Justin Baldoni was pictured sitting out the premiere of his film, It Ends With Us, in the basement, after Blake Lively allegedly ‘demanded he not attend.’

In a new lawsuit filed by the director and actor, 40, against his co-star Lively, 37, and her husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, Baldoni claims the couple tried to hijack the film, and relegated him and his family to the basement at the movie’s premiere.

The bombshell suit said, ‘security personnel, acting as though there was a risk of “escape,” escorted Baldoni’s group to the basement of the building’ at the premiere in New York City on August 6, 2024.

Two pH๏τographs included in Baldoni’s lawsuit depict him in a pink suit, posing with a group of people and several popcorn buckets in what seems to be a basement setting. 

Baldoni described the basement as ‘a makeshift holding area surrounded by concession stand stock, with only foldout tables and chairs arranged in a square.’

‘Surrounded by close friends, family, soda bottles, and a lot of love, the irony of being held in a basement on what was arguably one of the most important nights of Baldoni’s career thus far, was not lost on anyone,’ his lawsuit stated.

Justin Baldoni, 40, was pictured sitting out the premiere of his film, It Ends With Us, in the basement, after his co-star Blake Lively, 37, allegedly ‘demanded he not attend’

Baldoni, who is suing Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, claims the couple tried to hijack the film; Lively and Reynolds pictured at the premiere on August 6, 2024 in NYC

Despite being shunned, Baldoni appeared to make the most of the night, and was seen throwing his hands in the air cheerfully in one of the pH๏τos. 

A square red table held buckets of popcorn and soda, with a black curtain visible in the background. 

Another pH๏τo shows Baldoni — who also claims Lively told him ‘to get a nose job’ — posing with a group of elegantly dressed women beside cases of water and soda stacked on wooden crates. 

Read More Bombshell lawsuit accuses Blake Lively of forcing co-star to sit in the basement for the premiere

Baldoni alleges that ahead of the premiere for the domestic abuse movie, Lively ‘threatened that if Baldoni attended the premiere, she and the majority of the cast would boycott. It remained unclear what Lively had communicated to or promised the cast, but they now also refused to attend if Baldoni was present.’

Baldoni and the studio ‘refused to succumb to the bullying tactics’ and ‘refused to give in to this entirely unreasonable demand and valiantly searched for a compromise with Lively’ so they could attend.

He adds that just a few days before the premiere, he still wasn’t sure whether he would be ‘allowed’ to attend.

‘Finally, through Sony, Wayfarer persuaded Lively to “permit” Baldoni and the Wayfarer team, along with their friends and family, to attend—though only under demeaning and humiliating conditions,’ the lawsuit claims.

It goes on to state they were ‘relegated to a separate theater to view the Film, required to arrive at a different time than the rest of the cast, and instructed to leave the red carpet immediately once Lively arrived.’

Baldoni, according to the lawsuit, was also ‘excluded from the official celebrity after-party, despite it being an event ultimately paid for by Sony and Wayfarer.’

He alleges they relegated him and his family to the basement at the New York City premiere. Two pH๏τographs included in Baldoni’s lawsuit depict him in a pink suit, posing with a group of people and several popcorn buckets in what seems to be a basement setting

‘Surrounded by close friends, family, soda bottles, and a lot of love, the irony of being held in a basement on what was arguably one of the most important nights of Baldoni’s career thus far, was not lost on anyone,’ his lawsuit stated

He then had to ‘quickly organize and fund a separate after-party for himself and the Wayfarer team, forcing the company to cover the costs for two events – one for Lively and everyone else, and one for Baldoni and Wayfarer’s own friends, family, crew, and team.’

Though Baldoni did interviews on the red carpet, he claims his time was ‘abruptly cut short when it was conveyed that Lively was on her way, and he was instructed to stop immediately.’

He claims it was then that ‘he and his family were quickly ushered away’ before being escorted ‘to the basement of the building.’ 

The lawsuit further claims Baldoni and his group were later ‘ushered’ in a separate theater to see the movie, after the main area was ‘deemed “clear”‘ of Lively and her guests. 

After the movie, the group were again ‘quickly escorted out of the building by security to avoid even a chance of interaction with Lively or her guests.’

The lawsuit states that the separate after-party was a ‘dry’ event ‘in part to acknowledge the known negative relationship between alcohol and domestic violence.’

It also claims ‘the atmosphere and tone of the Wayfarer after-party were aligned with Baldoni’s vision for the Film, focusing on celebration and graтιтude, despite being humiliated.’

Lively and Reynolds are being sued by Baldoni and his publicists who say the actress cooked up a scheme to kill their careers and discredit them by making false accusations of Sєxual harᴀssment.

