Daily Mail Reporter Sues Over Fallout From Lively-Baldoni Case

Showbiz reporter James Vituscka is suing his former employer, the Daily Mail, claiming he was fired after becoming involved in the legal dispute between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

Vituscka filed the lawsuit Monday in Manhattan Supreme Court. He alleges whistleblower retaliation, discrimination, sexual harassment, interference with protected rights and wrongful termination. He is seeking damages for lost wages, emotional distress and other losses.

Vituscka was covering the fallout from It Ends With Us when he communicated with Lively’s longtime publicist, Leslie Sloane, and Baldoni’s crisis manager, Melissa Nathan. Text messages between Vituscka and Nathan later appeared in Baldoni’s legal filings.

Vituscka says he was pressured by the Daily Mail to sign a declaration about the matter and was discouraged from hiring his own lawyer. He claims the newspaper later changed how his work was supervised before terminating him in June 2025.

The Daily Mail strongly denies his allegations. The newspaper said Vituscka’s lawsuit gives an “inaccurate account” of the circumstances surrounding his declaration and said he was never pressured to sign anything he believed was untrue.

The newspaper also rejected his claims of retaliation, harassment and discrimination, calling them “entirely meritless and unsupported by the facts.”

Vituscka said he believes the lawsuit is about protecting journalistic integrity and holding the Daily Mail accountable for how he was treated.