Justin Baldoni countersues Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds; seeks RM1.8bil-plus in damages

Justin Baldoni (centre) countered in the newly filed court documents that Blake Lively (left) hijacked the production of 'It Ends With Us' and that she defamed him and, with Ryan Reynolds (right), sought to extort him. Photo: AP

Hollywood power couple Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are being targeted in a US$400mil (RM1.8bil) defamation suit by Justin Baldoni, Lively's co-star on bleak romance It Ends With Us -- the latest caustic twist in the legal battle engulfing the film.

The suit from Baldoni, who also directed the film, comes weeks after Lively filed a sexual harassment complaint against him, protesting her treatment on set, and then a lawsuit accusing him of launching a retaliatory media campaign against her.