Blake Lively says Justin Baldoni smear campaign is ongoing

(NewsNation) — Blake Lively has reasserted her claim that Justin Baldoni orchestrated a smear campaign against her, a new unsealed deposition revealed.  

The actress sat down for the deposition July 31 and was peppered with questions by Baldoni’s attorney regarding her legal battle with her “It Ends With Us” co-star and director.  

In a December 2024 lawsuit, Lively accused Baldoni and the studio of embarking on a “multi-tiered plan” to damage her reputation following a meeting in which she and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, addressed “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior” by Baldoni and a producer on the movie. 

Lively was asked by an attorney when the alleged smear campaign against her came to an end. 

“It doesn’t feel like it’s ended,” Lively responded, adding that not only does she believe Baldoni was involved, but so was everyone she sued, including the attorney who questioned her.  

According to her initial complaint, Baldoni's plan included a proposal to post theories on online message boards, engineer a social media campaign and plant news stories critical of Lively.

Blake Lively: Justin Baldoni tried to damage my reputation 

“Outside of what I know through my attorneys, I believe the act of a retaliatory lawsuit and the press that you have done and the statements that you have made about me and my character have felt incredibly retaliatory,” Lively said.  

Lively also claimed in the December 2024 lawsuit that Baldoni created a hostile environment on the movie set.

The judge presiding over the case threw out Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit against Lively and Reynolds in June. He said Baldoni’s team had not alleged Lively was responsible for any statements outside her California Civil Rights Department complaint, which he said is privileged.   

Justin Baldoni, left, and Blake Lively in a scene from "It Ends With Us." (Nicole Rivelli/Sony Pictures via AP)

Justin Baldoni attended Blake Lively's deposition 

While Lively doubled down on the smear campaign allegations, Baldoni was reportedly in the room.  

Sources told TMZ that Baldoni showed up at the New York City office of Lively’s lawyer as his attorneys questioned her about the lawsuit.

Lively scored a legal victory last week when the judge granted the actress’s motion to strike a rough draft of her deposition transcript from the docket.  

Details from Lively’s deposition were revealed on Aug. 4, including a text chain among editors of the movie. In the documents, the editors are seen criticizing Lively over her taking control of the movie’s sex scenes involving her character, including scenes in which another actress played the younger version of Lively's character.