Justin Baldoni accuses Blake Lively of enlisting Taylor Swift to 'pressure' him in explosive new lawsuit

Justin Baldoni has accused Blake Lively of enlisting one of her 'mega-celebrity friends' to 'pressure' him into letting her rewrite the It Ends With Us script in an explosive new lawsuit that he filed against her on Thursday.

The Gossip Girl alum, 37, and the actor, 40, have been embroiled in a legal battle ever since she accused him of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment while filming the hugely popular Colleen Hoover adaptation in a complaint filed with the California Civil Rights Department last month.

And now, in the latest turn of events, Justin - who along with starring in the film, also directed it - has responded by filing a bombshell countersuit against her, in which he made a slew of shocking claims.

In the latest filing, Justin alleged that Blake got one of her famous pals involved after he told her that he wasn't sure he would use some of the changes she had made to a 'pivotal scene' of the movie.

And he claimed the unnamed A-lister, along with Blake's husband, Ryan Reynolds, made him feel like he 'needed to comply with Blake's direction for the script.'

Justin's lawyer wrote in the court documents that Blake 'asked if she could "take a pass" at writing' the part of the flick that showed their two characters meeting on a rooftop near the start of the film.

His attorney noted that he 'agreed to take a look' at her version, but was 'hesitant' to use it because it 'dramatically differed from what had been written originally.'

'He thanked [Blake] for her passion and diplomatically told her that the scene would likely end up being somewhere between the original version and [Blake's] version,' the documents continued. 

Blake then allegedly invited Justin over to her house to discuss her rewrite, where her husband, Ryan, 'launched into enthusiastic praise for [Blake's version of the scene],' according to the lawsuit. 

'Hours later, as the meeting was ending, a famous, and famously close, friend of [Ryan and Blake], walked into the room and similarly began praising [Blake's] script,' the documents read.

'[Justin] understood the subtext: he needed to comply with [Blake's] direction for the script.'

Justin's lawyer said he texted Blake afterwards 'to say that he had liked her pages and hadn't needed [Ryan] and her mega-celebrity friend to pressure him.'

While Justin did not name the celebrity pal he was referring to in the court documents, it is possible that he was talking about Taylor Swift, who is a longtime friend of Blake's.

He included screenshots of his and Blake's text conversations, and one message showed him mentioning someone named Taylor.

'Was working on rooftop scene today, I really love what you did. It really does [help] a lot,' he wrote in the message.

'Makes it so much more fun and interesting. And I would have felt that way without Ryan and Taylor.'

DailyMail.com has reached out to Taylor's representative for comment.

The documents also included a message sent from the Gossip Girl alum to Justin that read: '[Ryan and the unnamed celebrity friend] are my most trusted partners and the people I go to first with anything creative I touch.

'And I'm the person they each go to first. That reciprocal creativity and support has been one of my life's greatest and most fulfilling gifts.

'When they loved and signed off on the [script re-writes I did], I felt good to send them to you. They asked what you thought specifically after.

'They checked in so many times. I told them that you laughed a bunch and said it's probably a blend but you appreciate my passion so much, which of course didn't feel great for me. Or them. To have my passion be praised instead of any specific contribution.' 

In her message, Blake said that Ryan and her unnamed celebrity friend 'wanted her and Justin to see how they felt about the work because they had been by her side for far too many experiences she was she was overlooked.' 

'Both Ryan and [blanked out name] have established themselves as absolute titans as writers and storytellers outside of their primary gig,' the message continued.

'I'm so lucky to have them as creative barometers. But also to have them as people who prop me up and make sure I'm seen for all I can do and do offer.

'They know firsthand all I contribute. They also know I'm not always as good at making sure I'm seen and utilized for fear of threatening egos, or fear of affecting the ease of the process. 

'They don't give a s**t about that. And because of that, everyone listens to them with immense respect and enthusiasm.'

'The message could not have been clearer. [Justin] was not just dealing with [Blake],' the lawsuit added. 

'He was also facing ... two of the most influential and wealthy celebrities in the world, who were not afraid to make things very difficult for him.' 

The lawsuit alleged that Blake then 'began altering the script daily' after that, adding, 'The frequency of [her] revisions alarmed the producers, director, and studio, who anticipated that her interference would persist "every day of the shoot" and disrupt the carefully planned production schedule.

