What Justin Baldoni Claims Ryan Reynolds ‘Swore’ at Him for ‘Fat-Shaming’ Blake Lively: Lawsuit

On Thursday, per TMZ, Baldoni filed a massive defamation lawsuit against the actress, her husband Ryan Reynolds and her publicist, Leslie Sloane. In it, the plaintiffs “set the record straight,” following allegations from Lively accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and his team of orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her in the media.

In the filing, Baldoni’s team argues any backlash Lively received in the lead up to the release of It Ends with Us were her own doing — saying, “The suggestion that Wayfarer caused the online backlash against her is absurd given the evidence of her own insensitivity.” They also accuse Lively of having Baldoni — who directed the movie — iced out of his own film, saying she took over over both scripts and editing duties.

Again, Baldoni pushes back against any suggestion he “fat-shamed” Lively, as she accused him of doing — this time, revealing more details about the alleged fallout from that involving Reynolds.

While Lively accused Baldoni of “shaming her for her body and weight” during filming — and, in one alleged instance, said he “humiliated” her by “secretly [calling] her fitness trainer, without her knowledge or permission, and implied that he wanted her to lose weight in two weeks” — Baldoni called the allegations “categorically false.”

“Baldoni had been introduced to trainer ‘Don’ — who became Baldoni’s personal trainer — by Lively. Don directed Baldoni’s preparation for the Film role, including his nutrition and exercise, making special accommodations for Baldoni’s back injury,” Baldoni claims in the new lawsuit.

“Privately, Baldoni reached out to Don, as his personal trainer, to ask what Lively weighed so that he could train his back muscles in preparation for a lift scene. This was important to avoid injury not only to Baldoni, who suffered from lifelong back injuries, multiple bulging disks, and chronic pain but also to Lively if the lift could not be completed successfully and safely,” the suit continues.

The suit alleges that, the following day, “Baldoni was summoned to the penthouse by Lively and greeted by Reynolds, who swore at Baldoni and accused him of fat-shaming his wife (‘How dare you f–king ask about my wife’s weight? What’s wrong with you?’).”

“The confrontation from Reynolds and Lively was so aggressive that Baldoni felt he had no choice but to offer repeated (and completely unwarranted) apologies for what was a good faith and reasonable question to ask of his trainer,” the docs add. “Reynolds demanded Baldoni remove the scene entirely. Lively refused to perform the lift scene in the end, even after it was rehearsed with a stunt double.”

He went on to claim that Lively expressed “insecurity about her postpartum figure” before filming began — sharing an alleged text from the actress reading, “As much as I’d love to not think about it, that would be irresponsible and also impossible because it’s unrealistic to not acknowledge what I need to do. This is my job here.”

“I just need as much time as possible because I just had my 4th baby .. having your understanding and support to help me pull this off is critical. And very, very appreciated,” reads the text.

In the suit, Baldoni also denies her suggestion he “cried” and had a “lengthy outburst” in her trailer over negative reaction to her appearance in paparazzi photos from the set. “Baldoni did briefly become emotional during the conversation, but only in response to what he believed was a genuine compliment from Lively, praising his work as a director and actor,” states the docs.

“Lively later distorted this conversation in support of her baseless harassment allegations, alleging that Baldoni made inappropriate ‘comments on her appearance,'” reads the suit. “In reality, Baldoni, the film’s director, was relaying the distributor’s concerns and the widespread social media criticism regarding the wardrobe’s failure to meet audience expectations — a sentiment Baldoni shared.”

Baldoni also claims it’s he who was the subject of criticism about his appearance, from Lively herself.

“While on the one hand Lively accuses Baldoni of making comments about her appearance, on the other she made derogatory comments about Baldoni’s appearance, telling him he should undergo rhinoplasty (a nose job) – something Baldoni has publicly expressed insecurities about and has discussed on an episode of his podcast, Man Enough, exploring the topic of body dysmorphia,” the lawsuit alleges.

“Lively’s comment about Baldoni’s nose is also captured on camera,” his team claims. “Baldoni, rather than write down a list of grievances against Lively, brushed it off and moved on with the scene.”

Baldoni’s lawyers, overall, argue that Lively filed her initial complaint because she “could not tolerate her publicly tainted image for even a moment, and further could not accept that it was entirely of her own making. She needed a scapegoat.”

“Though Lively claimed Baldoni was the one smearing her, the reality is that it was Lively and her team who carefully planned and implemented a vile smear campaign against Baldoni and Wayfarer to deflect attention and blame for Lively’s disastrous misjudgments,” they conclude.

The suit is seeking no less than $400 million in damages