Why Did Justin Baldoni Launch Website Linking to Updated Complaint amid Blake Lively Legal Battle? An Expert Explains (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Justin Baldoni; Blake Lively.Photo:James Devaney/GC Images; Kristina Bumphrey/WWD via Getty

James Devaney/GC Images; Kristina Bumphrey/WWD via Getty

Justin Baldoniand his teamjust launched a websitein an apparent attempt to bolster his accusations againstBlake Lively— but why now?

Baldoni’s website first appearedon Saturday, Feb. 1, just two days before theIt Ends with Uscostars, who are locked in a contentious legal battle, are scheduled to appear in a Feb. 3 pre-trial conference that is slated to hash outLively’s prospective request for a gag order.

As legal expertGregory Doll— a lawyer and partner at Doll Amir & Eley who is not representing either party — tells PEOPLE, Lively’s request may have been an attempt to thwart Baldoni, 41, and his team from doing exactly this.

“One of the issues raised in the letter briefs for Monday seeking to prevent Baldoni’s attorney from speaking about the case publicly is his stated intention to launch this very type of website,” Doll tells PEOPLE after the launch of thesite, which linksto an updated complaint filed on Jan. 31.

The first button on the site links to the amended version of the complaint that Baldoni and five other plaintiffs filed against Lively in response toLively’s initial filingagainst him.

The second button on the newly created website, titled “Timeline of Relevant Events,” is an exhibit to the amended complaint, and it is a 168-page “timeline” that uses texts, emails and more correspondences — some of which have not previously been made public — shared in chronological order to paint Baldoni’s version of the stars’ behind-the-scenes conflict.

Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively on the ‘It Ends with Us’ set.Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

“Launching it now accomplishes two things,” Doll explains. “One, it gets the website content out to the public before there is any order preventing Baldoni’s counsel from doing so; and two, it may persuade the judge that there is no reason to enter any type of gag order against Baldoni’s counsel because the info is already in the public domain anyway.”

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The behind-the-scenes conflict between theIt Ends with Usleads was first confirmed in December 2024 when,after months of online speculation about tension between them, Lively, 37, sued Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios (plusIt Ends with Us’leadproducerJamey Heath, Baldoni’s publicist Jennifer Abel, crisis publicist Melissa Nathan and more),alleging sexual harassment and a smear campaignlaunched in retaliation for speaking out about alleged misconduct.

Baldoni has denied the sexual harassment allegations, and subsequentlycountersued Lively, her husbandRyan Reynoldsand their publicist Leslie Sloane, as well as Sloane’s PR firm Vision PR, Inc., on accusations of defamation and extortion.

Justin Baldoni; Blake Lively.Dia Dipasupil/Getty; Raymond Hall/GC Images

Dia Dipasupil/Getty; Raymond Hall/GC Images

Both cases inLively v. Wayfarer Studios et al.are now scheduled for trial on March 9, 2026, Judge Lewis J. Liman outlined in an order filed Monday, Jan. 27. Liman is the same judge thatLively’s team askedto address “the appropriate conduct of counsel” after Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedmanreleased footage from theIt Ends with Ussetin an attempt to refute some of Lively’s claims — and announced plans to share evidence in support of Baldoni on a website.

In their letter to Liman, Lively and her team stated that “federal litigation must be conducted in court and according to the relevant rules of professional conduct” and claimed Freedman’s actions risked “tainting” a potential jury pool.

source: people.com