Early text messages exchanged between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni revealed that they exchanged cutesy messages before tensions flared up on the It Ends With Us set.
The two artists are now locked in a heated legal battle, with both filing lawsuits against each other. However, text messages included in their legal filings suggest that their co-star relationship was initially friendly.
Highlights
- Leaked texts revealed that Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni used to exchange affectionate messages with each other.
- They “grew close” to the point where they would exchange texts every day.
- “I like sentimental Blake.” Baldoni said in one text. “I also like a—hole Blake.”
- Lively also gushed with praises about him in an email she sent the day before filming began.
The texts included in their legal filings showed them sending affectionate messages and showering each other with praise, with a few of the texts appearing as flirty to some.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni shared cutesy messages over text exchanges with each other
Image credits: blakelively
In his lawsuit, Baldoni’s legal team revealed that they “grew close” to the point where they would exchange text messages every single day during the making of the movie—adapted from a Colleen Hoover novel.
They had “friendly banter” and bonded over stories of each other and their families.
Developing a “comfortable dynamic,” they “shared stories and pictures from their lives, commiserated over family illnesses and exchanged jokes and memes,” the filing said.
They “grew close” to the point where they would exchange text messages every day
Image credits: justinbaldoni
In one text exchange, Lively spoke about feeling “good” and “proud” of their work.
“I feel the same. It’s such a good feeling to get work done that we’re proud of. And to do it together,” the Gossip Girl alum wrote in a warm exchange with the actor-director. “It just clicks when we find it.”
“Thank you for your collaboration. I’m really proud of what we’re doing,” she added.
Baldoni returned the admiration and said, “I like sentimental Blake.”
“Never met her,” she joked.
Image credits: Netflix
“I also like a—hole Blake, don’t worry,” he quipped.
“I’ve met her,” the actress replied. “So have my suppositories.”
In an email that dropped in Baldoni’s inbox on May 15, 2023, Blake was gushing with praises for him before they reportedly started filming.
“I’m excited to start tomorrow. But it’s only one piece of the journey. We started months ago. And I’m grateful for all we’ve built so far,” she said.
“Thank you for caring so much and for putting every bit of you into showing it,” she added. “You have given so much of your time to fight for great. And that hasn’t gone unappreciated or unseen for a moment.”
The Gossip Girl alum was seen gushing over Baldoni in an email she sent the day before filming began
Image credits: United States District Court | Southern District of New York
The warm appreciation of each other continued even as the production began. Baldoni praised the actress and mother-of-four for her work on set about a week into filming.
“I’m not going to tell you that you were amazing because you tease me for being so sentimental – but you were amazing today,” he texted her.
“Thank you I do appreciate it. I’m just a ball buster but it means a lot to me. I care a great deal. And always want to deliver,” she replied. “You were terrific. I’m proud of everything we did today, but really every day.”
“I’m not going to tell you that you were amazing because you tease me for being so sentimental – but you were amazing today,” Baldoni said in one text
Image credits: Netflix
Image credits: United States District Court | Southern District of New York
Despite a peachy start, on-set conflicts flared up between them over the making of the film.
As the legal drama unfolds, evidence of tensions on set has been circulating online in recent months.
This week, a six-and-a-half minute voice memo began circulating online, capturing Baldoni profusely apologizing to Lively after she made changes to a rooftop scene in the movie, in which their characters Lily Bloom and Ryle Kincaid meet for the first time.
In his lawsuit, Baldoni claimed that Lively’s version of the rooftop scene was “dramatically” different from what was originally written.
The director was heard profusely apologizing to Lively in a six-minute audio that went viral this week
Image credits: Netflix
The director was “summoned” to a meeting at the actress’s New York City penthouse, where even megastar Taylor Swift arrived and “began praising Lively’s script.”
Ryan Reynolds was also present to vouch for his wife’s changes to the scene.
“Baldoni understood the subtext: he needed to comply with Lively’s direction for the script,” the lawsuit stated. It also noted that the actor felt there was no need for “Reynolds and her megacelebrity friend to pressure him.”
Over text messages, the Jane the Virgin actor said he found her changes more “fun and interesting,” and would have “felt that way without Ryan and Taylor.”
“I’m really sorry. I f—d up,” the actor-director said in a voice note. “I will admit and apologize when I fail. I’m a very flawed man”
Image credits: Netflix
In a subsequent audio message, he was heard apologizing to her for his reaction, saying: “I’m really sorry. I for sure fell short and you worked really hard on that.”
“I’m really sorry. I f—d up. I will admit and apologize when I fail. I’m a very flawed man, as my wife will attest,” he added, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
“I’m gonna piss you off, probably, but I will always apologize and find my way back to center. I’m sorry I made you feel that way. I will, for sure, do better.”
Elsewhere in the audio, he said: “All I have to say is I’m really looking forward to spending time together and I believe that’s going to go a long way for our chemistry, which I believe is there.”
“It’s been there from the start so I was so damn excited when you agreed to do this film. I believe it comes from us both being so hard working and having a vision.”
The legal filings reveal that Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Swift also had some involvement in a rewritten scene
Image credits: blakelively
Legal filings also refer to Lively having an “intimate comfort” with Baldoni as the filing progressed.
Lively, who accused Baldoni of sexual harassment in her lawsuit, invited him to her trailer to rehearse their lines while she was pumping breast milk.
Baldoni’s legal team also released a video from the shooting of another scene in the movie, in which the feuding actors were filmed slow dancing in a pub.
The raw footage captured their unfiltered conversations and often breaking character during filming.
Lively “invited Baldoni to her trailer to rehearse while pumping breast milk,” a legal filing said
Image credits: United States District Court | Southern District of New York
It was in December last year when the Lively-Baldoni conflict escalated, with the actress filing a legal complaint with the California Civil Rights Department.
She accused Baldoni of sexual harassment, creating a hostile work environment during the movie’s production, and orchestrating a retaliatory social media campaign to tarnish her reputation.
On December 31, Baldoni sued in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, accusing The New York Times of libel for its story on Lively’s allegations. The same day, Lively sued Baldoni in the Southern District of New York.
Baldoni's legal team released raw footage of a scene, where the two stars were captured going out of character while filming
Image credits: ET
She accused Baldoni, the film’s production company Wayfarer Studios, and others of executing “a carefully crafted, coordinated, and resourced retaliatory scheme to silence her, and others, from speaking out.”
Baldoni’s attorneys fired back with another $400 million lawsuit on January 16, accusing the actress of a number of civil charges, including civil extortion, defamation, and interference with contractual relations.
Reynolds was also mentioned in the lawsuit for trying to steal authority on the film’s production from Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios.
The Lively-Baldoni trial is slated to take place in March 2026.
“Either Blake or Justin got caught by their significant others and now they are trying to save face,” fans speculated
