Blake Lively reveals eye-watering cost of Justin Baldoni's ‘mean girl’ smear campaign
Topics: Entertainment, Celebrity, Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Money
Jen Thomas
Featured Image Credit: MEGA/GC Images
Topics: Entertainment, Celebrity, Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Money
Blake Lively has shared the whopping sum she claims she lost in potential earnings following an alleged smear campaign from It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni.
The Gossip Girl star has calculated what she says is the true cost of a 'mean girl' smear campaign she claims was waged by the director, and said she has paid a huge financial toll in lost work and damaged reputation.
The feud started back in December 2024, when Lively filed a lawsuit accusing Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, of sexual harassment and retaliation.
She alleged the director had launched a 'smear campaign' against her after she complained about on-set conditions.
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Lively faced a barrage of social media backlash around the release of It Ends with Us, including criticism of how the film's marketing emphasised fashion and florals over the movie's darker themes of domestic abuse.
In the wake of all this, Norwegian journalist Kjersti Flaa reshared an old interview with Lively from 2016, claiming the star's behaviour 'made me want to quit my job'.
Lively's legal team argue Baldoni's smear campaign against her helped the video go viral to tarnish her reputation.
The actress has since calculated an eye-watering figure she says the reported behaviour by Baldoni and his production company made her miss out on.
That's according to new court documents seen by Page Six, filed on 17 April, in which the actor claimed that Baldoni's alleged use of 'the retaliatory phrases "tone deaf," "bully," and "mean girl'” had major repercussions in his attempt to 'damage her reputation'.
She claimed the feud has caused a loss 'in an amount of approximately $36.5 to $40.5 million', experts have calculated the amount could be much higher.
The new court documents, also seen by TMZ, quote communications expert Dr Ashlee Humphreys, who also claims that Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman also cost her a lot of money.
She alleges the lawyer made 'retaliatory' statements, which resulted in a loss for Lively 'calculated at $24,375,267'.
Humphreys looked at the number of views and impressions each of the 'retaliatory' statements racked up, leading to a 'particular dollar damage' sum.
The team claim there was 176 million impressions across online and traditional media relating to the 'mean girl' and 'bully' comments.
The majority of the alleged losses come from missed opportunities for studio films, independent projects and a limited TV series between August 2024 and August 2029.
The documents also claim Lively's businesses, Betty Booze and Blake Brown, suffered losses following the 'mean girl' campaign.
It alleges the loss for the beauty and beverage businesses ranges between $39.6 million and $143.5 million.
In addition to trying to recuperate the losses, Lively is also seeking damages due to the 'pain and suffering, physical pain, and humiliation' she claims she suffered following the comments she alleges were made by Baldoni and his legal team, to the tune of $250,000 and $400,000.
This all adds up to a total amount of around $290 million in damages.
The new fee is substantially higher than a claim made back in November 2025 that it cost her $161 million, according to TMZ.
Baldoni's team argue that the alleged 'mean girl', 'bully', 'tone deaf' comments 'did not cause further harm to her existing reputation'.
They allege that such remarks 'were widely circulated before Lively' started to work with the director and his team.
Tyla and LADbible Group has reached out to Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios for comment.