Baldoni Denies Lively's Body Shaming Claims in Legal Battle
Justin Baldoni steadfastly refutes accusations from Blake Lively alleging he body-shamed her.
Legal papers secured by Us Weekly on Thursday, November 13, reveal that Baldoni, 41, and his attorneys addressed Lively's "fat-shaming" allegations.
“This particular claim stems from an occasion where Baldoni, suffering from persistent back issues and foreseeing a scene requiring him to lift Lively, privately inquired about her weight with a physical trainer he consulted, who also coached Lively,” the court filings assert. “This inquiry was made confidentially, away from the set and without Lively’s knowledge.”
Baldoni’s legal representatives further stated, “Even if this question, as Lively now interprets it, was a subtle jab, any minor offense that might have occurred when the trainer, independently, conveyed the comment to Lively, is far too insignificant to be classified as sexual harassment.”
A Deep Dive into the Reported Conflict and Legal Actions Between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni
Us contacted Lively’s representatives for their statement concerning these documents.
Lively, 38, initiated a lawsuit in December 2024 against her It Ends With Us costar and director, citing sexual harassment. The lawsuit claims Baldoni's purported conduct resulted in “severe emotional distress” for Lively.
The legal complaint outlines a meeting held to discuss Lively’s accusations of a “hostile work environment” during production.
As detailed in the lawsuit, some of her stipulated requests that were accommodated involved “an end to showing nude videos or images of women to Blake, no further discussion of Baldoni’s purported past ‘pornography addiction,’ cessation of talks regarding sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no more remarks about cast and crew’s private parts, no additional questions about Blake’s weight, and no more references to Blake’s deceased father.”
Baldoni has consistently refuted the allegations made by Lively.
Following Lively's lawsuit filing in December 2024, Baldoni’s attorney responded to the actress’s “completely false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious” accusations in a statement to Us, asserting that Lively initiated the suit to “repair her negative reputation” and “resurface a narrative” concerning the movie's making.
The actor subsequently filed his own legal action against Lively in January, though that particular case was ultimately dismissed in June.
“As we have maintained from the outset, this ‘$400 million’ lawsuit lacked merit, and the court clearly recognized that,” Lively’s legal representatives declared in a statement following the judge’s decision.
Source States Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's Disagreement 'Is Not a Mere Celebrity Feud'
Baldoni’s legal counsel has pledged to contest Lively’s allegations with a trial date set for March 2026. Meanwhile, the Gossip Girl star remains steadfast in her assertions that Baldoni and his associates orchestrated a retaliatory defamation campaign against her.
Court filings from Wednesday, November 12, indicate Lively’s team alleges numerous individuals “were involved in directly or indirectly” in “amplifying, boosting or suppressing” information about Lively or Baldoni “to sway the online social and media perception of them, including by criticizing and propagating false narratives about Ms. Lively’s supposedly problematic on-set conduct, and/or portraying her as a ‘bully’ or ‘mean girl.’”
Lively’s attorneys previously asserted that she incurred $161 million in damages stemming from Baldoni’s alleged “smear campaign.” Her team specified that potential financial repercussions encompass $56.2 million for past and anticipated income related to the Another Simple Favor actress’s acting and producing endeavors, along with earnings from speaking appearances and brand partnerships.