'Each shooting day was intricately scheduled long in advance, and [Blake's] constant changes placed significant stress on the production crew, not to mention financial strain on [production team Wayfarer Studios].' 

In a statement to DailyMail.com, Justin's lawyer Bryan Freedman said, 'This lawsuit is a legal action based on an overwhelming amount of untampered evidence detailing Blake Lively and her team’s duplicitous attempt to destroy Justin Baldoni, his team and their respective companies by disseminating grossly edited, unsubstantiated, new and doctored information to the media. 

'It is clear based on our own all out willingness to provide all complete text messages, emails, video footage and other documentary evidence that was shared between the parties in real time, that this is a battle she will not win and will certainly regret. 

'Blake Lively was either severely misled by her team or intentionally and knowingly misrepresented the truth. 

'Ms. Lively will never again be allowed to continue to exploit actual victims of real harassment solely for her personal reputation gain at the expense of those without power.

'Let’s not forget, Ms. Lively and her team attempted to bulldoze reputations and livelihoods for heinously selfish reasons through their own dangerous manipulation of the media before even taking any actual legal action. 

'We know the truth, and now the public does too. Justin and his team have nothing to hide, documents do not lie.'

Justin previously accused Ryan of 'berating' him during a 'traumatic' meeting about the film at the couple's home in a $250 million libel lawsuit that he filed against the New York Times earlier this month.

'[Ryan] launched into a tirade, berating [Justin] in what [Justin] later described as a "traumatic" encounter, stating he had "never been spoken to like that in his life,"' the lawsuit read.

Justin's lawyers also claimed that Ryan's 'berating' was 'delivered, perhaps intentionally, as other celebrity friends were coming in and out of their penthouse.' 

However, a source told TMZ afterwards that Justin's take on the meeting was 'way overblown.'

The publication said Ryan 'was not screaming and berating' Justin, but instead claimed that the Deadpool actor spoke to him in an 'angry and stern' matter. 

'He spoke in an "impassioned" way but it did not rise to the level of screaming or berating,' the outlet added. 

The insider also claimed to the outlet that 'other celebrities' were not coming and going' during the meeting. 

Blake made a series of allegations against Justin in her 80-page complaint, including that he had barged into her trailer while she was breastfeeding her child and 'routinely degraded [her] by finding back channel ways of criticizing her body and weight.'

Her lawyers also claimed that Justin and his team retaliated against her harassment complaints by 'battering her image, harming her businesses, and causing her and her family severe emotional harm.' 

Blake mentioned her pal Taylor in her lawsuit when she included an email that a crisis management expert working for Justin had sent on August 6.

According to the email, it appeared Justin's team was concerned about the overlap of Blake's supporters and Taylor's fanbase. 

In preparation for a hypothetical scenario of how viral an issue could become if raised by Blake, just based on her friendship with the superstar, a separate 'scenario planning' document showed how they allegedly intended to 'plant stories' against Blake and Taylor. 

The aforementioned email read: 'We have seen the most innocuous issues turn giant due to socials or the hugest crises have no effect on social whatsoever. 

'You just cannot tell at this stage. But BL does have some of the same TS fanbase so we will be taking it extremely seriously. 

Justin has denied all of the claims against him in Blake's legal filing. 

Last week, Blake was accused of serving Justin's team with legal documents as some of them tried to save their homes from the devastating Los Angeles wildfires.

'It is beyond despicable that Blake Lively's team sent court servers to the noticeably damaged homes of Justin Baldoni’s team while they were preparing to evacuate with a young child inside on the same day as one of the largest tragedies that Los Angeles has ever witnessed,’ a source told DailyMail.com exclusively. 

'This desperate act of ego and privilege is even more horrendous set against the recent events in LA.

‘The defendants in her suit and their legal team have lost homes, been forced to evacuate and yet are still made to fight for their livelihoods and reputation against these egoistical people. Certainly a new, unforgivable low for Ms. Lively.'

A spokesperson for Blake insisted that they have 'paused all attempts at service' amid the ongoing emergency.

'We have been attempting to serve all of the defendants since the end of last year,' they said in a statement to DailyMail.com.

‘This is a standard part of all lawsuits – and is legally required. We have paused all attempts at service until the emergency conditions in LA have passed.'