The legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni continues with 181 pages of documents unsealed on Tuesday, January 20.
In the docs, obtained by Luxury Handbag Shopping, several members from the It Ends With Us cast — including Jenny Slate and Isabela Ferrer — were deposed and slammed Baldoni during their testimonies. Communications between Lively and her husband, Ryan Reyonds, with celebrities like Taylor Swift, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were also included in the documents.
Lively starred alongside Baldoni in the 2024 movie It Ends With Us, which was based on Colleen Hoover’s book of the same name. Baldoni also directed the film. Months after the film’s release, Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department. The Gossip Girl alum subsequently sued Baldoni over sexual harassment claims, which he has continued to deny.
Baldoni countersued Lively in late 2024, but his lawsuit was dismissed in June 2025. They are set to face off in court for a civil trial starting in May of this year.
One of the latest unsealed documents apparently showed alleged texts from Hoover and her friend Taryn Fisher in a group chat with Lively. The trio were discussing Baldoni’s viral proposal video to wife Emily in June 2024, joking that it was the “inspiration” for It Ends With Us sequel, It Starts With Us. Fisher apparently called Baldoni a “sociopath” and Lively agreed.
Elsewhere, Lively confided in Hoover about her experience on the film set.
“I literally don’t know a single thing I’ve done that he can smear me about. Ryan says he should be writing me apology and thank you letters every day. And instead he chooses to make a monster outta me,” Lively’s text apparently wrote. “But what’s my crime. I’ve only ever stayed focused on the work and given him EVERY opportunity to make it better. And he just keeps behaving like a rabid pig.”
Hoover acknowledged that she does feel “bad” for Baldoni before adding, “I can guarantee you he hasn’t felt an ounce of guilt. He’s too busy playing victim while you work your ass off to make a better movie that he gets credit for.”
That was the only time insults were thrown Baldoni’s way. Keep scrolling for everything revealed in the newly unsealed documents:
The Taylor Swift of It All
Apparent texts between Lively and her ex-BFF Swift have come to light after the singer denied any involvement in the movie outside of her song “My Tears Ricochet” being used.
In one text, Lively allegedly texted Swift that she was “so epically heroic” and the “world’s greatest friend” for praising Lively’s version of a scene in front of Baldoni. (Baldoni’s team alleges Swift hadn’t even read the new pages, which Lively denies.)
“I kept remembering stuff — You making s*** up about me and lenses,” Lively wrote. “And referring to yourself as my doll. This clown falling for all of it. But also resisting it.”
In another exchange from shortly before Lively’s New York Times story about Balodoni broke in December 2024, Swift apparently shared a People magazine article with the headline, “Justin Baldoni Reveals He Was Sexually Traumatized By an Ex-Girlfriend When He Was ‘Hoping to Save Myself for Marriage” and texted her, “I think this bitch knows something is coming because he’s gotten out his tiny violin.” (Lively has denied sending Swift the article early.)
Another series of messages appears to address the fractured friendship between Lively and Swift amid the fallout of the film. Lively apparently asked if Swift was “OK” and things were “good” between them before issuing an apology.
“I felt like a bad friend lately because I was such a sad sack who only talked about my own s*** for months. You were generous to not only be the key person there for me during all of it, but also to let me off the hook for being so in it,” Lively apparently wrote. “I always want the opportunity to be a better friend if there’s something I unintentionally did.”
Swift apparently replied, “Not wrong, but it’s also not a big deal,” before explaining that there was a “shift” between them. “I just kinda miss my funny, dark, normal-speaking friend who talks to me as herself,” Swift added. Lively noted that she’s felt “alone” regarding the whole situation.
For more about Swift and Lively’s text messages from the court docs, click here.
The Ben Affleck Email
Lively allegedly reached out to Affleck for assistance and advice about her edit of It Ends With Us as she and Baldoni fought about which version of the movie should hit theaters. While part of the last name in question was redacted from the documents, Lively referenced a Dunkin’ commercial in the email, Jennifer Lopez and more in the note to “Ben.” Plus, Lively and Affleck worked together on the 2010 movie The Town.
“I ended up rewriting and restructuring the entire script, I also ended up having to direct the movie via the chaotic clown ‘director’/actor/producer/financier/studio head at the center. Yes that’s all the same person,” she wrote in the alleged email, asking for any notes from Affleck or Lopez. He reportedly did not reply.
Texting Matt Damon
Reynolds’ continued involvement was revealed several times throughout the documents. He started a group chat with Damon and the actor’s wife, producer Luciana Barroso, asking them to review Lively’s cut of the film. Reynolds called Baldoni a “malignantly vein, sociopathic FAUXminist” in the alleged messages, adding that Badoni “almost no sense of boundaries or shame.”
