Blake Lively alleges Justin Baldoni harassment was witnessed by 'It Ends with Us' co-stars

The plot is thickening in the ongoing legal battle between former co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

In an amended complaint, filed in New York Federal court Tuesday and reviewed by USA TODAY, lawyers for Lively allege that two additional actresses involved with the film "It Ends with Us" are prepared to testify against Baldoni and Jamey Heath, the president of Wayfarer Studios, which produced the movie.

The 95-page filing builds on Lively's previous claims of sexual harassment but weaves in accounts from additional female cast members who were allegedly similarly uncomfortable on set.

Stopping short of attaching screenshots of the messages, the complaint references several interactions between Lively and her fellow actresses in which they commiserated on Baldoni's inappropriate behavior and his alleged tendency to make unwanted sexual comments.

"You can't speak to people sexually while not in character or while talking about a character," Lively allegedly wrote in a message to another female cast member. Baldoni allegedly called both women "sexy" in their clothing during unscripted exchanges that were not part of filming.

In a statement shared with USA TODAY Wednesday, lawyers for Baldoni wrote, "Our clients have been transparent in providing receipts, real time documents and video showing a completely different story than what has been manipulated and cherry picked to the media.

"Our clients have taken this matter and these issues very seriously notwithstanding the jokes made publicly by the plaintiff and her husband. Her underwhelming amended complaint is filled with unsubstantial hearsay of unnamed persons who are clearly no longer willing to come forward or publicly support her claims."

The "jokes" reference seems to allude to a recent bit at the "SNL 50" anniversary special in which Lively's husband Ryan Reynolds appeared to make light of the legal drama involving his wife.

Lively and Baldoni ? whose feud was rumored long before either star took formal legal action ? have been locked in a cycle of warring allegations and legal filings since the actress filed her original complaint with the California Civil Rights Division in December.

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In the December complaint, Lively alleged Baldoni had not only sexually harassed her on set, but, fearing her speaking out, he had hired a crisis public relations firm to carry out an undetectable and highly coordinated online smear campaign against her.

The news further exacerbated an already tense situation for audiences eager to take in the movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover's best-selling novel.

That alleged smear campaign was also referenced by the unnamed actresses in the freshly amended complaint, who allegedly also voiced concern over the online hatred they were receiving during the film's press tour.

As Lively and other cast members promoted the movie, which centers around domestic violence, they emphasized it as a story of hope rather than darkness, as outlined in the original marketing plan for the film. Meanwhile, Baldoni broke with that narrative to discuss the heavier themes of the movie in a move Lively's team characterizes as preemptive damage control.

"He shifted his focus away from a message of female triumph, to instead capitalize on female trauma," the amended complaint argued, noting that both actresses reached out to Lively to ask how to cope with the "onslaught" of social media vitriol directed their way.

While the actresses remain unnamed, the film's female cast members include Jenny Slate, Amy Morton, Isabela Ferrer and Robin S. Walker.

The amended complaint also adds Jed Wallace, a Texas-based contractor who was allegedly instrumental in the online smear campaign, as a defendant in the suit.

"Ms. Lively has filed an amended complaint today that provides significant additional evidence and corroboration of her original claims," Lively's lawyers Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb said in a statement to USA TODAY Wednesday. "The complaint includes significant contemporaneous evidence that Ms. Lively was not alone in raising allegations of on-set misconduct more than a year before the film was edited."

Hudson and Gottlieb cited previously unseen emails and text messages as evidence and referenced new "witnesses" and "innocent bystanders" who add to the validity of Lively's claims.

The new complaint also took aim at Steve Sarowitz, Wayfarer's co-founder and co-chairman who substantially backs the company financially. The filing alleges that in August Sarowitz told a witness that if Lively or Reynolds were to cross a line, "I will protect the studio like Israel protected itself from Hamas. There were 39,000 dead bodies. There will be two dead bodies when I'm done. Minimum. Not dead, but 'you’re dead to me.' So that kind of dead."

Baldoni has since sued both Lively and Reynolds, levying his own set of claims of mistreatment on set, and taken legal action against The New York Times, which published a story detailing the allegations made in Lively's complaint.

The two are headed to trial for one of Baldoni's suits in March 2026.

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In addition to the new witnesses identified, the new complaint provides a closer look at Lively's emotional state amid the fallout.

The filing calls the "emotional impact" on Lively "extreme" affecting her and "her family, including her husband and four children. There are days when she has struggled to get out of bed, and she frequently chooses not to venture outside in public."

"Mr. Reynolds, too, has been affected mentally, physically, and professionally by his wife's and children's pain," it continues. Reynolds and Lively wed in 2012 and share children James, 9, Inez, 8, Betty, 5, and Olin, 2.

"Worst of all, however, has been the impact on their young children, who have been traumatized and emotionally uprooted in ways that have substantially impacted their well-being," according to the filing.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Blake Lively amended complaint entangles 'It Ends with Us' co-stars