Game of Thrones fans were left less than thrilled after Blake Lively, the lead actress in 2024’s It Ends With Us, compared herself to the controversial character of Daenerys Targaryen, the heroine whose descent into villainy was one of the most contentious aspects of the series.
The actress referred to herself as Khaleesi—Daenerys’ title as the female leader of a foreign army—during a text conversation with her co-star, Justin Baldoni, stating that once he watched the series, he realized that she had many similarities to the dragon rider.
The comparison, revealed in leaked documents as part of the co-stars' ongoing legal battle, confused fans, believing the character did Lively no favors.
“The fact that Blake Lively refers to herself as Khaleesi from GOT is kinda nuts. Did she miss where Daenerys became a villain at the end of the series?” a user pointed out.
Game of Thrones fans were baffled after Blake Lively compared herself to Daenerys Targaryen, a beloved heroine who fell into madness in the series’ final season
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“And like her, I happen to have a few dragons. For better or worse, but usually for better. Because my dragons also protect those I fight for,” the actress allegedly wrote, painting herself as capable of both love and violence.
“So really we all benefit from those gorgeous monsters of mine. You will too, I can promise you.”
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In a controversial narrative twist, Daenerys Targaryen, who had spent most of the series building a liberation army composed of slaves and the downtrodden, finally snaps after a series of battles in which she loses her closest allies.
Giving herself to anger, she decides to order her last remaining and most powerful dragon, Drogon, to set the entire city of King’s Landing in flames.
What followed was a montage of the creature killing thousands of innocents with reckless abandon, a move that soured the character to her fans.
“Blake Lively saying she is Kahleesi is not the flex she thinks it is. Have we forgotten Kahleesi was a psychopathic woman who torched an entire city?” another user wrote.
The leaked text was included as part of Baldoni’s counter-lawsuit against Lively, in which he claims she and her husband tried to destroy his career
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The controversial text was included as part of a 179-page countersuit by Justin Baldoni, which accuses Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, of civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy.
The suit is seeking to recoup $400 million in damages and argues that the couple hijacked the production of It Ends With Us and sought to personally destroy the filmmaker’s reputation with “false” allegations of sexual harassment.
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On December 31, Lively filed her own lawsuit against Baldoni, as well as his PR managers, Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan. The actress alleged that the group orchestrated a smear campaign to bury her reputation, providing text exchanges between them as proof of her accusations.
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Lively’s suit also stated that Baldoni had made inappropriate inquiries about her weight, made unsolicited sexual comments, added sex scenes to the script without supervision, and “improvised” during intimate encounters for the film.
According to Baldoni’s Lawyer, Lively and Reynolds used their power in Hollywood to steal It Ends With Us away from its director
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According to Bryan Freedman, Baldoni’s lawyer, the conflict began when Baldoni inquired with Lively’s trainer about her weight due to issues with his back. The couple then found out about this and publicly berated Baldoni in front of production at a meeting in their penthouse.
From that moment onward, Freedman alleges, the couple resorted to taking control of the film away from Baldoni.
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“At the bottom, this is not a case about celebrities sniping at each other in the press,” Baldoni’s suit reads. “This is a case about two of the most powerful stars in the world deploying their enormous power to steal an entire film right out of the hands of its director and production studio.”
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The document also dismissed Lively’s accusations, stating that the texts were cut and taken out of context in order to benefit the actress’ narrative.
“This lawsuit is a legal action based on an overwhelming amount of untampered evidence detailing Blake Lively and her team’s duplicitous attempt to destroy Justin Baldoni, his team, and their respective companies by disseminating grossly edited, unsubstantiated, new, and doctored information to the media,” the lawyer explained.
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“It is clear based on our own all out willingness to provide all complete text messages, emails, video footage and other documentary evidence that was shared between the parties in real time, that this is a battle she will not win and will certainly regret.”
Netizens were baffled by the actress’ decision to compare herself to the Dragonlady from Game of Thrones
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“She’s torpedoed her career. No one is going to want to work with her now,” a reader stated.
“Lively’s lack of knowledge about Khaleesi’s character arc is consistent with her actually only reading the book the movie is based on right before they started filming,” another said.
“Gosh I feel so sorry for this guy. What a nightmare production!” one user wrote. “He had to be so careful around her. He must have been so relieved when it was over.”
“Drunk off her own power like the mad Khaleesi sums Blake Lively up alright. Hopefully she only burns up her own career,” another said.
“The more you see about Blake Lively, the more immature, ignorant, and petty she seems.”
"Narcissism." Netizens were put off by Lively comparing herself to the character, feeling it did more harm than good to her image
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