The legal clash between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively has taken another sharp turn, with newly unsealed text messages adding fresh fuel to an already volatile situation.
At the center of the latest development is a private December 2023 text exchange that paints a far more fractured picture of what was happening behind the scenes of It Ends With Us.
In a December 30, 2023, message sent to his then-agent, Danny Greenberg at WME, Baldoni described what he called a “really, really bad week” involving Lively, per a People report.
The text, now part of court filings, shows Baldoni venting about escalating tensions over how to handle intimate scenes. He claimed Lively suggested a private meeting at her New York City home before disagreements over body doubles and scene staging intensified.
“That’s just setting me up for a trap,” Baldoni wrote, referring to what he said was Lively’s refusal to use a body double for sex scenes while simultaneously insisting that one be used in his place.
He also expressed frustration over rejected storyboards and decisions to keep both actors fully clothed during moments he believed were central to the story. In the same exchange, Baldoni characterized the situation as a “gigantic clusterf**k,” adding that he was conceding “95%” of what Lively wanted “for peace.”
Those texts surfaced later in a motion by WME seeking to keep portions of summary judgment exhibits sealed, arguing that the communications were private and not legally relevant.
A source close to Lively disputes Baldoni’s framing, saying the messages came only after she had outlined what she believed were serious on-set issues and after more than a dozen safety protections had already been agreed to in writing.
Five days after the text was sent, an “all-hands” meeting took place on January 4, 2024, involving Baldoni, Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and studio representatives. The meeting addressed 17 protections Lively requested before production resumed post-strikes—measures Baldoni had previously described publicly as “reasonable” and “essential.”
The background to the dispute stretches back further. Court filings reference an alleged April 2023 confrontation in which Reynolds tearfully confronted Baldoni over what he believed was “fat-shaming” of Lively, an exchange witnesses say occurred in front of others on set.
Baldoni later texted that he felt “emotionally paralyzed” after being “ambushed” during a January 2024 encounter at Lively and Reynolds’ apartment.
Additional scrutiny has also fallen on Lively’s New York penthouse, which Baldoni said she referred to as “Buckingham Palace,” per a Page Six report, and frequently used as a meeting space. In deposition testimony, he described it as her de facto office, where creative discussions and script revisions often took place.
Complicating matters further are newly unsealed texts from Jenny Slate, who portrayed Baldoni’s onscreen sister in the film. Per a separate People report, in June 2023 messages, Slate told her team she wanted no involvement with Baldoni in publicity, describing the shoot as “really gross and disturbing” and calling him a “false ally.”
In her deposition, she also recalled an on-set comment she said made her uncomfortable, explaining she didn’t speak up at the time because Baldoni was her boss.
The legal battle formally began in December 2024, when Lively sued Baldoni and others for sexual harassment and retaliation, seeking $160 million. Baldoni denied the claims and filed a $400 million countersuit that was dismissed in June 2025.
A hearing is scheduled for January 22, with the trial currently set for May 18.