Christal Hayes
BBC News, Los Angeles
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have filed competing lawsuits that ramp up a battle over allegations of what happened on the set of their film, It Ends With Us.
Lively filed a lawsuit in New York against the actor and his publicity team on Tuesday, alleging sexual harassment on the set of the film and a scheme to “destroy” her reputation.
Baldoni, meanwhile, has filed a lawsuit against The New York Times, which first reported Lively’s legal complaint, accusing journalists of working with the actress to damage his reputation and ignoring evidence which contradicted her claims.
The newspaper has denied his allegations and said their original story was “meticulously and responsibly reported”.
Lively’s legal case includes many of the same accusations which appeared in her civil rights complaint, often a precursor to a lawsuit, which was filed in California in December.
She asks for compensatory damages, including “lost wages” and money for “mental pain and anguish”. She does not specify a monetary amount.
In his own lawsuit against The New York Times, first reported by Variety, Baldoni claims libel and fraud. He accuses journalists of working with the actress to “damage” his reputation, and not giving his team appropriate time to respond to a “bombshell story”.
Bald
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