Justin Baldoni alleges Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Swift pressured him to change ‘It Ends With Us’ script
The ongoing legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni has intensified. Now, Baldoni has appeared to have alleged that Lively used her friend, global pop star Taylor Swift, to pressure him during the filming of It Ends With Us.
The situation between the two actors began on December 31st, 2024, when Blake Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, producer Jamey Heath and his publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel. Her suit accused Baldoni and others of orchestrating a media smear campaign against her, including messages sent between Baldoni and his publicist, in retaliation for her complaints about feeling uncomfortable on the set of their film after facing alleged sexual harassment from Baldoni.
In Lively’s suit, she details a meeting in which Baldoni’s behaviour was confronted on set and demands were made such as “no more showing nude videos or images of women to Lively, no more mention of Baldoni’s alleged previous ‘pornography addiction,’ and no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Lively”. The demands also included that he “should not make inquiries about Lively’s weight” and make “no further mention of her dead father”.
In response, Baldoni, who starred in and directed the film, sued the New York Times, which was the first publication to report on Lively’s complaint. He alleged that the paper had worked with Lively and taken the text messages out of context to defame his character.
At the time, Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, promised that more lawsuits would follow, and they did. On January 16th, Baldoni sued Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for $400 Million, claiming they sought to “destroy him”. However, as well as the two actors’ names, Taylor Swift’s name was dragged into the mix.
While not named directly or brought into the suit as a defendant at all, reference is made to a “Taylor”. In text messages included in the suit, Baldoni discusses a rooftop scene in the film that Lively had allegedly reworked in the script. His lawyers claim that he “felt obliged to text Lively to say that he had liked her pages and hadn’t needed Reynolds and her megacelebrity friend to pressure him.”
According to the filing, Lively summoned Baldoni to her apartment in New York, where Reynolds and a “megacelebrity friend”, who appears to be Taylor Swift, praised Lively’s version of the scene in front of him.
“Also was working on rooftop scene today, I really love what you did. It really does hep a lot,” Baldoni texted Lively after this meeting, adding, “Makes it so much more fun and interesting. (And I would have felt that way without Ryan and Taylor) You really are a talent across the board. Really excited nd grateful to do this together.”
Lively explained their presence in her text response by calling the pair “absolute titans as writers and storytellers outside of their primary gig.” She also added, “They also know I’m not always as good at making sure I’m seen and utilized for fear of threatening egos, or fear of affecting the ease of the process. They don’t give a shit about that. And because of that, everyone listens to them with immense respect and enthusiasm. So I guess I have to stop worrying about people liking me.”
Lively then compared herself to a Game Of Thrones character. She said, “If you ever get around to watching Game of Thrones, you’ll appreciate that I’m Khaleesi, and like her, I happen to have a few dragons. For better or worse, but usually for better. Because my dragons also protect those I fight for. So really we all benefit from those gorgeous monsters of mine. You will too, I can promise you.”
Baldoni’s lawyers and lawsuit claim that this was all a ploy to control and coerce the actor-director. They write in the lawsuit, “The message could not have been clearer,” adding, “Baldoni was not just dealing with Lively. He was also facing Lively’s ‘dragons,’ two of the most influential and wealthy celebrities in the world, who were not afraid to make things very difficult for him.”
Lively and Reynolds are yet to respond to Baldoni’s latest legal filing.
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