After It Ends With Us premiered over the summer, Blake Lively received backlash for how she promoted the domestic violence drama, with people calling her a mean girl. She later fought back with a lawsuit against her co-star, but his receipts are not looking good.
Lively filed an initial CRD in California on Dec. 20 against Justin Baldoni and the producers of the film, citing sexual harassment and a smear campaign to ruin her reputation. A day after, a The New York Times feature ensued, covering her complaint with text messages and additional information. Baldoni later filed a lawsuit against the outlet and one against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and her publicist Leslie Sloane.
Baldoni has been working hard to clear his name and recently amended his lawsuit with a timeline. One includes a text message allegedly from Lively discussing the rooftop scene. In it, the actress was making a case to get to write the important movie scene where the two characters, Lily and Ryle meet, adding that she can make it more “flirty and yummy,” because that’s her love language.
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The actor’s team shared a website online with all the evidence and the texts are on Page 11, during a conversation on Apr. 7 and 8, 2023. In a text, Lively highlights the “meet-cute scene is, to me, the most important scene in the movie.” She also asked Baldoni if she could “play around with some of the dialogue.” The director replied enthusiastically with, “F*** yes.”
In a follow-up text the next day, she notes that she can send the updates or read them together in person. The actress continued, “If you knew me (in person) longer, you’d have a sense of how flirty and yummy the ball basting would play. It’s my love language.” She added, “Spicy and playfully bold, never with teeth.”
To this, Baldoni subtly set a boundary by redressing the conversation to his family and children, a move he used several times when things got too close with Lively. He highlighted that the scene is “so important to the film” and that “Lily needs to be strong and witty and playful and bold, that’s why I wanted you.” He added, “It’s also one reason why I wanted to age her up,” explaining that “if a woman like you could fall into that relationship, then anyone could.”
Baldoni argues the rooftop scene proves Lively took over the film, as she allegedly pressured him into choosing her version by having Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Swift stop by and praise her writing. Baldoni chose her version, only for Lively to reveal on the red carpet premiere of the film that Ryan Reynolds wrote it, without anyone knowing (via E! News).
Published: Feb 6, 2025 09:04 am