The legal war between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni has now produced an unexpected casualty beyond the two stars. A showbiz reporter who was pulled into the bitter dispute because of private messages that became part of the court record is now suing his former employer.
James Vituscka, a former senior U.S. entertainment reporter for the Daily Mail, claims the newspaper retaliated against him after his involvement in the Lively-Baldoni case. He alleges he was pressured to sign a declaration he was uncomfortable with and later fired. The Daily Mail strongly denies the claims and says the lawsuit is without merit.
How a Reporter Got Drawn Into the Lively-Baldoni Fight
Vituscka was covering the controversy surrounding the film "It Ends With Us" when his conversations with people close to the dispute unexpectedly placed him inside the legal battle. According to his court documents, Blake Lively's longtime publicist Leslie Sloane told him in August 2024 that Baldoni was the source of tension on the film's set. However, Vituscka maintains that Sloane never told him that Baldoni had sexually harassed or assaulted Lively.
In December 2024, Lively filed a sexual-harassment complaint against Baldoni. Vituscka then contacted Baldoni's crisis manager, Melissa Nathan, about an apparent discrepancy. During that exchange, he accidentally used the words "sexually assaulted" rather than "sexually harassed." He says he later clarified that Sloane had never told him anything about sexual harassment. Those messages ended up in Baldoni's legal filings, placing Vituscka at the center of the dispute. He claims his comments were selectively quoted and stripped of context, after which he was subpoenaed for documents and testimony.
The Daily Mail Lawsuit Details
Vituscka's lawsuit alleges that his involvement became a problem at the Daily Mail. He says the subpoena triggered a disagreement with the newspaper over how he should respond, and the disagreement eventually led to changes in how his work was supervised. He further claims the newspaper discouraged him from hiring his own lawyer and instead pressured him to sign a declaration containing language he was uncomfortable with, including a statement that he regretted the actions that led to his involvement.
His termination came in June 2025, according to the lawsuit. The complaint, filed Monday in Manhattan Supreme Court, accuses the Daily Mail of whistleblower retaliation, sex and disability discrimination, sexual harassment, interference with protected rights, and wrongful termination. Vituscka is seeking damages including lost wages, emotional-distress damages, and punitive damages.
Daily Mail's Strong Response
The Daily Mail has categorically denied Vituscka's allegations. In a statement, the newspaper called the lawsuit "an inaccurate account of the circumstances surrounding the declaration he signed in connection with the Lively-Baldoni litigation." The outlet specifically disputed the claim that Vituscka was pressured into signing something he believed was untrue.
"At no point did Daily Mail pressure James to sign a declaration he believed to be untrue," the newspaper said. It added that "the declaration he signed was consistent with what he had already told senior management after the Baldoni complaint first came to our attention." The Daily Mail also defended its expectations of its journalists, saying, "As a trusted news organization, we expect our journalists to act with honesty and integrity, and we rely upon that important expectation."
The newspaper rejected Vituscka's characterization of himself as a whistleblower who suffered retaliation or discrimination. It said his claims "are entirely meritless and unsupported by the facts, and we are confident they will be soundly dismissed."
Broader Fallout: New Deposition Fight
The Lively-Baldoni fallout has spread into other corners as well. A few days before Vituscka's lawsuit became public, a report revealed that Jed Wallace, a Texas-based PR consultant who worked with Baldoni's team, was seeking another opportunity to question Lively under oath. The request came as Lively pursued legal fees tied to the litigation, creating a separate dispute even after Wallace's own case against her was dismissed.
Lively's attorneys strongly opposed the request, arguing that Wallace had already had his opportunity to depose her. They called the move "another desperate, meritless attempt by Wallace to go after Ms. Lively." Wallace's attorneys said they needed additional information before money could be released in connection with Lively's bid to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees and costs from him.
Nearly $8 Million in Legal Fees Sought
Lively's request for legal fees stems from a larger financial demand she made after her litigation with Baldoni moved toward a settlement. In June, she asked a federal judge to award her approximately $8 million to cover legal fees and expenses connected to Baldoni's now-dismissed lawsuit against her. Her filing sought about $7.5 million in attorneys' fees and roughly $540,000 in additional costs, including legal research, travel, and meals accumulated during the lengthy litigation.
Court filings also revealed that Lively's lead lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, billed $2,187 per hour while working on the case, below his standard rate of $2,350. The request followed the dismissal of Baldoni's lawsuit in June 2025 and the eventual resolution of the remaining litigation in 2026.
Background of the Lively-Baldoni Dispute
The underlying conflict began on the set of "It Ends With Us," an adaptation of Colleen Hoover's best-selling novel. Lively played the lead role, while Baldoni directed and starred opposite her. Reports of tension on set surfaced long before the legal complaints became public. When Lively filed her sexual-harassment complaint in December 2024, she also accused Baldoni of orchestrating a smear campaign against her. Baldoni denied the allegations and sued Lively and her team for extortion, defamation, and other claims. Lively countersued, and the two sides engaged in a bitter, months-long legal war.
The case attracted intense media scrutiny and led to the release of a documentary that further complicated the narrative. Lively and Baldoni eventually resolved their litigation, but the financial and professional consequences continue to play out. Vituscka's lawsuit is the latest example of how far-reaching the conflict has become.
For now, the reporter is fighting a separate legal battle over what happened after his reporting became entangled with the Lively-Baldoni litigation. The Daily Mail appears ready to contest every allegation, setting up yet another courtroom clash in a saga that has already produced multiple lawsuits and countersuits.
Source: MSN News