The latest development in the legal fight between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni comes as Leslie Sloane, the publicist representing the actress and her husband Ryan Reynolds, files to be dismissed from Baldoni’s $400 million defamation lawsuit.
Lawyers for Sloane have furthered that the claims against her are unsupported and simply a diversion from the original complaint of sexual harassment filed by Lively against Baldoni.
Background of the Litigation
The controversy began on the set of the 2024 movie “It Ends With Us,” where Lively and Baldoni were cast together. In December 2024, Lively sued Baldoni for acting inappropriately on set, creating a hostile work environment. She said he made unsolicited advances and, at times, would improvise scenes of an intimate nature without her permission. This has been further supported by reports that Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath hired crisis management experts to undermine Lively’s character in retaliation for complaints over his conduct.
Baldoni’s Counter Lawsuit and Sloane’s Participation
In response to the allegations by Blake Lively, Baldoni filed a $400 million countersuit against Lively, Reynolds, and Blake’s publicist, Sloane, in January 2025, for defamation, extortion, and invasion of privacy, claiming they had engineered a smear campaign against him. Sloane, being a publicist, played an essential role in the dissemination of the false narratives to the media, according to the legal team of Baldoni.
Sloane’s Motion to Dismiss
Sigrid McCawley, Sloane’s attorney, filed a motion in New York federal court on February 20, 2025, to dismiss Sloane and her firm, Vision PR, from the Baldoni suit. It states there are no facts supporting the claims against Sloane, who was “dragged” into the legal fight as part of a “smoke and mirrors exercise to distract from” the original allegations made by Lively. Further, the filing emphasizes that Sloane did not commit libel or spearhead a smear campaign against Baldoni.
Defense of Blake Lively
In the motion, Blake Lively’s publicist – Sloane and her legal team also defends Lively against Baldoni’s description of her as “tyrannical” and “aggressive” for being involved in the creative aspects of the film. The filing characterized the description as “tellingly sexist,” making an argument that Lively, as an executive producer, had a right to input on aspects of the production. The motion claims when Lively “bravely spoke up about Baldoni’s predatory behavior,” he and his team attempted to “blame, embarrass and silence her.”
Current Status and Looking Ahead
Both have denied the allegations against them, while attempts at a court – brokered settlement have fallen short. Currently, the trial is set for March 2026, with both sides preparing for an extended legal battle. Since it started, the case has continued making headline news because of the complexities in trying to handle a misconduct allegation in the entertainment world.
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