The Road to the Center of a Hollywood Scandal

The Higher the Pedestal, the Harder the Fall

In 2020, Travis Flores became one of only a handful of people in the world ever to receive a third double-lung transplant. Diagnosed as a baby with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that causes mucus to build up in the lungs and other organs, Flores had defied doctors’ predictions that he wouldn’t live past age five. At 29, he underwent the rare procedure in hopes of further extending his life.

But as Flores recovered, his thoughts were consumed by another looming battle — this one with actor and filmmaker Justin Baldoni.

Baldoni, best known at the time as an actor on the CW’s “Jane the Virgin,” had made his directorial debut in 2019 with “Five Feet Apart,” the story of two cystic fibrosis patients who fall in love. Baldoni said the film was inspired by a different CF activist to whom it was dedicated, but Flores maintained that it bore striking similarities to a screenplay he had written years earlier, “Three Feet Distance.”

“After his third transplant, Travis said, ‘The stress of this is killing me,'” Teresa Flores, his mother, recalled in an interview with The Times. “Through some donations, he got enough money to hire a lawyer.”

In September 2021, Flores sued Baldoni for copyright infringement in federal court. Seven months later, he voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit, telling his family that his legal team advised him that pursuing the case against a high-profile defendant with significant resources would be difficult. Baldoni, who has denied any wrongdoing, was “absolutely not” aware of Flores’ screenplay before making “Five Feet Apart,” a spokesperson for the filmmaker and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, told The Times.

Despite its dramatic elements — a terminally ill man alleging a director appropriated his story for a hit film — Flores’ lawsuit barely made a ripple. Copyright battles are routine in Hollywood, and Baldoni wasn’t yet a household name. Since 2019, he had increasingly focused on directing and producing earnest, socially conscious fare through the “purpose-driven” Wayfarer shingle. He had also positioned himself as a prominent male feminist ally, delivering a 2018 TED Talk, “Why I’m Done Trying to be ‘Man Enough,'” that went viral, spawning a bestselling memoir and a podcast exploring gender, vulnerability, and privilege.

Last year’s romantic drama “It Ends with Us” was supposed to be the culmination of Baldoni’s transformation into a multihyphenate force. The adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel found him directing and starring opposite Blake Lively, a far bigger Hollywood name. Friends with Taylor Swift — who attended last year’s Super Bowl with her — and married to Marvel star Ryan Reynolds, Lively has been famous since “Gossip Girl,” a defining teen drama of the 2000s.

But despite grossing over $350 million worldwide after its August release, the success of “It Ends With Us” has been overshadowed by a bitter, escalating feud between its two stars. On December 20, Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and misconduct during the film’s production. According to the complaint, which was followed days later by a lawsuit in federal court, he allegedly pressured her to perform greater nudity than agreed upon, improvised intimate scenes, and retaliated with a smear campaign after she raised concerns.

Baldoni denied the claims, filing a $250-million defamation suit against Lively and The New York Times, which published her allegations. Weeks later, he followed with a $400-million countersuit against Lively, Reynolds, and their publicist, Leslie Sloane, accusing them of conspiring to destroy his reputation and wrest control of the film from him. Baldoni’s countersuit alleges that Lively and her team engaged in a coordinated effort to undermine him, including making false allegations of misconduct, spreading defamatory statements to the press, and using their influence to pressure the studio to try to remove him from the film.

The scandal has since become a full-blown media spectacle, with competing court filings and publicly surfaced messages fueling an ongoing firestorm. Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, who has represented Megyn Kelly, Bethenny Frankel, Tucker Carlson, and Don Lemon, has portrayed him as an underdog, arguing that Hollywood power players are attempting to make him, according to his countersuit, “the real-life villain in [Lively’s] story.”

Many who have worked with the 41-year-old Baldoni praise him as an inspiring and generous leader. “He is highly creative and in tune with his spiritual side,” said Melissa Ames, who worked as his personal and executive assistant and credits him with giving her career opportunities she had long dreamed of. “He has a heart for helping others. Working at Wayfarer was one of the best times of my life.”

Yet some former colleagues, in more than a dozen interviews with The Times and a previously unreported 2020 lawsuit against Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, paint a more complicated picture. Several described a pattern of performative virtue and power plays that, in their view, conflicted with the ideals Baldoni professes to uphold.

As the battle between Baldoni and Lively continues to unfold, the stakes could not be higher. A victory, whether in the court of law or public opinion, could offer a path back to Hollywood. A loss could leave everything he built in ruins.

The Road to the Center of a Hollywood Scandal
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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the controversy surrounding Justin Baldoni?
A: Justin Baldoni, an actor and filmmaker, is embroiled in a heated legal battle with his co-star Blake Lively, who has accused him of sexual harassment and misconduct during the production of their film “It Ends with Us.” Baldoni has denied the allegations and is countersuing Lively and her representatives.

Q: What is the background of the controversy?
A: The controversy began with a lawsuit filed by Travis Flores, a cystic fibrosis patient who alleged that Baldoni’s 2019 film “Five Feet Apart” bore striking similarities to a screenplay he had written years earlier.

Q: What is the current status of the legal battle?
A: The legal battle is ongoing, with both parties filing counterclaims and engaging in a public relations war.

Q: What is the impact of the controversy on Baldoni’s career?
A: The controversy has led to Baldoni’s agency, William Morris Endeavor, dropping him, and he has been stripped of an award from the nonprofit Vital Visions, which honors advocacy for women and girls. Baldoni’s team has launched a website featuring court filings and a 168-page timeline of the film’s production and the ensuing dispute, part of a broader push to counter the allegations and shape public perception.

Q: What is the future of the legal battle?
A: The outcome of the legal battle is uncertain, but the stakes are high, with both parties vying for control of the narrative and the future of their careers.