Five months after the release of It Ends With Us, the Colleen Hoover adaptation remains surrounded by controversy, as Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni appear locked in a legal battle.
Tensions between the two creative leads have long been the subject of speculation. And following reports of a post-project fallout, the director and producer have now filed lawsuits against each other.
Lively, 37, took legal action in December 2024, accusing her director and co-star of sexual harassment and for allegedly coordinating a smear campaign against her. Baldoni, 40, has denied the allegations.
After news of her lawsuit went public, the actress released a statement to The Times, explaining that she hopes her "legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct." And that she hopes her actions will help "protect others who may be targeted.”
Baldoni's representatives responded at the time, calling the accusations "categorically false", and the legal complaint "yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film."
This week, Baldoni took legal action of his own, filing a lawsuit against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and Lively's publicist, Leslie Sloane.
The It Ends With Us director is reportedly suing the trio for $400 million, accusing the Hollywood couple of defamation and Lively of taking over the film project.
And in an unexpected twist, Taylor Swift has now become involved, with the 35-year-old singer reportedly referred to in one section of Baldoni's legal complaint as part of Lively's support network.
Baldoni reported in his 179 page legal complaint that he felt pressured to accept Blake Lively's "dramatically" different rewrite of the film, accusing Lively of using her powerful friends to sway the final cut.
Swift has not been officially named in the lawsuit, but she has reportedly been referred to as Lively's "megacelebrity friend" and one of her "most trusted partners". And according to the documents, she and Reynolds even attended a meeting with the two creative leads to support Lively's rewrites.
Blake Lively has not publicly addressed Baldoni's lawsuit, but an insider did comment on the situation last week - explaining to People that she "knows she’ll have an explosive start to the new year."
"She still believes she’s doing the right thing. She’s ready to tackle whatever comes her way," the source continued, adding that Lively feels "very fortunate to be surrounded by the most loving family and supportive friends."
We will continue to update this story.
