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Justin Baldoni's former agent from WME, Danny Greenberg, has claimed Blake Lively's behaviour was "extortion" on the sets of It Ends With Us. Baldoni and Lively have been involved in a legal feud with each other since December last year, when the actress accused him of s*xual harassment.
In a deposition transcript obtained by PEOPLE, Justin Baldoni's former agent, Danny Greenberg, explained what he meant by "extortion" when he described Blake Lively's alleged behaviour on the sets. Greenberg represented Baldoni during the filming of It Ends With Us, where Lively starred opposite the actor-director. He said:
"My use of the word extortion there was referencing just cumulative behavior that both the studio and [production company Wayfarer Studios] and Justin was having to manage."
According to the documents, Greenberg described Blake Lively's behaviour as "extortion" in communications with Justin Baldoni in July 2024. Moreover, the files indicate that he helped Baldoni in drafting emails to Sony detailing the actress's "continued extortion and effort to gain control of the film."
In his testimony, Danny Greenberg also claimed that Lively issued threats related to the August 2024 premiere of It Ends With Us. This includes alleged communications with Sony official Ange Giannetti, where Greenberg spoke "about the behavior that Blake was displaying along the way" regarding "the premiere issue."
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's legal battle began in December 2024 after the actress's legal complaint, alleging workplace and sexual harassment. However, Baldoni countersued Lively after denying all allegations and accusing her of invasion of privacy, trying to take creative control of the Colleen Hoover adaptation, and defamation. The lawsuit was then dismissed in June this year.
Court dismisses Justin Baldoni's $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively
In June this year, Judge Liman dismissed Justin Baldoni's $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist, Leslie Sloane. In the lawsuit, Baldoni denied all of Lively's allegations and sued her for extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy. The judge also dismissed Baldoni's $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times, which he filed over one of their articles that detailed Lively's allegations.
"The Wayfarer parties have alleged that Reynolds and [publicist Leslie] Sloane made additional statements accusing Baldoni of sexual misconduct and that the Times made additional statements accusing the Wayfarer parties of engaging in a smear campaign. But the Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Reynolds, Sloane or the Times would have seriously doubted these statements were true based on the information available to them, as is required for them to be liable for defamation under applicable law," the official statement said.
Justin Baldoni's legal team did not refile the amended complaints after their lawsuit was dismissed. Moreover, Lively's lawsuit against Baldoni continues to stand. Judge Liman also mentioned in his statement that Baldoni's team "have not adequately alleged that Lively's threats were wrongful extortion rather than legally permissible hard bargaining or renegotiation of working conditions", explaining the dismissal of the lawsuit.
Further, Baldoni was unable to prove that the New York Times "acted with actual malice" and published their story detailing Blake Lively's allegations. The statement added:
"The alleged facts indicate that the Times reviewed the available evidence and reported, perhaps in a dramatized manner, what it believed to have happened. The Times had no obvious motive to favor Lively's version of events."
After the latest developments of deposition statements, Blake Lively's team also criticized Justin Baldoni's former agent's "extortion" claims. They referred to the dismissed lawsuit and added that Greenberg's "cherry-picked deposition quote" added "nothing new" to the case.
"This is a legal process, not a click-bait one. This is just a recycled distraction that has nothing to do with the actual sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit Baldoni and the Wayfarer Defendants are facing," Lively's spokesperson said.
Apart from Greenberg, Lively's talent agent, Warren Zavala, was also deposed in relation to the case. Zavala's statements claimed that he was not "aware of any incidents that made Ms. Lively uncomfortable" on the sets of It Ends With Us when he visited it. He felt "everything seemed to be going well", but agreed to "issues" during the post-production process. He claimed there was a change in the kind of communications between Lively and Baldoni during this time.
The legal feud between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively is still ongoing. The two parties are set to face each other in court in March 2026.
