Blake Lively called in the big guns, asking both Ben Affleck and Matt Damon to watch her cut of It Ends With Us.
Amid Blake and Justin Baldoni's showdown during the making of It Ends With Us, the actress seemingly called for favors from big-shot friends to help her through the “most upsetting experience” she’s ever had on set.
Text messages exchanged between Blake and Taylor Swift were also exposed.
Highlights
- Blake Lively contacted all her big-shot friends, including Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Taylor Swift for favors in her showdown with Justin Baldoni.
- Justin “has no taste, and an enormous ego and believes he’s our century’s prophet,” Blake wrote in one of her messages to her celeb friends.
- Court filings also include a message from Taylor Swift admitting she felt a "shift" in the way Blake was speaking to her.
Blake Lively called in the big guns, asking both Ben Affleck and Matt Damon to watch her cut of It Ends With Us
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Ahead of a January 22 hearing, unsealed court documents have revealed an array of emails and text messages Blake Lively sent to Ben Affleck and Matt Damon during her conflict with Justin Baldoni, her co-star and the director of It Ends With Us.
“Ben, It’s Blake. Don’t hang up,” she wrote in an email sent to Ben Affleck on May 17, 2024.
“I’ve just come out the other side (well almost) of the most upsetting experience I’ve ever had on a movie,” the 38-year-old actress claimed. “This movie nearly k*lled me.”
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“The making of doc of this film would be more interesting than the movie could ever be,” she added before calling Justin a “clown.”
“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,” Lively wrote to the Oscar winner, who was her costar in the 2010 film The Town. “Yes that's all the same person.”
The Gossip Girl alum claimed that “everyone” Justin had on the set was “in a cult.” She then asked Ben if he can set aside a couple of hours to watch the film.
The 38-year-old actress called Justin Baldoni a “ chaotic clown” and claimed everyone he brought to the set was “in a cult”
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“If you have 1:58 of free time at any time in the next few days, would you be willing to watch the movie and give me any ideas or notes. I will pix it to you. You can literally text me a voice memo so you don’t have to formally write thoughts,” she wrote.
Blake also asked if his ex-wife Jennifer Lopez and their kids would also be interested in watching the film.
“If your wife or kids are around, I’d love their opinion also (fyi it does cover domestic violence so no one is caught off guard),” she added. “I’m such a fan of Jennifer’s, I’ve told her as much every time I’ve met her, and it would be an honor to have her take.”
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The actress reiterated that there was “zero pressure” on him to watch the film, but knew that “very few people” would be “as prescriptive and insightful” as he would be.
She then mentioned that her husband Ryan Reynolds had also reached out to Matt Damon to watch and share his thoughts on the film.
“Ryan asked Matt to watch also so I think he’s watching this weekend. Good men showing up. I’m beyond grateful for that,” she said.
“Also. Can you believe Jason Bourne is watching my movie?!?! I’ll get you an autograph one day. Don’t worry,” she added, referring to Matt’s famous character from the Bourne franchise.
It is unclear whether Ben responded to Blake’s request, but Matt’s reaction was included in the court filings.
Blake's husband Ryan Reynolds reached out to Matt Damon with a “zero-pressure ask”
Image credits: Netflix
Ryan Reynolds reached out to Matt and his wife Lucy with what he described as a “zero-pressure ask.”
“We know how important family time is…so no worries either way. We'd LOVE to get your well earned pov…And if your girls want to see it on the big screen at B's family and friends screening Saturday at 6pm, they're obviously most welcome!” he wrote.
The action hero said the making of It Ends With Us has been one of the “all-time zingers on and off set.”
“One day, we'll make a movie about the movie. And we can't wait to tell you all about it,” he continued. “The stories are already finding their place in the pantheon of legendary Hollywood Insanity. We're about to be off for at least a year and a half. Maybe two years. Maybe forever.”
Image credits: blakelively
Blake joined the conversation, saying she was “adding more zeroes to the pressure” and thanked Matt and his wife for “even considering.”
“It's not a bad movie. So who knows, you just may enjoy some of it,” she said. “Be warned it covers domestic violence In key places so just want to be sure you know. This movie nearly k*lled me.”
She went on to talk about Justin, saying, “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,” she added. “I wish even one of these things was hyperbole.”
Justin “has no taste, and an enormous ego and believes he's our century's prophet,” Blake said in a message to Matt
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Matt responded to the request with an offer to Blake, saying she could direct a movie with Artists Equity, the production company he and his longtime pal Ben Affleck started together.
“We’ll give you any help we can. And if this experience hasn’t totally destroyed your soul, Blake, you should come direct your next movie at Artists Equity,” he said. “We’re kind of like a cult but a really nice one.”
Court filings also included text messages of Blake talking about her “doofus director” to singer Taylor Swift.
In one text, Blake asked the Love Story singer to read her revised script of It Ends With Us, saying: “You don’t have to read of course.”
Blake’s deposition included an explanation of the request to Taylor.
Image credits: Netflix
“I sent Taylor the script on her way to my apartment because Justin was still there, and I asked her to read them. I told her she didn’t have to, I didn’t want her to feel pressured to do that, but I hoped that she would,” she said.
Taylor reportedly responded to Blake’s request with: “I’ll do anything for you !!”
In another portion of the unsealed text messages, Blake seemingly apologized to the singer for being a “bad friend” amid the unfolding showdown with Justin.
“I felt like a bad friend lately because I was such a sad sack who only talked about my own shit for months,” the actress reportedly wrote.
“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,” she added. “But I still have a feeling something may not be right.”
Taylor Swift told Blake that her messages started “reading [like] a mass corporate email sent to 200 employees”
Image credits: blakelively
When Blake said she wanted to ensure things were okay between them, Taylor responded, saying, “No you’re not wrong, but it’s also not a big deal.”
The Shake it Off singer went on to say that she felt “exhausted” in “every avenue” of her life and felt a “little bit of a shift” in the way Blake had been talking to her in recent months.
“Yes there has been a lot of the Justin stuff but I’ve been through things like this before and I know how all-consuming it is. It’s more like… and I feel really bad saying anything about this because your texts have been so nice in their intent but your last few… it’s felt like I was reading a mass corporate email sent to 200 employees,” she said.
Image credits: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
“You said the word ‘we’ like 18 times. And it feels awful to be in any way critical of any way you process what you’ve been going through but I just kinda miss my funny, dark, normal-speaking friend who talks to me as herself, not like. A plural unit,” she continued.
In another segment of their texts, the pop star said she understood that Blake was feeling “attacked from all sides for ridiculous reasons” and felt the need to “overly explain things or be overly nice or whatever.”
“[But] It’s me! That’s just caused a little distance!” she added.
Blake had sued Justin in December, 2024, accusing him of s**ual harassment and creating a smear campaign against her, all of which the director strongly denied. He filed a countersuit that a judge dismissed last June. Blake's case is set to go to trial in May this year.
“Trying to get all the top dogs to side with her so she has more power to exclude Baldoni,” one commented online
