Justin Baldoni, actor and co-founder of Wayfarer Studios, filed suit against actress Blake Lively, his co-star in the film ‘It Ends With Us,’ along with her celebrity husband Ryan Reynolds and publicist Leslie Sloane for $400 million. This new filing by Mr. Baldoni in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York follows a prior suit filed in late December against him by Ms. Lively.

Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni includes co-plaintiffs Wayfarer CEO Jamey Heath and publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel. Legal documents accuse the defendants of civil extortion, defamation, and numerous violations of contract in regard to the August movie ‘It Ends With Us.’

Baldoni’s lawsuit is the latest legal filing following the film’s release after Lively first filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department alleging she experienced sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior from Baldoni and his co-plaintiffs. She later filed a civil lawsuit against them alleging a “smear campaign” in the press and on social media "designed to eviscerate Ms. Lively's credibility."

Baldoni and his co-plaintiffs denied all harassment and wrongdoing against Lively. In court papers, they describe their issues as “creative differences,” in essence casting the dispute as a creative struggle over control of the film between Baldoni and Lively.

Prior to this new lawsuit filed by Baldoni and co-plaintiffs, he had filed a $250 million suit against The New York Times for its reporting about Ms. Lively’s alleged mistreatment on the set of the film ‘It Ends With Us.’ The New York Times denies any wrongdoing and says the article was "meticulously and responsibly reported."

In legal documents, Baldoni claims that Lively tried to take advantage of her celebrity and wrest creative control during the filming.

He alleges that what began as a friendly acting relationship soured during the production, claiming Lively rewrote scenes, made wardrobe choices, made her own cut of the footage, and then demanded Baldoni be excluded from promotional events and materials.

In a statement shared with NPR and other media outlets, Wayfarer’s attorney Bryan Freedman had the following to say about Baldoni and company’s latest legal action. “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."

The lawsuit filed by Lively in December, however, is the polar opposite of the lawsuit filed by Baldini and co-plaintiffs. In Lively’s suit, she alleges sexual discrimination, inappropriate behavior by Baldini, and a PR smear campaign that was intended to “destroy” her.

Attorneys for Lively, written to NPR in a statement, said, "This latest lawsuit from Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its associates is another chapter in the abuser playbook. This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim. This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender. Wayfarer has opted to use the resources of its billionaire co-founder to issue media statements, launch meritless lawsuits, and threaten litigation to overwhelm the public's ability to understand that what they are doing is retaliation against sexual harassment allegations."

The suit includes descriptions of Baldoni’s claims that Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds, who was not working on the film, nevertheless interfered in the film, including creating a “traumatic” event for Baldoni by calling him a “sexual predator” in front of the crew.