Blake Lively Claims ‘Mean Girl’ Label Used In Justin Baldoni’s Alleged Smear Campaign Cost Her $50M
Blake Lively has claimed that the “mean girl” label used against her during her ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni has cost her more than AUD $50 million.
That figure forms part of Lively’s broader allegation that Baldoni, her It Ends With Us co-star and director, orchestrated a smear campaign against her after she raised concerns on the set of the 2024 drama film.
According to new legal documents obtained by TMZ ahead of the pair’s trial next month, Lively is claiming Baldoni’s alleged orchestration of specific smears, including labelling her a “mean girl”, “bully” and “tone deaf”, garnered more than 176 million impressions online.
Lively reportedly enlisted an expert who determined that posts using those terms harmed the actress’ reputation to the tune of $50 to AUD $56 million.
More broadly, Lively is seeking over AUD $200 million from Wayfarer Studios — which is co-founded by Baldoni and produced It Ends With Us — for the alleged smear campaign, including tens of millions in lost past and future earnings and additional losses to her haircare and beverage companies.
It comes after Lively’s lawyers moved to block certain articles describing her as a “mean girl” from being presented to the jury next month, arguing they are irrelevant to the specific It Ends With Us case.
“[The] defendants appear intent on exposing the jury to a laundry list of negative media stories about Ms Lively, despite not having any competent evidence linking those stories to the events in this case,” Lively’s attorneys said in court filings, per the Daily Mail.
It comes after the judge in the case dismissed 10 of the 13 claims initially brought forward by Lively, including all the allegations of sexual assault against Baldoni.
The case will now go to trial on April 13 centred on Lively’s accusations of a retaliatory smear campaign orchestrated by Baldoni.
Lead images: Getty Images
