"It was Blake Lively that caused the 'Sexygate' to happen" — Perez Hilton breaks down the Justin Baldoni lawsuit and It Ends With Us drama

American blogger Perez Hilton has shared his take on Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's ongoing legal battle in a video on X dated January 6, 2025. His comments pertained to Lively's December 20, 2024, lawsuit accusing her It Ends With Us co-star Baldoni of alleged sexual harassment and inappropriate workplace behavior.

In his video, Perez Hilton claimed that Blake allegedly made multiple changes to It Ends With Us, its distribution, and its production. He then referred to a particular allegation she made in her lawsuit about feeling "objectified" by Baldoni.

"In her lawsuit against Baldoni, where she has alleged harassment, she's made a lot of allegations, and one of them was that she felt objectified by him. He called her sexy. So she claimed she did not like that. But as he [Baldoni] has done in great detail, he has countered nearly all of her allegations," Hilton said.

Hilton then detailed Justin Baldoni's December 30, 2024, lawsuit against The New York Times, where he accused the paper of defaming him over the publication of an article based on Lively's allegations. Speaking of Baldoni's counter-lawsuit, the blogger explained that the director-actor has countered Blake's allegation in his document. He said:

"Baldoni explains in the lawsuit against The Times that it was Blake Lively that caused 'sexygate' to happen. She was the one to use the word first. And he's got receipts."

Hilton explained that Justin Baldoni has included a text conversation where Blake Lively suggested that a "beanie hat is much sexier" for her character in the film in a particular scene. Therefore, during filming, the director "used the word sexy after she had referred to sexier clothing herself."

Perez Hilton mentioned that in one scene, all the characters wore onesies in one scene, but Lively had a "large fur coat" on herself, obscuring the outfit. At this point, Justin Baldoni suggested she take off the coat as the outfit would look sexier on her character.

"Lively took offense to the comment and appeared upset, interpreting it negatively rather than as creative direction. Feeling he had upset her, Justin Baldoni apologized despite having made a professional suggestion as director. And you could also argue that he was talking about the character being sexier and not her," Hilton explained.

Apart from feeling objectified, Blake Lively has also accused Justin Baldoni and other members of the It Ends With Us crew of inappropriate workplace behavior. She further alleged that they engaged in a PR-driven campaign to tarnish her reputation because she chose to speak up about the alleged inappropriate conduct on the sets.

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Perez Hilton claims Blake Lively got "a lot of control" over It Ends With Us amid actress' legal feud with Justin Baldoni

Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively (Image via Getty)

In his video, American gossip blogger Perez Hilton suggested that Lively had "a lot of control" over the filming and production of It Ends With Us. He said:

"A larger distributor became attached [to the film], Sony and I still don't know how or why. But Blake Lively ended up getting a lot of control over the movie. Yes, she was given producer credit but most often those producer credits are just vanity titles, a way to make them happier and also a way to compensate actors in the event that the movie is a big success."

However, Hilton claimed that Lively's control over the film was "not standard out of the realm of normal." The actress, the blogger alleged, chose her own wardrobe, put multiple songs in the film's soundtrack, and ended up curating the soundtrack. Hilton went on to claim Lively had her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, rewrite the script.

"Most audaciously, she did not like what he and his editors were doing. So she paid for her own editor to cut the movie, per her notes. And even though his version tested better, she pressured Sony to release her version," Perez Hilton explained.

In the latest developments in the case, Justin Baldoni has filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times over one of their articles published on December 21, 2024. The article, titled We Can Bury Anyone: Inside A Hollywood Smear Machine, was written by Megan Twohey, Mike McIntire, and Julia Tate. It was based on Lively's allegations against her co-star in her complaint filed a day before.

Justin Baldoni at It Ends With Us New York premiere (Image via Getty)

Baldoni's lawsuit, signed by him and nine others, is an 87-page document filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court accusing The Times of "promissory fraud and breach of implied-in-fact contract."

It alleges the publication of indulging in a smear campaign alongside Likely to harm Baldoni's reputation. However, Justin Baldoni has not named the actress as a defendant in the suit. In his lawsuit, Baldoni has countered most of Lively's claims in her previous complaint filed with the California Civil Rights Department.

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The legal battle is ongoing, and how Blake Lively's team responds to it remains to be seen.