Despite It Ends With Us releasing back in August of 2024, that hasn't stopped the book to screen adaptation from making headlines. The drama is thanks to the legal battle happening between director Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. There's no signs of this saga ending, and texts from Baldoni show his response after having a conflict with the pair of A-listers in their home. Let's break it down.
Blake Lively's lawsuit against Wayfarer Studios started a long legal saga thats continuing to this day. In response, Baldoni filed his own defamation case against Lively and Reynolds regarding It Ends With Us (which is streaming with a Netflix subscription). The situation has taken another turn, as People acquired court documents showing Baldoni's texts to Rainn Wilson about the movie's drama, and a conversation he had with Lively and Reynolds in their home. The texts read:
Ryan was talking to me like a five-year-old and scolding me. They essentially said that Jamey [Heath] and I are not who we claimed to be and that for us to have a podcast is unsafe because it makes people feel like we are safe.
This is a reference to the Man Enough Podcast, which is hosted by Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios CEO Jamey Heath. It focuses on gender roles and what it's like to be a man in the modern world. Although if these texts are to be believed, this became a point of contention with Lively and Reynolds.
While Baldoni's defamation case was tossed out, it's clear that the legal battle surrounding It Ends With Us isn't slowing anytime soon. While we wait to Lively and Baldoni finally meet in court, the latter's texts allege a strong reaction to his discussion with his co-star (and her husband) in their home. More texts read:
It's hard to feel so much of what they believe about me is false because they are so convinced that it's real. ... I was emotionally paralyzed, which is something I haven’t experienced in years.
This isn't the first time that texts have come up since the It Ends With Us litigation began. For instance, texts between editors claimed that Blake Lively tried to take over the movie's sex scenes. But the ones acquired by people were sent to The Office star Rainn Wilson privately, with Baldoni venting his frustrations. They continue:
My brain was struggling because what I wanted to say and do was run and blow this whole movie up because I feel this was so unjust. And yet, the only path forward was to acknowledge her and Ryan’s feelings and apologize and take the wrath of an angry husband — yeah, I couldn’t even do that correctly. I prayed and prayed and prayed for the words and they didn’t come, so I felt abandoned by God in that moment — even though I know that’s not what happened.
It certainly sounds like the director/actor was in some distress as a result of his conversation with Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively. And these texts offer some new context about how/why the legal battle surrounding the movie ended up starting in the first place. While the Gossip Girl star claims that Baldoni's behavior was inappropriate on set, he seems to have similar feelings about her. Yet another text reads:
We were told this was the worst experience of her life. And others have witnessed this behavior… the behavior on our set was creepy.
Despite how long this legal battle has been going on, there's no signs of either person (or their lawyers) slowing down. Baldoni's lawyers are committed to the fight, even after the defamation case was dismissed. And I can only imagine how many headlines will come out once the actors actually meet in court.
It Ends With Us is streaming on Netflix, despite the drama that's surrounding it. While Blake Lively has a few projects on the 2026 movie release list and beyond, Baldoni doesn't have anything listed on his IMDb at the point of writing this story.
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