“One day, we’ll make a movie about the movie. And we can’t wait to tell you all about it,” Reynolds wrote. “The stories are already finding their place in the pantheon of legendary Hollywood Insanity.”
The Religion Mentions
Multiple documents showed Lively referring to Baldoni’s Baha’i Faith as a “cult.”
“The director/costar/producer/financier/head of the studio (yes all one person) had zero experience, but the good news is he also has no taste and an enormous ego, but only because he’s in a cult and believes he’s our century’s prophet,” Lively alleged in the messages to Damon and his wife. “I wish even one of these things was hyperbole.”
Slate Slams Baldoni
Slate made it clear in a text message released on Tuesday that she didn’t want anything to do with Baldoni while promoting It Ends With Us. (Slate played his onscreen sister.)
“Justin is truly a false ally and I’m unwilling to do anything that promotes the 2 image that he’s crafting as a ‘male feminist’ … like … honestly i have no words to describe what a fraud he is,” she alleged. “He’s the biggest clown and the most intense narcissist.”
Ferrer’s Experience With Baldoni
The actress, who played a younger version of Lively’s character, recalled having an “inappropriate” experience with Baldoni. A transcript of her deposition alleged that Baldoni called one of Ferrer’s intimate scenes “hot,” which made her “uncomfortable.”
“It felt out of place and strange to hear about a scene, especially a scene that is meant to be a PG scene about two young teenagers having a very innocent experience intimately,” the actress alleged. “It felt out of place to hear my director say that as a personal thing to me and my costar.”
(Us reached out to Baldoni’s team for comment.)
Hoover’s Letter to Sony
Hoover wrote a July 2024 letter to Sony about the issues behind-the-scenes.
“I have felt backed into a corner more than once with the choices I’ve been asked to make,” she wrote, in part. “Am I going to be comfortable if Justin is there? No, things are beyond uncomfortable at this point. But my comfort isn’t my priority.”
Hoover hoped in a “perfect world” they could all smile for the cameras — but that’s not what happened.
“I go back and forth every day between continuing to show up for this movie or going into hiding because it’s all causing me anxiety and bringing attention that I’m not prepared for/used to,” she added, noting that “feelings have been hurt and boundaries have been crossed.”
Elsewhere, Hoover’s deposition was included in the docs. She alleged that Lively “asked” her to unfollow Baldoni on Instagram — so she did. (The cast’s social media activity was analyzed at the time as speculation into Lively and Baldoni’s alleged drama began during the film’s press tour.)
Lively’s Fight for a Producer Credit
Lively wrote a letter to the Producer’s Guild of America in June 2024 asking to receive a certified producer credit on the film. She recruited several members of the crew to write their own letters of support.
“I’ve produced every moment of this film, from pre production, through production, into post, and now into marketing and worldwide release. I’m grateful that the contract has now been revised to reflect the immense work that I put in,” she wrote. “I’m writing to ask for the great honor of receiving the PGA tag. I don’t take that lightly. In our household, that’s the highest honor in film, so I understand the gravity of the ask.”
Jamey Heath’s Thoughts About Lively
One series of text messages from Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios CEO Heath wondered if Lively was “really that delusional” and “bats*** crazy” when discussing the film’s editing issues.
The Movie Poster Issues
A series of text messages between Hoover and Lively allege that Baldoni wanted to credit himself three times on the poster, notably as “film by” and “directed by” along with his acting credit.
“Honestly, it should just be you on the poster,” Hoover allegedly wrote to Lively. “Things like this make me so angry, especially when it’s men.”
Resurfacing the Birth Scene
The It Ends With Us birth scene has been a major part of the legal battle. Lively claimed in new docs she was “humiliated” by the scene, doubling down on claims that heath “insisted that I simulate giving birth naked.” Baldoni allegedly “continued to press” that she was naked instead of in a hospital gown.
“Other than a strategically placed hospital gown and an exposed ‘nude’ prosthetic belly, during certain shots of the scene, I only wore a small, thin and flat piece of black fabric to cover my genitalia,” she claimed. “I was extremely uncomfortable with the degree to which I was exposed during the Birth Scene, which felt violative and humiliating.
The Sony Exec Drama
One document claimed that Sony execs felt “that the negative publicity around Lively was driven by her own conduct.” Fans claimed throughout the press tour that Lively put more emphasis on her outfits and the Lily Bloom flowers than the film’s domestic violence awareness messaging. (Lively later shared domestic violence resources via Instagram amid the backlash.)
In the docs, several Sony employees allegedly called out Lively choosing to promote her hair line, Blake Brown, around the film’s release.
“She did it to herself,” Sony president Sanford Panitch allegedly wrote. “If she just let him come to the premiere or didn’t make all the cast unfollow him or kick him off the movie and did what everyone ever has done in show business for time and memorial which is protect ‘the show’ then none of the sleuthing would have happened.”
