Justin Baldoni Claims Blake Lively Used Taylor Swift to Pressure Him
Justin Baldoni claimed Blake Lively used the help of her pop star best friend Taylor Swift and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, to pressure him into accepting her It Ends With Us rewrite.
Justin, 40, filed a $400 million lawsuit against Blake, 37, Ryan, 48, and their publicist on Thursday, January 16. Among the claims made in his 179-page complaint, which was obtained by Life & Style, he alleged that Taylor, 35, and Ryan tried to convince him to go with Blake’s version of a pivotal scene in their film.
The scene in question surrounded Blake’s character Lily Bloom meeting Justin’s character Ryle Kincaid meeting on the rooftop of an apartment building. In his suit obtained by Life & Style, Justin said Blake asked if she could “take a pass” at writing the scene, and although he was “reluctant” to allow an actor to rewrite the script, he “agreed to take a look at what she put together.”
Justin mentioned that the draft Blake sent him was significantly different from the original version. While he expressed hesitation about many of the changes, he appreciated Blake’s passion and assured her that the final result would likely be a blend of the two versions. Blake reportedly “went silent for several days” before expressing that his reaction didn’t “sit well” with her or her “megacelebrity friend,” who was later revealed to be Taylor.
“Also was working on rooftop scene today, I really love what you did. It really helped [sic] a lot. Makes it so much more fun and interesting. (And I would have felt that way without Ryan and Taylor)” he said in an April 14, 2023, text message viewed by Life & Style. “You really are a talent across the board. Really excited and grateful to do this together.”
Blake responded on April 15, 2023, “That’s very appreciated. And means a lot. I’m deeply inspired by the film we’re gonna make outside of the success of the book. We have such an opportunity to only surprise people who love the book but reach an even bigger audience by making an undeniably dynamic and also commercial film.”
She continued, “We’re in this together. And we are two of this [sic] determined people I know. We also have very high bars set for ourselves. To collaborate with that type of partner is a gift that neither of us will squander. Because we both care too much about the result and also the experience.”
Blake then compared herself to Game of Thrones character Khaleesi and hinted that her husband and the “Shake it Off” hitmaker were her two dragons.
“I’m the luckiest motherf–ker on the planet to have them as my Dance Moms level stage moms. They are embarrassingly effusive,” she wrote. “That said, they’re also my most trusted partners and the people I go to first with anything creative I touch. And I’m the person they each go to first. The reciprocal creativity and support has been one of my life’s greatest and most fulfilling gifts. When they loved and signed off on the pages, I felt good to send them to you. They asked what you though specifically after. They checked in so many times, I told them that you laughed a bunch and said it’s probably a blend but you appreciate my passion so much.”
Justin’s suit follows a complaint filed by Blake on December 20, 2024, where she accused Justin and his production partner, Jamey Heath, of sexual harassment on the set of It Ends With Us. She claimed she dealt with inappropriate sex talk, the two walking into her trailer uninvited while she was breastfeeding and was shown a video of Jamey’s wife naked.
She claimed Justin then hired a crisis PR team to smear her in retaliation. Justin and Jamey denied all allegations of sexual harassment. In addition, Justin accused Blake of working with The New York Times to smear him. He said the outlet wrote a one-sided article that cherry-picked claims to push the narrative Blake wanted to be presented.