Blake Lively is facing a whole new wave of backlash after announcing her next role amid her ongoing legal battle with It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni.
On Thursday, Lionsgate confirmed the Gossip Girl star, 37, would be starring and co-producing their upcoming action rom-com, The Survival List, written by Rye Lane’s Tom Melia.
According to the synopsis on Deadline, the story follows ‘Annie, a highbrow reality TV producer who against her wishes is assigned to a new show hosted by famous survival expert Chopper Lane.’
After a shipwreck strands them on a deserted island, ‘Annie discovers Chopper is a fraud and knows nothing about survival, leaving her in charge of figuring out how to keep them alive.’ As they are forced to work together, they, unexpectedly, discover an unlikely chemistry.
The Survival List is Lively’s first major project since filing a lawsuit against Baldoni in December 2024, accusing him of sexual harassment and retaliation.
The 41-year-old actor and filmmaker has vehemently denied the allegations, and the case is scheduled to go to trial in March 2026.
Blake Lively is facing a whole new wave of backlash after announcing her next role amid her ongoing legal battle with It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni; seen in 2022
Since the release of It Ends With Us in August 2024, Lively has appeared in just one other film, Another Simple Favor, in which she reprised her role as the enigmatic Emily Nelson.
The movie premiered at SXSW in March and dropped on Prime Video in May.
After the latest news broke on Lively’s next gig, social media users were quick to express their disapproval that a studio handed her the reins to another film.
‘Good luck to the director dealing with her drama,’ one wrote on Instagram.
Another quipped: ‘Eeeeek the next director better be ready’
‘Goodspeed to whoever plays the love interest,’ a third tweeted.
‘Who would wanna work alongside her as a love interest after this I would be fearful to have anything to do with any project that she was on in fear that she made claims about me I feel like she’s a liability at this point,’ a fourth asked.
A fifth outraged X user fired: ‘I’m disgusted! Who is hiring her???’
After the latest news broke on Lively’s next gig, social media users were quick to express their disapproval that a studio handed her the reins to another film
One Lively fan came to her defense by writing: ‘You go girl!! You have a lot of fans and believers! And anyone else who wants to come after me you can just take a hike because I have a right to like her and believe her as much as you have the right to dislike her and not believe her.’
Another declared: ‘BLAKE LIVELY IS BACK!’
Lively has been embroiled in a legal wrangle with Baldoni for months.
In December 2024, the actress sued Justin for allegedly sexually harassing her on set — claims he denied – before he and Wayfarer Studios fired back with a defamation suit against Blake, her publicist Leslie Sloane and husband Ryan Reynolds.
Justin also waged war with The New York Times, filing a $250million lawsuit against the publication over its bombshell tell-all on Blake’s sexual harassment claims against her former co-star on December 31, 2024.
On June 9, however, it was learned that a judge dismissed Baldoni’s lawsuit in a major setback for the actor’s hopes for a blockbuster win over the millionaire actress.
Judge Lewis J Liman dismissed Baldoni’s suit alleging defamation and extortion on the basis that all Lively’s allegations were made within privileged court papers.
Lively has been embroiled in a legal wrangle with Baldoni for months
The drama between the two actors officially erupted late last year following the release of It Ends with Us
The judge said in the order obtained by DailyMail.com: ‘The Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements in her CRD complaint, which are privileged.
‘The Wayfarer Parties have alleged that Reynolds and [publicist Leslie] Sloane made additional statements accusing Baldoni of sexual misconduct and that the Times made additional statements accusing the Wayfarer Parties of engaging in a smear campaign.
‘But the Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Reynolds, Sloane or the Times would have seriously doubted these statements were true based on the information available to them, as is required for them to be liable for defamation under applicable law.
‘The Wayfarer Parties’ additional claims also fail. Accordingly, the Amended Complaint must be dismissed in its entirety.’
The judge ruled: ‘The Times reviewed the available evidence and reported, perhaps in a dramatized manner, what it believed to have happened. The Times had no obvious motive to favor Lively’s version of events.’
