The litigation surrounding It Ends with Us doesn’t appear to have an end in sight.
In the most recent legal development concerning the popular 2024 romantic drama, now overshadowed by a contentious relationship between actor/director Justin Baldoni, 41, and star Blake Lively, 38, The New York Times is requesting $150,000 from Baldoni to cover legal expenses incurred from a lawsuit he initiated but subsequently retracted.
On Tuesday, the newspaper submitted legal documents targeting Baldoni’s production company, Wayfarer Productions, following the dismissal of a defamation lawsuit he had lodged against them, which a federal judge threw out this past June.
According to legal papers filed Tuesday with New York’s Supreme Court, and reviewed by TheWrap, The New York Times claims it is entitled to recover the legal fees expended to defend itself during the case.
The media outlet is asking for compensatory and punitive damages from Baldoni’s company Wayfarer Productions.
Daily Mail has reached out to Baldoni’s legal team for comment on the story.
The New York Times is demanding $150,000 from Justin Baldoni, 41, to cover legal costs from a suit he brought that was later dismissed. Baldoni is pictured last year in LA.
Baldoni had accused the newspaper in a $400 million lawsuit of attempting to damage his reputation through its reporting in a December 2024 article that outlined Lively’s complaints regarding his alleged behavior while making It Ends with Us.
The story was titled “We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine” and published in late December of 2024.
The paper’s legal representatives stated, ‘The District Court’s opinion clearly indicates that Wayfarer and its affiliates initiated and continued the lawsuit against The Times without a substantial basis in fact and law.’
The paper said in a nine-page complaint that ‘any statements in the article and video reporting on the alleged sexual misconduct experienced by Lively were not actionable.’
The rationale lawyer gave on that point was that the statements ‘were based on the CRD complaint and therefore were subject to New York’s fair report privilege and separately were not plausibly made with actual malice.’
Lively claimed Baldoni had sexually harassed her while making It Ends with Us, which was a surprise hit when it arrived in theaters in August of 2024.
The motion picture, based off the 2016 novel by Colleen Hoover, made $148 million in domestic box office, and $350 million globally, but has been overshadowed by the allegations made by its stars throughout 2025.
In December, Lively named Baldoni in a lawsuit accusing him of sexual harassment, retaliatory conduct, and intentional infliction of emotional stress.
Lively pictured on June 9 in NYC, hours after a judge threw out Baldoni’s case against her
The newspaper on Tuesday filed legal papers naming Baldoni‘s production company Wayfarer Productions after a defamation suit he filed against them was dismissed from court by a federal judge this past June
Lively in December sued Baldoni amid claims of sexual harassment during production of the motion picture, which was a hit when it arrived in theaters in August 2024
In her lawsuit, the Gossip Girl alum accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her in multiple ways – including body shaming her – and orchestrating a smear campaign against her to damage her reputation.
In her lawsuit, Lively named a number of Baldoni’s collaborators, including his company Wayfarer Studios, the studio’s CEO and financial backer, and PR personnel Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel.
Baldoni had initially asked for $250 million in damages from the paper, then added it into the $400 million lawsuit he filed this past January.
In the suit, Baldoni named Lively, her spouse Ryan Reynolds and her publicist Leslie Sloane, citing the aforementioned report in legal documents.
All parties have denied all of the allegations against them.
