Legal Experts Explain the Numbers Behind Justin Baldoni’s $400 Million Lawsuit Against Blake Lively

After Justin Baldoni fired back against It Ends With Us costar Blake Lively with a $400 million lawsuit, legal experts are breaking down how the amount was likely chosen.

Months after speculation swirled of a rift between the It Ends With Us costars, Baldoni, 40, filed a lawsuit against Lively, 37, and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, as well as her publicist, Leslie Sloane on January 16. The filing came one month after The New York Times broke the news that Lively was suing Baldoni for sexual harassment, which he has since denied. (Baldoni and other plaintiffs also sued The New York Times in a separate December 2024 lawsuit.)

When it comes to breaking down the numbers, Joseph A. Brown Esq exclusively told Us Weekly that Baldoni and his companies “will be seeking damages for money lost and potential lost future earnings because of the actions of Blake, Ryan and their teams.”

“These numbers are based on calculating the total economic losses from the box office, loss of future wages for a sequel and future losses on other endeavors,” Brown shared.

Justin Baldoni’s Studio Sues Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Publicist for $400 Million

Brown said that Baldoni’s legal team are “very much focusing on the NYTs piece as a major factor in this smear campaign,” based on the high dollar amount “they are asking from them.”

“The $400 million suit against Blake, Ryan and their teams will be asking damages of them all together,” Brown explained.

David J. Finkler, Esq. Law Offices of David J. Finkler, P.C., however, has a different take, alleging that it could be more about public perception. “In a New York federal court the only monetary pleading requirement is that the damages exceed $75,000.00,” he told Us. “If an attorney chooses to sue for more it is for ‘shock value’ only.”

Finkler noted that there is “no explanation” at this stage. “Basically it is a random number hoping to shock the Plaintiff,” the lawyer shared. “Has no definable support at this early stage in litigation. It is simply another allegation related to the counterclaim.”

Justin Baldoni Improvised ‘Unwanted Touching,’ ‘Kissing’ in Video Footage, Blake Lively Lawyer Says

Amid the pair’s legal battle, Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, released footage from the set of It Ends With Us in an attempt to disprove Lively’s side of the story. The footage obtained by Us on Tuesday, January 21, began with a statement that read, “Ms. Lively’s complaint alleges that during a scene Mr. Baldoni and Ms. Lively were filming for a slow dance montage, Mr. Baldoni was behaving inappropriately. The following videos captured on May 23, 2023, clearly refute Ms. Lively’s characterization of his behavior. The scene in question was designed to show the two characters falling in love and longing to be close to one another. Both actors are clearly behaving well within the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism. These are all three takes filmed of the sequence.”

The dancing scene shows footage that is debated in their lawsuits — including the moment where Baldoni claimed in court docs that Lively told him to get a nose job and the pair discussing the smell of her spray tan.

After the video was released, Freedman said in a statement to Us: “Us received this video from legal counsel, Bryan Freedman who has gone on record numerous times and told the public that Justin Baldoni and team has nothing to hide and this video, once more proves this. Justin and team have the right to defend themselves with the truth and this is what we will be continuing to show with the upcoming website containing all correspondence as well as relevant videos that directly quash her claims.”

Lively’s legal team subsequently slammed Baldoni and his team for choosing to publicly share the raw footage.

Blake Lively Responds to Justin Baldoni’s New $400 Million Lawsuit: ‘It Will Fail’ 

“Justin Baldoni and his lawyer may hope that this latest stunt will get ahead of the damaging evidence against him, but the video itself is damning. Every frame of the released footage corroborates, to the letter, what Ms. Lively described in Paragraph 48 of her Complaint,” Lively’s legal team said in a statement to Us on Tuesday. “The video shows Mr. Baldoni repeatedly leaning in toward Ms. Lively, attempting to kiss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, flicking her lip with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and talking with her out of character.”

The statement continued: “Every moment of this was improvised by Mr. Baldoni with no discussion or consent in advance and no intimacy coordinator present. Mr. Baldoni was not only Ms. Lively’s costar, but the director, the head of [the] studio and Ms. Lively’s boss. The video shows Ms. Lively leaning away and repeatedly asking for the characters to just talk. Any woman who has been inappropriately touched in the workplace will recognize Ms. Lively’s discomfort. They will recognize her attempts at levity to try to deflect the unwanted touching. No woman should have to take defensive measures to avoid being touched by their employer without their consent.”

The message concluded, “This matter is in active litigation in federal court. Releasing this video to the media, rather than presenting it as evidence in court, is another example of an unethical attempt to manipulate the public. It is also a continuation of their harassment and retaliatory campaign. While they are focused on misleading media narratives, we are focused on the legal process. We are continuing our efforts to require Mr. Baldoni and his associates to answer in court, under oath, rather than through manufactured media stunts.”

Us also confirmed that Lively and Reynolds, 48, filed a letter in court on Tuesday asking for Freedman to stop engaging in “improper conduct” such as an alleged “harassing and retaliatory media campaign” against the couple. The letter alleged that Lively previously issued Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios a cease-and-desist letter and a second one to Freedman in December 2024. Us reached out to reps for Lively and Baldoni at the time.