Justin Baldoni has launched a website leaking new texts allegedly from Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds amid their legal battle.
Baldoni and Lively have been embroiled in a legal battle since late last year after the Gossip Girl alum sued her It Ends With Us co-star for alleged sexual harassment.
Baldoni, who also directed the movie, then filed a countersuit against Lively and her husband, Reynolds, for $400 million for claims of civil extortion, defamation, false light invasion of privacy and more.
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Michael Gottlieb, an attorney for the Hollywood couple, told the judge that 'the Lively-Reynolds Parties intend to move to dismiss Plaintiffs' complaint,' according to documents seen by Variety.
There have been a lot of allegations made between the celebs' respective legal teams, as Lively also accused Baldoni and his team, including his company Wayfarer Studios, of concocting a plan to 'destroy her reputation' and of orchestrating a smear campaign against her.
Baldoni's team have denied all the claims, and have now released a website sharing what they claim is proof that Baldoni was not trying to ruin Lively's reputation. In fact, they claim, it was the other way around.
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Along with his lawsuit, Baldoni has released a 'timeline of relevant events' which contains new alleged text messages Baldoni claims Lively and Reynolds sent to him.
Reynolds expresses his excitement that Baldoni and Lively are working together
On February 28, 2021, Baldoni sent Reynolds a long text sharing how much he is looking forward to working with Lively.
Reynolds responds: "You've hit the jackpot with B. She literally passes on every film and every filmmaker all the time.
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"I'm excited for Blake to crack open her creative piggy bank with someone as dynamic as you.
"This is gonna be INCREDIBLE. … I happen to adore you, Justin."
Discussion of the rooftop scene, which Lively reworked
There has already been much debate about a scene in It Ends With Us which Lively asked to rewrite.
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She wrote in a text to Baldoni: "You OK if I play around with the dialogue to give her a bit more agency and fun and send to you? We can amp up their verbal ping pong/volley."
She continued in another text: "If you knew me (in person) longer you’d have a sense of how flirty and yummy the ball busting will play. It’s my love language. Spicy and playfully bold, never with teeth…."
The statement Lively and Reynolds allegedly drafted for Baldoni
Amid negative press around Lively during the film's press tour, her talent agency WME allegedly demanded that Baldoni and production studio Wayfarer take full accountability for negative stories about Lively, otherwise the 'gloves will come off'. They believed Baldoni's team were planting negative stories about Lively.
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The statement they wrote for Baldoni reads in part: "It Ends With Us was a troubled production which we take full accountability for. Blake Lively, Colleen Hoover, the entire cast and crew led with professionalism every step of the way, any negativity aimed at them is ours to own.
"We have always said we are not perfect and even if [we] unintentionally make mistakes, we always own them."
Lively's team on Baldoni's website
The website has long been threatened by Baldoni's legal team. Lively's lawyer Michael Gottleib told the Daily Mail of their plans: "The planned website will release what Mr. Freedman self-servingly proclaims will be 'full unedited WhatsApp, text and email exchanges between Lively and Baldoni,' although neither the media nor public will have any way of knowing which communications Mr. Freedman has selectively omitted from disclosure, including communications that Mr. Freedman and his clients may have deleted."
On Monday (February 3) we will see the first court hearing in the case, though it remains unclear how long proceedings could take and a resolution is reached.
LADbible Group has reached out to Lively and Reynolds' representatives for comment.
Topics: Celebrity, Hollywood, Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni
Callum Jones