Baldoni's lawsuit against Blake Lively: "She used Taylor Swift's name to threaten me"

Nine months after Blake Lively filed a lawsuit against Justin Baldoni for defamation and sexual harassment, the actor and director is responding with another lawsuit, seeking $400 million in damages.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday, January 16, in the Southern District of New York Court by Baldoni's lawyers, also includes Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds' public relations representative, Leslie Sloan, and her company "Vision PR, Inc."

Justin Baldoni has sued Lively-Reynolds and their lawyer for defamation and breach of implied fiduciary duty.

“This lawsuit is based on an overwhelming body of evidence documenting Blake Lively and her team’s attempt to destroy Justin Baldoni, his team, and their companies by spreading unfounded information in the media. We will provide all of the messages, emails, videos, and other evidence exchanged between those involved. Blake Lively was either misled by her team, or intentionally and knowingly distorted the truth.

"Let's not forget that Ms. Lively and her team tried to destroy lives for selfish reasons, through dangerous media manipulation, before any legal action was taken. We know the truth, and now the public knows it too. Justin and his team have nothing to hide, the documents do not lie," the lawsuit filed by Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Friedman, states.

Messages with Blake Lively and "dragon" Taylor Swift

The legal saga has also brought the name of music star Taylor Swift into the spotlight. Baldoni's lawsuit includes text messages between Lively and Baldoni, in which Lively appears to refer to Swift as "one of her dragons," while comparing herself to the "Game of Thrones" mother of dragons, Khaleesi.

Swift is not named as a defendant or mentioned by full name in the filing beyond a reference to "Taylor" in a text message Baldoni sent to Lively. However, she is mentioned several times when discussing a text that Blake Lively reviewed regarding the film she starred in with Justin Baldoni, "It Ends With Us."

Changing the scenario and allegations of indirect threats

According to the lawsuit, Lively allegedly asked to change the film's pivotal scene, where her character, Lily Bloom, meets Ryle Kincaid, played by Baldoni. The actor claims that at one point Lively invited him to her New York apartment, where he was greeted by Lively's husband, Ryan Reynolds, who "began to rave" about his wife's vision.

He then writes in the lawsuit that "hours later, as the meeting was winding down, a famous and very close friend of Reynolds and Lively entered the room and similarly began praising Lively's script. Baldoni got the signal: he had to agree with Lively's version of the script."

The actress's mention of Taylor Swift

According to the lawsuit, the actress refers to Reynolds and another person, possibly Taylor Swift, as "absolute writing titans, I'm so lucky to have them as creative barometers."

Lively then concludes her lengthy response with a message, comparing herself to Emilia Clarke's character in "Game of Thrones," writing: 

“If you ever catch up on Game of Thrones, you’ll realize that I look like Khaleesi, and like her, I happen to have dragons. For better or worse, but usually for the better. Because my dragons protect me and those I fight for. So we all really benefit from these beautiful monsters of mine. You will too, I promise.”

The lawsuit claims that this message "couldn't be clearer. Baldoni wasn't dealing with Lively. He also had to deal with Lively's 'dragons,' two of the most influential and wealthy celebrities in the world who weren't afraid to make things very difficult for him."

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