Baldoni claims he and his group were ‘relegated to a separate theater to view the Film, required to arrive at a different time than the rest of the cast, and instructed to leave the red carpet immediately once Lively arrived’; seen on the red carpet

After the movie, the group were again ‘quickly escorted out of the building by security to avoid even a chance of interaction with Lively or her guests’

Baldoni claims he was also ‘excluded from the official celebrity after-party, despite it being an event ultimately paid for by Sony and Wayfarer’; Lively seen with her other co-star Brandon Sklenar and husband Reynolds

Court papers obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com accuse Lively and Reynolds of using their combined star power to hijack domestic abuse movie It Ends With Us, with Lively muscling in on production despite allegedly failing to read the book until filming was well under way. 

In addition to not reading the book before filming started, the lawsuit claims she initially pushed back on having to read it at all.

And despite the novel’s dark subject matter, Lively allegedly failed to take it seriously during the promotional campaign – even naming a cocktail after the abusive lead male character.

This, the filing says, is evidence of the ‘insensitivity’ that sparked an ‘organic backlash to the actress last summer.

She also refused to meet with the domestic violence charity Baldoni had paired up with while promoting the film.

Lively’s Sєxual harᴀssment claims first appeared three weeks ago in a New York Times story that included texts sent between his publicists that they now say were cherrypicked and stripped of context to make it appear Baldoni was orchestrating a ‘smear campaign’ against the actress.

But the actor says it was Lively who was the real orchestrator of a negative publicity campaign – alleging that she had been working with her own publicist Leslie Sloane and the New York Times for months before the article was published.

Baldoni is already suing the outlet for $250million for libel and defamation, saying in his lawsuit that the story relied on Lively’s ‘self-serving narrative’. 

The lawsuit against Lively and Reynolds was filed in New York on Thursday 

Baldoni’s suit claimed Lively hadn’t read the book before filming started and she initially pushed back on having to read it at all citing

The suit said Lively allegedly failed to take it seriously during the promotional campaign – even naming a cocktail after the abusive lead male character

The new filing also sheds fresh light on Lively’s behavior during filming, including an incident where the actress threatened Baldoni by emphasizing her celebrity connections and hinting that they could make life difficult for him

Comparing herself to Game of Thrones heroine Khaleesi, Lively allegedly described them as ‘my dragons’ during a row over her rewrite of the film’s rooftop scene

The suit said the backlash Lively got during the film’s publicity campaign was the direct result of her using it to promote her own brands, including her booze company, Betty Buzz, in a tone-deaf way – but not as a result of a smear campaign

The suit goes on to say that she tried to force Baldoni to issue a statement where he would ‘take accountability’ in the face of the backlash and when he refused, plotted to drive him out of the industry altogether via a ‘false allegations of Sєxual harᴀssment’

The new filing is a cross-complaint to Lively’s own, and notes that Baldoni and his publicists were even served papers while trying to evacuate their homes during the devastating LA wildfires that ripped through the city last week.

Lively, the complaint added, was safely at home in New York, even as she deployed process servers’ in the midst of the infernos.

The filing also details how Baldoni’s publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel endured death threats and a torrent of abuse after Lively’s allegations were aired, some of it anti-Semitic.

An industry source told DailyMail.com: ‘The only question to ask now that we can see the full picture is why did Blake make the decision to do this?

‘There can be only two reasons, one she did not think the other side would fight back or two, she herself was shown edited and doctored messages from her own team of advisors.’

‘It will be interesting to see how she handles herself moving forward now that the public has the fully unedited communications in full.’

The new lawsuit comes after months of тιт-for-tat battles between Lively and Baldoni who fell out dramatically over It Ends With Us which the actress has been accused of hijacking.

According to the new lawsuit, the backlash she got during the film’s publicity campaign was the direct result of her using it to promote her own brands, including a booze company, in a tone-deaf way – but not as a result of a smear campaign.

The romantic drama follows Lily Bloom, played by Blake Lively, as she becomes embroiled in an abusive relationship with Justin Baldoni’s Ryle Kincaid.

One alleged point of contention was how the movie should be marketed, with Lively reportedly wanting to make the tale more upbeat in contrast to Baldoni, who felt it should be more focused on the abuse aspect.

It Ends With Us, based on the 2016 bestseller by Colleen Hoover, was released in August and was a box office hit, grossing more than $350million against a $25million production budget

As rumors of the feud persisted, social media reaction began to turn against Lively, who has been repeatedly criticized for her responses in interviews promoting the movie.

She was blasted as ‘tone deaf’ and ‘shallow’ after she hosted an interview with her It Ends With Us costars and failed to discuss the serious message behind the movie.

Another clash came when Baldoni asked how much Lively weighed prior to a scene in which he was supposed to lift her.

The A-list actress reportedly said this made her feel ‘fat-shamed’, while those close to Baldoni insisted that he was just trying to protect his back following an injury.

Unlike many project where controversy affects the box office, It Ends With Us still emerged a box office hit, despite mixed reviews from critics.