Blake Lively reveals shocking text messages in lawsuit against It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni
A legal filing submitted by Blake Lively against Justin Baldoni claims to show text messages allegedly shared between the actor and the PR team he reportedly hired with the premise of ‘destroying’ the actress's reputation.
It Ends with Us, the motion picture adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, stars Lively, 37, as protagonist Lily Blossom Bloom—a Boston-based florist who falls in love with an abusive neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid (played by Baldoni).
Following the flick’s release in August, social media began weighing in on the reported ‘feud’ that the mother-of-four and Baldoni - who also served as the movie’s director - were embroiled in.
The filmmaker previously tried to play down the fall-out rumours, claiming Lively was ‘incredible’ to work with while describing her as a ‘Ferrari of an actor’, as per ELLE UK.
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But on Friday (December 21), the Gossip Girl favorite filed a legal suit accusing Baldoni of ‘repeated sexual harassment’ and embarking on a ‘multi-tiered plan’ to damage her reputation. And she allegedly has the receipts to prove it.
What do the alleged messages filed in the lawsuit say?
The legal complaint was filed to the California Civil Rights Department and contains pages of text messages allegedly sent between Baldoni and his PR team, as per Sky News.
It’s understood Lively’s legal aid acquired text messages sent between Jennifer Abel of PR firm RWA Communications, Melissa Nathan of The Agency Group PR, and Baldoni as a result of a subpoena.
The attorney representing Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios claims Lively’s accusations are ‘completely false’ and are engineered to be ‘intentionally salacious'.
He added that the studio and its PR team ‘did nothing proactive nor retaliated’ against Lively, adding that crisis PR managers were brought in ‘due to the multiple demands and threats made by Ms Lively during production’.
In the lawsuit, Lively claimed: "As early as May 2024, Mr. Baldoni told his team that they needed a plan to get ahead of the claims against him, in the event they were to go public.”
One of the damning message exchanges shows Abel telling Nathan that Baldoni 'wants to feel like she can be buried' - an alleged reference to Lively.
“Of course - but you know when we send over documents we can't send over the work we will or could do because that could get us in a lot of trouble," Nathan replied. "We can't write we will destroy her.”
Another message saw Abel telling Nathan about the ‘reckless thoughts’ she was having of planting ‘pieces this week of how horrible Blake is to work with'.
She added: “Just to get ahead of it. She's putting us through hell.”
In an additional message, Baldoni attached a screenshot of a thread on X accusing a celebrity of bullying which had gone viral, telling Abel: "This is what we would need." Abel reassured him she had 'spoken to Melissa about this'.
A message dated August 10 suggested there had been a ‘shift on social’, with another stating the ‘majority of the socials are so pro Justin and I don’t even agree with half of them.’
What else does the lawsuit allege?
Lively has also alleged that the It Ends with Us director ‘cried’ in his dressing room after seeing pictures of her while acting on set.
“Mr. Baldoni made the rest of the cast and crew wait for hours while he cried in Ms. Lively's dressing room, claiming social media commentators were saying that Ms. Lively looked old and unattractive based on paparazzi photos from the set,” the filing cites.
“She tried to reassure him that she should look authentic in the scenes depicted in the photos, which were just after her character had been abused by her fictional husband, rather than 'hot.'”
It’s also claimed that Lively was subjected to criticisms about ‘her age and weight’ by Baldoni, and that he ‘routinely degraded her’.
Meanwhile, an alleged ‘all hands’ meeting was called to address issues ‘that had nearly derailed production of the film’, with NBC News stating Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, were in attendance with Baldoni and executives from Sony Pictures Entertainment and Wayfarer Studios.
What does Lively say about the suit?
Following the contents of the suit entering public knowledge, Lively’s attorney told The New York Times on behalf of the Green Lantern star: "I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.”
LADbible Group has previously contacted representatives of Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni and Sony Pictures for further comment.
Topics: Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Film and TV, Celebrity, US News
Ella Scott