Why is ‘It Ends with Us’ actor Justin Baldoni suing the New York Times for $250 million?

The conflict between "It Ends with Us" actors Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively continues to escalate.

Baldoni is now suing the New York Times for defamation, invasion of privacy, promissory fraud and breach of implied contract for an article which discusses Lively’s sexual harassment allegations.

According to the 87-page complaint filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by Variety, Baldoni alleges the New York Times defamed him by "cherry-picking" details of his legal dispute with Lively and altering key communications to “deliberately” mislead readers and make the “Gossip Girl” actress look like the “victim.”

In the complaint, Baldoni details a text message exchange with Lively. “I’m just pumping in my trailer if you want to work on our lines,” the actress wrote to her then-co-star.

Baldoni responded: “Roger that. I’m having dinner with the crew and heading over.” In the New York Times article, this interaction was described differently: “[Justin] repeatedly entered her makeup trailer uninvited while she was undressed, including when she was breastfeeding.”

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Justin Baldoni demands $250 million from the New York Times for defamation

Baldoni is not the only one suing the newspaper. The actor filed a class action lawsuit along with 10 other plaintiffs, including publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, who claim their name was also defamed in the article published on Dec. 21, 2024. The plaintiffs are demanding $250 million from the New York Times.

“The Times relied almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving account, taking her almost word for word and ignoring a mountain of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives. But the Times didn’t care,” the lawsuit reads.

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The New York Times Responds

For its part, a spokesperson for the New York Times has defended the publication of the article, arguing that it was done in a thorough and responsible manner.

“The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead,” said the spokesperson, per Variety.

“Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article.

“To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the other subjects of the article and their representatives have not pointed to a single error," the statement continued.

“We published their full statement in response to the allegations in the article as well. We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”

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