The feud between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively has forced fans of “It Ends with Us” to take sides. Due to speculation about both celebrities not being seen with one another in theaters, premieres or interviews on the red carpet, fans’ suspicions of Lively and Baldoni clashing were confirmed.
Lively, co-producer and actress, filed a lawsuit against director and co-star Baldoni Dec. 20, 2024, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation.
According to Rolling Stone, Lively claims Baldoni “orchestrated a smear campaign against her.” However, Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, responded and said Lively is trying to protect her reputation after numerous PR concerns following the film’s release.
When the movie was released Aug. 9, 2024, fans criticized Lively for using the film as an opportunity to promote her hair care line, Blake Brown. She also stated in a viral clip to “grab your friends and wear your florals” to go see the movie which caused her to face backlash from fans.
Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios promoted the film by partnering with No More Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to helping those who experience domestic violence or sexual assault. Despite his advocacy efforts, several cast and crew members unfollowed Baldoni after the movie was released, including Lively, Brandon Sklenar, who plays Atlas, and Colleen Hoover, the author of the novel.
It is rumored the cast and crew of the film said Baldoni was extremely difficult to work with and made Lively uncomfortable about her “postpartum body.” In Lively’s lawsuit, it was alleged Baldoni even went as far as to contact her personal trainer about her weight without her knowing.
Baldoni countered the claim, explaining he needed to know Lively's weight due to ongoing back injury to properly prepare himself.
Lively alleged Baldoni made inappropriate passes at her such as whispering in her ear sexual connotations or kissing longer than what was scripted. She created a legal contract between the CEO of Wayfarer Studios, Jamey Heath, Baldoni and herself which stated 30 provisions such as “no more descriptions of their own genitalia to Blake Lively” and “no more pressing by Baldoni to sage any of Blake Lively’s employees.”
Sony Entertainment made this meeting essential for Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios to continue the production of the film with Lively on set.
Sony sided with Lively, giving her the producer’s credit for the film and permitting her to promote the film without Baldoni. Later, at the movie premiere, Baldoni was seen taking solo shots, resulting in fans speculating about Lively and Baldoni’s alleged feud.
As tensions rose, Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios hired crisis management expert Melissa Nathan and publicist Jennifer Abel to investigate Lively’s allegations. Lively filed a complaint to the California Civil Rights Department Dec. 20, 2024, claiming Baldoni invaded her privacy when he entered her trailer while she was undressed, commented on her weight and designed a PR campaign against her.
Baldoni claimed Lively used “an imbalance of power” as a woman to take over his role as the film’s director. His goal, along with Nathan and Abel, was to protect himself and reveal the truth about Lively’s intentions.
According to The New York Times text messages between Nathan, Abel and Baldoni were revealed in the lawsuit saying they could “bury anyone."
Baldoni was also seen sending negative social media posts about Lively to Nathan and Abel. Baldoni’s former publicist, Stephanie Jones, obtained the text messages through Abel’s work phone which was given to Lively through a subpoena.
Due to The New York Times publishing these messages without Baldoni’s consent, Baldoni sued the publication for libel defamation for $250 million. Freedman and Baldoni would reply to the publication of the text messages stating there were “omitted” parts of messages such as emojis conveying underlying satire.
Freedman claims Lively is “making up false stories with the media as an attempt to rehash a narrative.” He wrote her claims were “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious,” as the PR stunt helped Lively draw fans’ curiosity.
As a result, the talent agency William Morris Endeavor dropped Baldoni a day after Lively filed her lawsuit. In addition to WME, Vital Voices, a fellowship program for women leaders revoked the Voices of Solidarity award which was given to Baldoni in December of 2023. The award is given for recognizing domestic violence and advocating for women globally, but Vital Voices no longer wanted to have ties with Baldoni’s sexual misconduct accusations.
Despite Baldoni facing backlash and career changes, Freedman claimed in an interview with American journalist and attorney Megyn Kelly he is going to sue Lively “into oblivion” and it is going to be the kind of lawsuit that is “full of evidence, emissions, documents which prove exactly what she did.”
“(She) bullied her way through the process to take over the movie,” Freedman said. “And used her PR people to try and destroy Justin."
Freedman vaguely revealed they will carefully evaluate who else is going to be sued such as actor Ryan Reynolds who revealed during the movie premiere he wrote a scene in the film. Freedman revealed everyone, including Sony Entertainment, was shocked and had no idea he contributed to the writing of the film.
Reynolds also made underlying references which were allegedly made at Baldoni in the movie “Deadpool and Wolverine” with a different version of his character Nice Pool. The male-feminist character is seen as “obnoxious” and “faux sensitive” which Freedman claims is supposed to mock Baldoni in the film. In another scene, Deadpool begs for an intimacy coordinator which Freedman claims is oddly too specific for the reference to be a coincidence in his interview with Kelly.
As more information is uncovered, Freedman claims Baldoni was forced to “take the high road” on many occasions he felt was unjust, but as motivation, he kept remembering why he created the film in the first place.
“The amount of women who feel seen that’s why we did this,” Baldoni said. “And it worked.”
