Blake Lively Says ‘Smear Campaign’ Has Harmed Her Business In New Complaint

Blake Lively has filed a new complaint against her “It Ends With Us” co-star Justin Baldoni, stating that his alleged “smear campaign” harmed her businesses.

The actress claims Baldoni, his publicist and a crisis PR specialist, orchestrated a reputational attack that caused up to a 78% drop in sales for her brands.

Justin Baldoni has since denied the accusations, and his lawyer has revealed plans to release texts between Blake Lively and the actor, challenging her claims of harassment.

As previously reported by The Blast, Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment and creating a toxic work environment on set.

According to the Daily Mail, in her latest legal action, Lively is seeking “punitive damages,” alleging that Baldoni orchestrated a smear campaign that severely impacted her businesses.

In her initial complaint, the 37-year-old actress claimed that Baldoni, working alongside his publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis PR expert Melissa Nathan, deliberately attempted to tarnish her reputation.

On New Year’s Eve, Lively intensified her legal battle by filing a more formal complaint, doubling down on her accusations.

While her first complaint was filed with the California Civil Rights Commission, her latest legal action was brought to the federal court in New York.

Lively asserts that the alleged campaign to damage her image has resulted in ongoing “financial harms.”

She specifically cites the backlash as a direct cause of significant sales decline for her haircare line, Blake Brown Beauty, and her beverage brands, Betty Buzz and Betty Booze.

In Lively’s lawsuit, she claims that sales of her haircare brand, Blake Brown, plummeted by as much as 78% following what she describes as a “social manipulation campaign.”

The filing states: “Based on internal sales projections, the sudden and unexpected negative media campaign launched against Ms. Lively depressed retail sales of Blake Brown products by 56-78 percent.”

It further reads, “This dramatic drop was completely at odds with the high satisfaction scores that Blake Brown products received in the significant consumer testing performed before launch or its initial success after launch.”

Lively’s complaint also alleges that around the same time as the “social manipulation campaign,” social media accounts for Lively’s brands were “flooded by hateful comments, which began to echo through other social and traditional media outlets.”

According to the Daily Mail, in the new lawsuit, Lively is asking for “punitive damages” and “money judgment that represents compensatory damages, lost wages, earning, and all other sums of money,” along with “interest” on the above “in an amount to be proven at trial.”

She is also requesting “an award of a money judgment for mental pain and anguish and severe and serious emotional distress, in an amount to be proven at trial.”

Lively’s latest complaint was filed on December 31, the same day Baldoni launched a $250 million libel lawsuit against The New York Times over its report covering the actress’ initial allegations.

In response, the publication issued a statement standing by its reporting and refuting the allegations made in Baldoni’s lawsuit. The publication stated that it intends to “vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”

Meanwhile, Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, revealed that the actor plans to sue Lively directly.

Speaking to NBC, Freedman stated, “We plan to release every single text message between the two of them [sic]. We want the truth to be out there.”

He added, “We want the documents to be out there. We want people to make their determination based on receipts.”

Lively’s lawsuit included screenshots of text messages involving Baldoni, Abel, and Nathan, which allegedly outline a coordinated PR effort to undermine the actress.

However, Freedman criticized the release of “leaked personal text exchanges,” arguing that they lack “critical context.”

In a televised interview, he also stated that he and Baldoni intend to publish the full-text message history between Baldoni and Blake Lively.

One example cited in the case is a screenshot of an alleged conversation where Lively informs Baldoni that she is pumping breast milk in her trailer and invites him to join her to rehearse their lines.

According to the Daily Mail, in the exchange, Lively reportedly texts, “I’m just pumping in my trailer if you wanna work out our lines,” to which Baldoni responds, “Copy. Eating with the crew and will head that way.”

Freedman contends that this interaction contradicts Lively’s claims that Baldoni entered her trailer “uninvited while she was undressed, including while she was breastfeeding.”