Newspaper Medium Sued for Slander: Actor Justin Baldoni Files Defamation Suit Against The New York Times
In early 2025, actor Justin Baldoni filed a staggering $250 million libel lawsuit against The New York Times, accusing the paper of publishing a defamatory report about sexual harassment allegations made by actress Blake Lively against him. Baldoni claims the Times engaged in a smear campaign by selectively using and manipulating text messages and omitting crucial context, pushing Lively's version of events without properly verifying her claims.
The lawsuit also names Blake Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and her publicist Leslie Sloane, with Baldoni seeking $400 million in damages. He alleges that the defendants orchestrated a campaign to damage his reputation, and that evidence shows Lively engaged in smear tactics against him.
The New York Times has strongly defended its reporting, stating it was meticulously researched and based on thousands of pages of original documents, including emails and texts. The Times spokeswoman maintains no factual errors have been identified in the article and that the story followed the facts "where they lead."
As of August 2025, The New York Times has filed motions to dismiss Baldoni’s $250 million lawsuit. Baldoni's $400 million defamation suit against Lively and others was dismissed in June 2025. Meanwhile, Lively's lawsuit against Baldoni and his PR team is scheduled to be heard in March 2026.
The key points of dispute in this lawsuit revolve around whether The New York Times manipulated and cherry-picked communications to create a false narrative or accurately reported the facts. Baldoni denies all sexual harassment allegations by Lively and challenges the credibility and motivations of her and her associates.
This lawsuit highlights a contentious dispute over the sexual harassment allegations and media coverage between Baldoni, Lively, and The New York Times. The Times published a full statement in response to the allegations in the article, stating they plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit. The lawsuit filed by Justin Baldoni includes a series of allegations against The New York Times, with the central thesis of the Times' story being a point of contention. The Times claims that their role is to follow the facts where they lead, and they have not been pointed to a single error in their story.
