Justin Baldoni Criticizes Blake Lively’s Drink Choice at “It Ends With Us” Afterparty

Among the numerous allegations in his $400 million lawsuit, Justin Baldoni criticized the supposedly “damaging and irresponsible” manner in which Blake Lively promoted It Ends With Us.

According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly, Baldoni, 40, accused Lively, 37, of naming a drink at the premiere afterparty “Ryle Can Wait.” (Baldoni portrayed Ryle in the film, who was abusive towards Lively’s character, Lily.)

“Lively’s disastrous marketing strategies and tone-deaf media appearances backfired, leading to widespread criticism of her promotional tactics related to the Film’s sensitive theme of domestic violence,” the documents state. “Prior videos of Lively resurfaced online, reinforcing the public perception that she was an insensitive ‘mean girl’ more concerned with promoting her products than recognizing the domestic violence survivor community. Social media users quickly highlighted that linking her alcoholic beverages to the film was particularly distasteful, especially given the World Health Organization’s estimate that 55 percent of domestic violence incidents are connected to alcohol. Shockingly, Lively aggravated this harmful and reckless message by naming a drink at her premiere afterparty ‘Ryle You Wait.’”

“The notion that Wayfarer was responsible for the online backlash against her is ludicrous considering her own insensitivity,” the court documents assert, rejecting Lively’s claims that Baldoni and his production company attempted to damage her reputation.

In addition to her role in It Ends With Us, an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling book, Lively also took on the role of executive producer. Baldoni, on the other hand, was the film’s director.

Additionally, Baldoni claimed in the lawsuit that he was uninvited to the It Ends With Us afterparty and organized a separate gathering for his team in the basement of the theater.

“The Wayfarer afterparty, which was distinct from the celebrity event and attended by crew, family, and other Wayfarer associates, was a ‘dry’ event, partly to acknowledge the well-known negative correlation between alcohol and domestic violence,” the court filing states. “Everyone from the Wayfarer team in Los Angeles and their families and friends attended. The atmosphere and tone of the Wayfarer afterparty aligned with Baldoni’s vision for the Film, emphasizing celebration and gratitude, despite the humiliation.”

The lawsuit included photos from the gathering, showing Baldoni, his wife Emily, and other colleagues with their non-alcoholic drink cups.

In December 2024, it was reported that Lively had filed a lawsuit against Baldoni for sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment on set, in addition to attempting to tarnish her reputation. Baldoni vehemently denied these claims.

In his recent court filing, Baldoni further countered Lively’s allegations by discussing their differing perspectives on promoting the film.

“Lively’s disastrous marketing strategies and tone-deaf media interactions backfired, causing extensive criticism of her promotional approach on such a sensitive topic as domestic violence,” the filing states. “Previous videos of Lively emerged online, reinforcing perceptions of her as an insensitive ‘mean girl’ more focused on selling her products than on supporting the domestic violence survivor community. Social media users quickly noted that her association with [Betty Booze] alcoholic drinks was especially ill-timed, considering the World Health Organization’s statistic that 55% of domestic violence incidents involve alcohol.”

Baldoni stated that the criticism “could have been prevented” if Lively had agreed to meet with the film’s domestic violence partner organization, nomore.org, which he allegedly offered, but she declined.

In Lively’s filing from last month, she asserted that she promoted the film as agreed.

“Ms. Lively and the other cast members were contractually obligated to provide promotional services in line with the Marketing Plan,” her filing states. “The Marketing Plan instructed the cast to ‘emphasize Lily’s strength and resilience rather than framing the film solely as a domestic violence narrative’ and to ‘avoid depicting this film in a way that feels overly sad or heavy — it’s a story of hope.’”

After the film’s release in August 2024, Lively later shared a list of resources on her social media pages.

The publicists mentioned in Lively’s lawsuit and Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman issued separate statements on Thursday, January 16.

“This lawsuit arises from an overwhelming volume of untampered evidence highlighting Blake Lively and her team’s deceitful attempts to destroy Justin Baldoni, his team, and their affiliated companies by leaking grossly edited, unsubstantiated, manipulated information to the press,” Freedman stated. “Our complete willingness to provide all unaltered text messages, emails, video footage, and other documentary evidence shared between the parties in real time illustrates that this is a battle she is unlikely to win and will certainly regret. Blake Lively was either severely misled by her team or deliberately misrepresented the facts.”

He further added, “Ms. Lively will no longer be able to exploit actual victims of real harassment for her own reputation at the expense of the vulnerable. Let’s not forget, Ms. Lively and her team endeavored to destroy reputations and livelihoods for selfish motives through their dangerous manipulation of the press before even taking legal action. We know the truth, and the public does too. Justin and his team have nothing to hide; documents do not lie.”

The publicists, for their part, remarked: “It is heartbreaking that we have to respond to this vindictive ongoing litigation filled with documented and provable falsehoods amidst the tragedy affecting California where we reside. Five months ago, Ms. Lively opted to promote a film about domestic violence in a manner that triggered immediate negative backlash due to her own highly publicized actions. Rather than accept responsibility, she chose to cruelly blame us. This malicious assault on private individuals by Ms. Lively and her team, feeding The New York Times manipulated, out of context, and edited texts to portray herself as a victim, set off an immensely harmful series of events.”

Lively has not publicly replied to Baldoni’s latest assertions but has previously dismissed similar accusations.