Blake Lively is not happy with a popular entertainment site that depicts her as David in her legal battle against director and actor Justin Baldoni, who is portrayed as Goliath.
The pair starred together in the romantic drama “It Ends With Us” and have more recently been embattled in a back-and-forth which will culminate in a trial next spring. Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment, retaliation, and attempting to “destroy” her reputation.
Baldoni fervently denied the claims, responding with a countersuit against his co-star and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds. He also sued The New York Times for $250 million in a defamation claim for an article about the drama, which he says is “rife with inaccuracies, misrepresentations, and omissions.”
Now, the actress has turned her ire towards a new target. Her rep blasted a cover image of The Hollywood Reporter publicizing its report: “Blake vs. Baldoni: An Exclusive Look Behind the Battle Lines of Hollywood’s Uncivil War,” which was published Friday and written by Peter Kiefer.
Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni
An exclusive look behind the battle lines of the #ItEndsWithUs uncivil war: https://t.co/UryXmLrDcT pic.twitter.com/r8VI1SOcNf
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 21, 2025
The cover image of The Hollywood Reporter’s piece features an illustration of Lively represented as the Biblical David attacking Justin Baldoni as Goliath with a sling. But unlike in the Bible, her weapon is a smartphone and not a rock.
The article focuses on Baldoni’s Baha’i faith, a universalist religion founded in what’s now Iran in the mid-19th century. It discusses how his religious beliefs might have influenced their feud.
“The Hollywood Reporter should be ashamed of itself,” a spokesperson for Lively told The Daily Mail on Friday. “The framing in this picture is outrageously insulting as it plays into every sexist trope about women who dare file a workplace complaint, turning them into the aggressor, and suggesting they deserve the retaliation that comes their way. In addition, the story is extremely offensive as it incredibly seems to explain away documented examples of sexual harassment and retaliation by calling them ‘cultural misunderstandings.’”
The background of the entire image for the report includes Reynolds dressed as “Nicepool,” a character Baldoni claims was created with the express intention of bullying him.
Several commenters on X noted that the David and Goliath depiction is backward since Lively is much more famous and influential than Baldoni, with some saying the only reason he stands a chance against her in court is due to him keeping a record of their exchanges and sharing them with the public.