In brief
Blake Lively has described Justin Baldoni as a 'doofus director' and a 'clown' in alarming text messages that are part of her ongoing sexual harassment lawsuit against him. The messages shed light on tensions between the two actors during the filming of 'It Ends With Us'. Lively accused Baldoni of harassment, leading to her legal case, while he denies her claims. The case is scheduled for trial in May, and both parties have yet to comment on the latest developments following the unsealing of these documents.
Blake Lively referred to Justin Baldoni as a doofus director and a clown, according to newly unsealed court documents from the actress's legal case.The pair starred together in It Ends With Us, but Lively sued Baldoni in December 2024, accusing him of sexual harassment and waging a smear campaign against her. Baldoni strongly denies the claims and is defending the lawsuit.Text messages from 2023 between Lively and people close to her appear to show that Lively called Baldoni a rabid pig, while her friend Taylor Swift suggested Baldoni knew the lawsuit was coming because he's gotten out his tiny violin.Baldoni's $400m (£295m) counter-suit was dismissed by a judge last June. Neither has yet responded to the BBC's request for comment.Lively's case is set to go to trial in May.The newly unsealed documents show both Lively and Baldoni venting to friends and colleagues about filming It Ends With Us, and the subsequent press tour, ahead of the film's release in August 2024.In the messages, Lively referred to Baldoni as this doofus director of my movie and described him as a clown who thinks he's a writer now.In their filing earlier this week, Lively's team did not deny the language she had used but said the text messages were missing context.They referred the court to the complete text exchange, including subsequent messages from Lively to Baldoni which said we all benefit from her relationship with Swift and her husband Ryan Reynolds, and you will too, I can promise you.The messages also show Lively saying of Baldoni: Despite his repeated disturbing behaviour and acts, I still feel bad for him. To be reminded multiple times daily that he's smearing me for... asking him not to sexually or emotionally harass me? For making his movie better? She characterized Baldoni's behavior as that of a rabid pig.Concerns about the atmosphere on set have also been reflected in texts from Lively to her colleagues. In May 2023, she expressed feeling upset after a set visit and mentioned feeling dread about returning, describing earlier experiences there as distressing.In February 2024, Baldoni implied that Lively might leverage her allegations against him, expressing concern about her potentially leaking damaging information if she chose not to promote the film. His legal case against Lively, accusing her of defamation, was closed recently.As the trial approaches, both camps are silent on the allegations swirling around the production of 'It Ends With Us', with significant public interest in their next moves.
