Blake Lively has filed an amended complaint against her “It Ends With Us” co-star Justin Baldoni that documents a slew of new details in addition to her original claims of sexual harassment, retaliation, and infliction of emotional distress.
In the 141-page complaint that was filed late Tuesday in New York federal court, Lively claims there are two other actresses involved with the film that are willing and prepared to detail their own experiences with Baldoni that made them “uncomfortable on set.”
“Ms. Lively has filed an amended complaint today that provides significant additional evidence and corroboration of her original claims,” Lively’s attorneys Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb told Fox News Digital in a statement.
Blake Lively filed an amended complaint against her “It Ends With Us” co-star Justin Baldoni on Feb. 18. (Getty Images)
“That evidence includes previously undisclosed communications involving Ms. Lively, representatives of Sony and Wayfarer, and numerous other witnesses,” the statement continued. “The complaint includes significant contemporaneous evidence that Ms. Lively was not alone in raising allegations of on-set misconduct more than a year before the Film was edited; as well as evidence detailing the threats, harassment, and intimidation of not just Ms. Lively, but numerous innocent bystanders that have followed defendants’ retaliatory campaign.”
The amended complaint also includes a new claim for defamation, “based on the repeated false statements the defendants have made about Ms. Lively.”
“Over the next several weeks, we will move to dismiss the utterly meritless lawsuits brought against Ms. Lively and Mr. [Ryan] Reynolds, and we will move full speed ahead with discovery that we expect will reveal shocking details about the depth to which the Defendants have sunk in their unending efforts to ‘bury,’ ‘ruin,’ and ‘destroy’ Ms. Lively and her family,” the statement concluded.
According to a spokesperson for Lively, the amended complaint details how other women on set experienced a “fear” of coming forward with their claims out of concern for the public’s reaction.
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Blake Lively claims two other actresses also complained about Baldoni’s alleged behavior on set. (Getty Images)
“The amended complaint details the corroboration that backs up Blake’s original sexual harassment and retaliation concerns, including that (1) Justin Baldoni and Jamey Heath made other women uncomfortable on set; and (2) other women confided in Blake about their discomfort and fear of coming forward, and their concern about the current public vitriol,” the spokesperson said.
“The new filing also details that a Sony representative spoke to Baldoni about the concerns, and that Baldoni responded, including by reaching out to one of the other women who complained to reassure her that he heard her and promised to make adjustments. The complaint alleges that Mr. Baldoni didn’t follow through on that promise, but did make the adjustment to hire a crisis management team, digital manipulation experts, litigators, and used those helpers to plan and execute the smear campaign described in her original lawsuit. In doing so, Blake has alleged, Baldoni hoped that if she or any other woman made their grievances public, nobody would believe them.”
The complaint does not identify the two other actresses due to the “continued harassment and targeting of innocent bystanders.”
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Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively have gone head-to-head since Lively’s initial complaint was filed in December. (Getty Images)
“Witnesses have been threatened not just with lawsuits, but physical violence, including threats against witnesses’ families,” a spokesperson for Lively told Fox News Digital. “This culture of fear, intimidation, harassment, and threats is the predictable result of an incessant digital campaign to turn social media sentiment as dark and negative as is humanly possible.”
“The Wayfarer defendants don’t seem to care about how many people they ‘bury’ or ‘destroy’ – it’s all apparently in service of protecting Wayfarer’s image. It is because of the continued harassment and targeting of innocent bystanders that Ms Lively’s Amended Complaint does not refer to certain victim-witnesses by name, nor does it quote directly from their texts or include screen shots. Importantly, however, these victim-witnesses have given Ms. Lively permission to share their communications in the Amended Complaint as they are laid out, and they will testify and produce documents in the discovery process.”
Additionally, according to the complaint, the “investigation” conducted by Wayfarer Studios into itself was insufficient for multiple reasons.
“Two years after Ms. Lively and others made sexual harassment complaints against Baldoni and Heath, Wayfarer finally launched an ‘investigation’ into itself. What they have put together is a farce, not an investigation,” the spokesperson said.
“The truth is they chose not to investigate any of the claims of sexual harassment at the time they first surfaced. Instead, as alleged in the lawsuit, Wayfarer and its management chose to expend their efforts and resources devising a plan to retaliate and discredit those who dared to make the accusations in the first place.”
“Importantly, however, these victim-witnesses have given Ms. Lively permission to share their communications in the Amended Complaint as they are laid out, and they will testify and produce documents in the discovery process.”
The former co-stars have been entangled in a public legal battle for three months. (Getty Images)
“Whatever the results of this so-called investigation, they will not be rooted in truth-seeking or truth-telling. We can expect it to be a continuation of their attempt to avoid accountability, confuse and distract the public, and re-victimize and re-brand the women who spoke up as liars not to be trusted.”
Representatives for Baldoni did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
However, during Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman’s appearance on “Hot Mics with Billy Bush” on Monday, prior to Lively’s amended filing, Bush mentioned that people on TikTok were circulating alleged HR complaints against Baldoni from two other women on the cast. Bush asked Freedman if it was something he was looking into.
“I think we’re looking into everything,” Freedman said. He went on to ask what the dates of the HR complaints were, but Bush told him that information was redacted, and also noted the complaints were allegedly sent to Sony’s HR department.
“I’m not really sure why the dates are redacted… I understand why people could be redacted, I believe in certain privacy rights, but I’m not really clear on why dates would be redacted,” Freedman said. “So it’ll be interesting to see what the dates are.”
Freedman and Bush also noted that Sony had previously said they received no complaints, as reported in Variety.
Justin Baldoni has previously denied the allegations against him. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
After Lively’s lawsuit was filed against Baldoni and film producer Jamey Heath in December, Baldoni filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, accusing them of civil extortion and defamation.
Baldoni then released unedited footage from the set of “It Ends with Us” that he claims refutes Lively’s previous accusations of sexual harassment. However, the actress’ legal team claims the footage bolsters Lively’s allegations.
After the release, Lively’s legal team demanded a gag order be issued against Baldoni’s lawyer.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds made their first red carpet appearance in months at SNL50. (NBC)
On Jan. 23, Baldoni’s lawyers filed a response, calling Lively’s gag order attempt an “intimidation tactic” and “tactical gamesmanship.”
Baldoni and Lively’s legal teams were in federal court recently, and a judge ordered that they follow New York’s Rules of Professional Conduct, which limit speaking to the press.
Neither party will be permitted to make statements to the press that have a “substantial likelihood” of prejudicing a jury. However, the legal teams will be allowed to defend their clients in the media against publicity not created by either side in the dispute.
Since the legal drama unraveled, Lively and Reynolds made their first public appearance at “Saturday Night Live’s” 50th anniversary show over the weekend, where Reynolds appeared to make a joke referencing the legal drama.
Baldoni’s lawyer questioned Reynolds’ decision during his appearance on “Hot Mics with Billy Bush.”
“I’m unaware of anybody, frankly, whose wife has been sexually harassed and has made jokes about that type of situation,” Freedman said. “I can’t think of anyone who’s done anything like that. So it surprised me.”
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Fox News Digital’s Lauryn Overhultz and Tracy Wright contributed to this report.
