Blake Lively claims Justin Baldoni's alleged 'smear campaign' cost her $290 million
Blake Lively is claiming Justin Baldoni's alleged "smear campaign" cost her $290 million due to "reputational harm."
A report by Extra cites court documents showing Lively is seeking $290 million (P17.2 billion) in damages.
According to Lively, Baldoni's alleged use of the phrases "tone deaf," "bully," and "mean girl" directly caused her reputation to plunge, consequently affecting her businesses. She hired Northwestern University professor of marketing communications Dr. Ashlee Humphreys to quantify the harm brought on by the negative remarks.
Based on Humphreys' computations, the "reputational harm" supposedly amounts to $36.5–$40.5 million (P2.17–P2.41 billion). In addition, Lively claims Baldoni's lawyer Bryan Freedman spouted "retaliatory" statements throughout the legal battle between the actors, and these allegedly cost her "an amount calculated at $24,375,267" or P1.45 billion.
These numbers are based on online impressions gathered by Humphreys.
Lively alleges her public image took a severe hit because of Baldoni's words, which supposedly led to lost potential projects between August 2024 and August 2029. She claims those would have earned her an estimated $34.3–$87.8 million (P2.04–P5.22 billion).
The actress claims revenue from her companies also took a dive. Canned cocktail brand Betty Booze and hair product brand Blake Brown supposedly lost between $39.7–$143.5 million (P2.36–P8.54 billion) in sales.
She quantified her "pain and suffering, physical pain, and humiliation" between $250,000–$400,000 (P14.88–P23.8 million), which Lively is also adding to the damages she is demanding.
Taboo evidence
With Lively and Baldoni's trial coming up on May 18 in New York City, both camps are rushing to exclude evidence that might tarnish their respective cases.
Citing a court filing submitted April 11, PEOPLE reported that Lively asked the judge to exclude evidence pertaining to her and her husband Ryan Reynolds' net worth. Reports say Lively's estimated net worth is $30 million (P1.8 billion); Reynolds' is approximately $350 million (P20.8 billion).
According to her legal team, the "improper" financial information would "serve no legitimate purpose." It may also distract from the actual issues, the lawyers said.
Over on Baldoni's side, his team is asking the court to block certain statements made by financier and billionaire Steve Sarowitz from being presented to the jury as these are irrelevant to the trial. Reports say Sarowitz supposedly said, he was willing to spend about P5.9 billion or "$100 million to ruin the lives" of Lively and Reynolds.
In early April, Lively's sexual harassment claims against Justin Baldoni were dismissed by a federal judge. Three claims, including retaliation, remain.
Lively and Baldoni have been embroiled in a contentious legal battle since December 2024. Both were leads in the movie It Ends With Us, which Baldoni also directed. Lively claimed Baldoni subjected her to sexual harassment on the set then allegedly sought "to destroy" her reputation through a coordinated smear campaign.
