Actor Justin Baldoni has filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, alleging that the publication’s December 21 article, We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine, presented a distorted and defamatory account of events related to sexual harassment allegations made by his It Ends With Us co-star, Blake Lively.
The 87-page lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, accuses the Times of “cherry-picking and altering communications” to create a misleading narrative. Producers of the film, Steve Sarowitz, and Jamey Heath, echoed these claims, asserting that the article lacked sufficient context and painted an inaccurate picture of the situation.
According to Variety, Baldoni’s lawsuit centers on the Times’ reporting of Lively’s allegations, which she has also advanced in a complaint to the California Civil Rights Department and a federal complaint filed earlier the same day. The actor contends that the Times misrepresented his actions and intentions, leading to reputational harm.
In response, a spokesperson for The New York Times issued a strong defense of their reporting. “The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead,” the statement read.
“Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article. To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the other subjects of the article, and their representatives have not pointed to a single error. We published their full statement in response to the allegations in the article as well. We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”
Meanwhile, representatives for Blake Lively responded via Page Six, maintaining her confidence in the allegations and dismissing Baldoni’s claims. “Nothing in this lawsuit changes anything about the claims advanced in Ms. Lively’s California Civil Rights Department Complaint, nor her federal complaint, filed earlier today,” the statement read.
The statement also rejected Baldoni’s assertion that Lively’s complaints were strategically crafted to avoid litigation. “This lawsuit is based on the obviously false premise that Ms. Lively’s administrative complaint against Wayfarer and others was a ruse… and that ‘litigation was never her ultimate goal.’”
As the case develops, Baldoni’s lawsuit is poised to test the balance between media accountability and the freedom of the press in reporting sensitive allegations.