Daily Times

Justin Baldoni is calling out Ryan Reynolds. After Blake Lively accused Baldoni-her director and costar on It Ends With Us-of sexual harassment on set, he filed a $250 million lawsuitagainst The New York Times for reporting on the “false” allegations.

In his Dec. 31 legal filing, Baldoni also leveled accusations at Lively’s husband, Reynolds, for being “aggressive” while defending the Gossip Girl actress.

“Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, had aggressively berated Baldoni during a meeting at their penthouse in New York, accusing him of ‘fat shaming’ Lively,” reads his lawsuit obtained by E! News. “Baldoni, in an effort to avoid further confrontation with Lively and Reynolds and rebuild rapport with his co-star, continued to bend to her will.”

According to Baldoni, the couple’s “inappropriate and humiliating berating” of him was “delivered, perhaps intentionally, as other celebrity friends were coming in and out of their penthouse.”

For his part, Baldoni explained why he had asked about Lively’s weight, saying it was “prompted by Baldoni’s reasonable inquiry into crucial information needed to ensure safety and avoid injury in a scene.”

While training for a “physically demanding scene” in which his neurosurgeon character Ryle would lift Lively’s florist character Lily, Baldoni allegedly asked his trainer-who he said Lively introduced to him-how much the actress weighed.

“Baldoni, who suffers from back issues and has multiple bulging discs, made the inquiry to ensure he could safely perform the lift without injury,” the lawsuit reads. “Unfortunately, the trainer relayed this information to Lively, who then informed Reynolds.”

“The confrontation that followed was so aggressive that Baldoni felt compelled to offer repeated apologies, despite his question being entirely reasonable and made in good faith,” it continues. “Following this incident, Lively refused to perform the lift scene, even though it had already been rehearsed with a stunt double.”

However, Lively saw the alleged interaction as Baldoni criticizing her weight after she gave birth to her and Reynolds’ fourth child, son Olin, in early 2023, according to a lawsuit she filed against Baldoni in New York Dec. 31.