Justin Baldoni launches website containing texts, 'timeline of relevant events' amid legal battle vs. Blake Lively

He also claimed that a video accompanying the piece was created on Dec. 12, or nine days before the story ran.

The actor said the Times first reached out to get a comment from Baldoni’s side on the night of Dec. 20, giving a deadline of noon the next day, or about 14 hours later.

The story was ultimately published with a comment from Freedman on Dec. 21 at 10:11 a.m.

Variety reported that a spokesperson for the Times said Baldoni's lawsuit is "rife with inaccuracies," including the "bogus claim" regarding early access to Lively's complaint.

“Mr. Baldoni’s lawyers base their erroneous claim on postings by amateur internet sleuths, who, not surprisingly, are wrong," the spokesperson said. "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," it added.

Baldoni also claimed that Reynolds's portrayal of the character Nicepool in Deadpool & Wolverine was used to mock and bully him.

He claimed the Nicepool scene was shot in January 2024, shortly after an "ambush" at the couple's apartment, where Reynolds allegedly berated him and demanded an apology for things he asserts he didn't do.

Baldoni said Nicepool was a "vicious caricature of a ‘woke’ feminist before concluding the character’s arc with his violent shooting death at the hands of ‘Ladypool,’ a character voiced by Blake Lively."

Nicepool, he said, was “intended to be a transparent and mocking portrayal of Reynolds’ warped perception" of him.

Lively's camp didn't comment, though earlier said they've anticipated Baldoni's camp publishing the website as they intimated about it before.

She asked the court to rein in Baldoni's PR campaign as it would "prejudice" the jury pool.

Baldoni's lawyer Bryan Freedman, meanwhile, told CNN that amending the complaint "was a logical next step due to the overwhelming amount of new proof that has come to light."

They pointed out that they have “nothing to hide.”

The website came two days before the first court hearing between Baldoni and Lively.

Texts and timeline

In screenshots of texts in the filing, Baldoni is seen exchanging cordial messages with Lively and Reynolds. Things take a turn as he asks about the actress' weight for a supposed "lift" scene, which Lively claimed did not exist.

According to Baldoni, he did so to properly train his back muscles for the scene as he's had back injuries in the past. This reportedly angered Reynolds as he allegedly told Baldoni in their New York penthouse: "How dare you ask about my wife's weight? What's wrong with you?"

The rift between them escalated, as per the document, as Lively said, "If you can't get on board with how I work, you still have two weeks to recast me." The filing then includes exchanges between producers as "Lively begins altering the script daily."

It Ends with Us row

The legal saga of Lively and Baldoni, who were co-stars in the movie adaptation of the novel It Ends With Us, stemmed from her filing a sexual harassment complaint against Baldoni and Jamey Heath, chief executive officer of Wayfarer Studios. She also accused them of running a smear campaign against her.

In her complaint, Lively accused Baldoni and Heath of telling her about their past sexual relationships and "previous porn addiction."

Heath also allegedly showed Lively a video of his wife naked and giving birth.

Baldoni and Heath likewise supposedly entered Lively's makeup trailer without permission, "including when she was breastfeeding her infant child."

Lively also recalled Baldoni claiming he could communicate with the dead, including her father, Ernie Lively. She found it "off-putting and violative."

That's when the Times published its 'We Can Bury Anyone' report.

Baldoni's camp has called the accusations "categorically false."

Freedman said a crisis manager was hired ahead of the film's marketing campaign "due to the multiple demands and threats made by Ms. Lively during production."

On Jan. 1, Baldoni filed a $250 million (P14.5 billion) lawsuit against the Times—plus 10 other plaintiffs, including publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel—for libel, false light invasion of privacy, promissory fraud, and breach of implied-in-fact contract for its report.

The Times defended its article as "meticulously and responsibly reported."

Later, Baldoni's camp released a series of video takes during the production of It Ends with Us in an attempt to debunk Lively's sexual harassment allegations against him. It also announced plans to launch a website containing "all correspondence" with her and "relevant videos."

Lively and Reynolds, in turn, requested a gag order.