Justin Baldoni complained Blake Lively had been setting him ‘up for a trap’ during production of their movie It Ends With Us, text messages unsealed in the ongoing litigation tied to the film reveal.
Baldoni’s exhaustion in making the movie with Lively was clear in the series of messages that were revealed via a recent motion William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME) filed, according to court docs reviewed by People.
Baldoni, 41, complained to his ex-agent at WME, Danny Greenberg, on December 30, 2023 about a ‘really, really bad week’ he had directing the film amid creative clashes with Lively, 38.
Baldoni told his one-time agent that Lively had reached out to him to try and schedule a private meeting at her residence in New York City.
Baldoni said that the topic would likely be how a series of sex scenes in the movie were shot, as Lively had ‘refused’ use of a body double for the intimate on-camera exchanges, according to court docs.
Daily Mail has reached out to reps for Baldoni and Lively for further comment on the story.
‘That’s just setting me up for a trap,’ said Baldoni, who added that Lively had asked for him to use a body double for the scenes instead.
The creative issue led executives from Sony and the film’s producer Todd Black to intervene, Baldoni told Greenberg.
Baldoni said that Lively was politicking for both of them to remain clothed during a scene that called for skin, which contradicted material in the Colleen Hoover book the film was adapted from.
‘If you know the book, it’s just ridiculous,’ Baldoni said.
Baldoni described the situation to Greenberg ‘a gigantic clusterf***,’ and admitted he was willing to concede to 95 percent of Lively’s demands to keep the peace.
Baldoni described Lively as ‘an actress who is rewriting the writer and director’ and said the process had been ‘very draining’ and ‘time-consuming’ amid the 2023 holiday season.
Baldoni’s complaints preceded an ‘all-hands’ on deck meeting that Lively, Ryan Reynolds and studio execs were present for, in which Lively asked for 17 different stipulations.
A source close to Lively told Daily Mail in response that these messages were sent only after Blake had expressed her ire with the aforementioned elements of production.
The case is slated to return to court for a January 22 hearing, with a May 18 trial date looming.
The latest news in the case comes as the contentious legal battle between Lively and Baldoni has gone on more than a year.
In December of 2024, Lively named Baldoni in a lawsuit accusing him of sexual harassment, retaliatory conduct, and intentional infliction of emotional stress.
In her lawsuit, the actress accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her in multiple ways – including body shaming her – and orchestrating a smear campaign against her to damage her reputation.
In her lawsuit, Lively named a number of Baldoni’s collaborators, including his company Wayfarer Studios, the studio’s CEO and financial backer, and PR personnel.
Baldoni had initially asked for $250 million in damages from The New York Times, mentioning a report it published on the topic that he claimed was defamatory, then added it to the $400 million lawsuit he filed this past January.
In the suit, Baldoni named Lively, her spouse Ryan Reynolds and her publicist Leslie Sloane, citing the aforementioned report in legal documents. It was thrown out of court this past June. All parties have denied all of the allegations against them.
This past month, attorneys for Lively said Baldoni and his legal team had stepped over the line with ‘probative’ inquisitions over her sex life in depositions linked to the case.
‘Ms. Lively’s sexual and/or romantic history has no bearing on the matters at issue in this case and we will not tolerate such examination, which will be the subject of a protective order and sanctions motion if it happens again,’ her legal team told the court December 19, Page Six reported.
Lively’s legal team also claimed Baldoni’s attorneys displayed a ‘lack of basic decorum’ during deposition with inappropriate behavior such as ‘insulting comments, audible cross-talk and laughter during examination.’
It Ends with Us earned $148 million in domestic box office and $350 million globally – but whatever goodwill the film garnered has since been overshadowed by the allegations made by its stars.
The motion picture, which also starred Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, Brandon Sklenar and Kevin McKidd, was based on the 2016 novel by Colleen Hoover.
The storyline of the film centered around a toxic relationship between Lily Bloom (played by Lively) and Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni).
According to a logline for the film, Lily ‘overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life,’ as ‘a chance meeting with a neurosurgeon sparks a connection but Lily begins to see sides of him that remind her of her parents’ relationship.’
