ben Affleck As noted in an alleged "scenario plan" document drafted by Baldoni's team. "Our recommended approach would be to provide reporters who reach out for comment, if it's clear he's referring to you, with the appropriate background information (listed in scenario 1) to ensure their stories are balanced and turn speculation into another with multiple people. He's had trouble working (Leighton Meester, Anna Kendrick, Ben Affleck, etc.),” the docs read. Hailey Bieber Baldoni also referred to Lively's alleged "astroturfing" plan against the actress while she was her husband. Taylor Swift was also His team noted In reference to the pop star's loyal fans.

Exhibits attached to the complaint show that a crisis management expert working for Baldoni wrote in an August 2024 email, “We've seen the most innocuous problems become huge because of social causes or the biggest crisis has no social impact at all. You just can't tell at this stage. But, BL has the same TS fanbase so we will take it very seriously."

A separate "planning plan" doc from Baldoni noted, "Our team could also explore the weaponization of feminism and planting stories about how people like Taylor Swift have been accused of using these tactics to get what they want." (Baldoni's lawsuit included a text from Abel that read, “This document is a summary … We have to prepare for him to go through any great lengths with the press. It's a good thing if we're all prepared for bad results because then If and when it's not that bad, we're overprepared.")

After Lively's filing, other stars spoke out about their own experiences. In a December 2024 Instagram video, Kate Beckinsale Remembers a time when he was working on a project and was called names After raising concerns About working with a costar. Beckinsale also alleged that someone on her own team mistreated her. Abigail Breslin Also For Lively's case After his own claims against former costars Aaron Eckhart was made public in 2023.

Several stars have teamed up It ends with us have set Come out and support Lively. the coaster Jenny Slate "The Attack on Blake is terrifyingly dark, disturbing and utterly menacing," says the author. Colin Hoover told Lively "Never change."