Blake Lively confident ‘desperate’ Justin Baldoni will ‘fail’ even as his $400M lawsuit paints a star who exploited her power

Justin Baldoni are in a legal telenovela that’s been unfolding longer than anyone’s binge-watching stamina should allow.

According to recent reports, Blake Lively is standing her ground against new ground rules specifically for Baldoni — rules like no unsolicited nude photos and keeping sex scenes strictly by the book, or script, in this case.

Of course, Baldoni’s lawyer was quick to dismiss the claims, calling them “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious.” Baldoni threw back his own accusations, claiming a year-long campaign of intimidation led by Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds. In his lawsuit, Baldoni paints a picture of Lively as a diva who systematically exploited her star power to make his life miserable. He claims that his experience at the film’s premiere was designed to sideline him — relegated to what sounds like a glorified concession stand while the stars strutted the red carpet. Allegedly, he was forced to arrive at a different time and instructed to scram as soon as Lively graced the red carpet with her presence.

“Long story short, but [Blake and I] won’t be in the same room. I was asked to not even attend the premiere”

In Baldoni’s 179-page filing, he also alleges that Lively referred to herself as Khaleesi from Game of Thrones and called her husband and bestie Taylor Swift her two “dragons.” When Baldoni objected to them meddling in the film’s creative direction, Lively allegedly texted, “I happen to have a few dragons. For better or worse, but usually for better. Because my dragons also protect those I fight for. So really we all benefit from those gorgeous monsters of mine. [Smiley-face emoji] you will too, I can promise you.”

At the end of the day, it’s hard to know who to root for in this showdown. Lively and Baldoni are both playing to the public and the court, and it’s hard to tell where the performance ends and the reality begins. It’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming that wealth and fame equate to moral superiority or that an abundance of evidence equates to the truth, but the reality is often far more complex. Just because someone is a beloved public figure doesn’t mean they’re incapable of engaging in toxic behavior behind closed doors. And just because someone is accused of wrongdoing doesn’t necessarily mean they’re guilty.