Justin Baldoni Claims He Has 'Cold Hard Proof' Blake Lively Targeted Him

Justin Baldoni is doubling down on his legal battle against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, now claiming he has solid proof that they had been plotting against him months before Lively filed her bombshell Christmas lawsuit.

In response, Justin Baldoni has moved to update his lawsuit against the Hollywood power couple.

Justin Baldoni Claims He Has 'Cold Hard Proof' Blake Lively And Ryan Reynolds Were Targeting Him Months Before Lawsuit

According to new legal documents obtained by TMZ, Baldoni alleges that the "malicious and reckless" defamation of his character began as early as October 31, 2024. While the timing might suggest a Halloween twist, Baldoni insists the significance of this date is tied to the metadata embedded in a New York Times article about Lively’s lawsuit against him.

His legal team points to HTML source code within the article that allegedly references a "message-embed-generator" with a timestamp of October 31, 2024.

In simple terms, Baldoni’s camp argues this proves the Times had been working on the article, including developing a tool to display the controversial text messages at the heart of the lawsuit, well before Lively’s lawsuit was officially filed.

After the news broke, a New York Times spokesperson sent the following statement to The Blast:

"The Baldoni/Wayfarer legal filings are rife with inaccuracies about The New York Times, including, for example, the bogus claim that The Times had early access to Ms. Lively's state civil rights complaint. Mr. Baldoni's lawyers base their erroneous claim on postings by amateur internet sleuths, who, not surprisingly, are wrong. The sleuths have noted that a version of the Lively state complaint published by The Times carries the date 'December 10' even though the complaint wasn't filed until more than a week later. The problem: that date is generated by Google software and is unrelated to the date when The Times received it and posted it. A look at the metadata from the posted document correctly shows it was posted after Ms. Lively filed it with the California Civil Rights Department."

Why Baldoni Thinks This Is a Game-Changer

Baldoni’s team says this newly uncovered metadata is crucial because it "strips away the legal shields" that Lively, the New York Times, and other alleged collaborators may have been relying on to defend themselves. His lawyers believe the information proves a coordinated effort to smear his reputation long before the public was even aware of the lawsuit.

As The Blast reported, Baldoni is currently suing the New York Times for $250 million, accusing the outlet of cherry-picking and doctoring text messages in its article about Lively’s lawsuit. This lawsuit is separate from his $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, where he alleges the couple orchestrated a campaign to destroy his reputation.

Justin’s Attorney Speaks Out

Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, told TMZ that amending the lawsuit was a natural next step given the amount of new evidence uncovered.

"This fresh evidence corroborates what we knew all along, that due to purely egotistical reasons, Ms. Lively and her entire team colluded for months to destroy reputations through a complex web of lies, false accusations, and the manipulation of illicitly received communications."

He added:

"The ongoing public interest in this case online has ironically shed light on the undeniable facts pertaining to The New York Times and how heavily Ms. Lively and her representatives were not only deeply involved in the attempted take down and smear campaign of Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and their teams but that they themselves initiated it."

The revised lawsuit includes an extensive 150-plus-page timeline meticulously outlining the alleged steps in Blake’s campaign against Justin. Just how detailed is it? The timeline traces events as far back as January 1, 2019, when Justin first emailed "It Ends With Us" author Colleen Hoover, and follows each development step-by-step through to January 29, 2025.

Blake Lively And Ryan Reynolds Move To Dismiss Justin Baldoni’s Lawsuit as Legal Battle Escalates

This latest development comes after The Blast reported that Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are taking action to shut down Justin Baldoni’s lawsuit, formally requesting that the case be dismissed.

According to Variety, the couple’s attorney, Michael Gottlieb, submitted a letter to Judge Lewis Liman, responding to the court’s request for a one-sentence notice of intent.

“The Lively-Reynolds Parties intend to move to dismiss Plaintiffs' complaint,” Gottlieb wrote in the letter.

Additionally, Lively’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, who is also named as a defendant in Baldoni’s lawsuit, filed a similar notice on Wednesday, signaling a united front against Baldoni’s claims.

Legal Showdown Set For Monday

Attorneys for both sides are preparing for an intense courtroom battle, with the first hearing in the case scheduled for Monday during a pretrial conference. Originally set for February 12, the conference has been moved up, reflecting the urgency surrounding the case. The trial itself is currently scheduled to begin on March 9, 2026.

Judge Liman has also ordered both parties to submit a trial plan, ensuring the case remains on track for its scheduled start date.

The legal battle between Baldoni, Lively, Reynolds, and the New York Times is only heating up. It remains to be seen how Lively and Reynolds will respond to these new allegations, or if the Times will issue a statement regarding the metadata evidence Baldoni is now presenting.

One thing is clear: this fight is far from over.