In August 2024, the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel It Ends With Us hit cinemas around the world, amid rumours there had been a falling out between the film’s star Blake Lively and the film’s director and co-star Justin Baldoni.
The film grossed $345 million globally and speculation around what happened between Blake and Justin eventually died down.
Then in December of that year, Blake filed a legal complaint about Justin. That complaint would lead to the two stars becoming locked in a complicated legal battle, which is still going on at the time of publishing.
Here’s what you need to know about the ‘feud’ between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.
WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN BLAKE LIVELY AND JUSTIN BALDONI?
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni first met on the set of the film adaptation of It Ends With Us, a novel by Colleen Hoover about a woman who begins a relationship with a man who eventually physically and emotionally abuses her.
Blake played the main character, Lily Bloom, in the film and Justin depicted her abusive partner, Ryle Kincaid. Justin also directed the film.
When it came time for the cast to go on the promotional trail for the film, Justin and Blake were noticeably never in the same room. While Justin appeared in interviews alone, Blake appeared on red carpets with the rest of the cast.
This distance fuelled rumours there had been a falling out between the two stars. Soon, there were media reports about a supposed feud between the two actors, alleged misconduct by Justin and a possible creative coup from Blake.
Blake then began to attract criticism for the way she was promoting the film. Some people felt the 38-year-old actress’s floral wardrobe and the way she was talking about the film was leading people to believe it was a romantic comedy and not a movie about domestic violence.
People also noticed that Blake was using collaborations with her hair-care, beverage, and alcohol brands to promote the film.
Soon, old clips of Blake being “rude” to her former co-stars surfaced online and she became one of the biggest trending topics online.
IS BLAKE LIVELY SUING JUSTIN BALDONI?
On December 24, 2024, Blake filed a legal complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, in which she accused Justin, his production studio Wayfarer, his business partners, and several publicists of mounting a smear campaign against her after she complained about sexual harassment on the set of It Ends With Us.
In her complaint, the Gossip Girl star accused 41-year-old Justin and Wayfarer CEO Jamey Heath of creating “a hostile work environment that nearly derailed production,” and behaving towards, and speaking to, their female colleagues in inappropriate and sexually charged ways.
She said Wayfarer were initially supportive of her when she made an internal complaint and even signed off on a 17-point list of protections that she demanded the studio put in place. However, she believed that during the promo trail, Justin colluded with publicists to smear her public reputation in order to protect his public image as a “feminist”.
The New York Times then published an article about her claims, which was co-authored by prominent Me Too reporter Megan Twohey. The article included text messages between Justin and his team, which seemed to show them conspiring to damage Blake’s public image.
On December 31, she filed a lawsuit against Justin which repeated her claims and accused him of sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, and false-light invasion of privacy.
That same day, Justin sued The New York Times for defamation and alleged that Blake and her team had doctored the texts to cover up a plot between them to tarnish Justin’s reputation and launch a “hostile takeover” of the film. In his $250 million suit against the Times, Justin said the paper had “‘cherry picked’ and altered communications stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced” the text messages to support Blake’s narrative.
In mid-January, the Jane The Virgin star filed a $400 million lawsuit against Blake, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and her publicist Leslie Stone, accusing them of defamation and extortion.
He claimed the A Simple Favour actress used her star power and Hollywood connections to take over the film’s production. He said the actress took over her wardrobe from the costume designer, rewrote the script, demanded to see the dailies and insisted on editing the film herself.
He also claimed that after Blake’s own promotional activities tarnished her reputation, she sought to put the blame on Justin.
In response to the suit, Blake’s team said Justin’s claims were “another chapter in the abuser playbook” and they moved to have Justin’s suits dismissed.
WHY IS TAYLOR SWIFT NO LONGER FRIENDS WITH BLAKE LIVELY?
Speculation is now rife that Taylor Swift is no longer friends with Blake Lively after her name was dragged into the legal drama.
In the suits, Justin claimed that Blake pressured him into allowing her to rewrite the dialogue for the “rooftop scene” in It Ends With Us, where Blake and Justin’s characters first meet.
Justin said he felt pressured to accept her notes after Ryan and one of Blake’s “famous friends” approached him with praise about her edits.
According to his filing, Blake later told him that Ryan and Taylor were her biggest cheerleaders, comparing herself to Game of Thrones character Daenerys Targaryen.
“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,” she allegedly wrote in a text message at the time.
Earlier this month, when Taylor announced her new album would be released in October, eagle-eyed fans noticed one song was titled ‘Ruin the Friendship’ which has led to further speculation that the famous friends have fallen out over the It Ends With Us drama.
WHAT IS HAPPENING BETWEEN BLAKE LIVELY AND JUSTIN BALDONI NOW?
On June 9, a judge dismissed Justin’s $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times, as well as his $450 million lawsuit against Blake, Ryan, and publicist Leslie Stone.
In a statement, Blake’s lawyers called the dismissal a “total victory and complete vindication for Blake Lively, along with those that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties dragged into their retaliatory lawsuit, including Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Sloane and The New York Times“.
“As we have said from day one, this ‘$400 million’ lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it,” the statement continued. “We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys’ fees, treble damages and punitive damages against Baldoni, Sarowitz, Nathan, and the other Wayfarer Parties who perpetrated this abusive litigation.”
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