It Ends With Us...In Court | 2.8.25
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What is the Hollywood feud between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni about?
Actress Blake Lively and director Justin Baldoni are continuing their public feud over their hit film, It Ends With Us, with both sides filing lawsuits. But even more than a legal battle, this has become an all-out PR war with leaked texts, calls, and film footage, as well as allegations of sexual harassment and spousal jealousy. The first trial date is set for March of 2026.
Who provides expert insight into the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni legal battle?
In this episode, Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham speaks with award-winning journalist, author, and Daily Mail columnist Maureen Callahan to get insight into a drama only Hollywood could produce.
Thanks so much for joining us, Maureen. You know, for those of us who are maybe just catching up with this story a little bit on the later side, I'm wondering if you can give us something of a 10,000-foot summary of this scandal.
What are the allegations made by Blake Lively against Justin Baldoni?
Sure. So about a month ago, the New York Times ran a blockbuster, I think, 4,000-word piece in which Blake Lively was alleging her writer-director co-star, forgive me, I'm not sure if he was the writer, Justin Baldoni, on their film It Ends With Us, had subjected her to almost ritualistic sexual harassment attacks. And that she suffered so greatly, it was a concerted effort in which he involved multiple people to not only harass her while filming, but then once the movie was about to be released, orchestrated an online smear campaign against her. A couple of weeks later, Baldoni's lawyer, Brian Friedman, filed a countersuit in which he alleged that the text messages obtained by the New York Times had been selectively edited. And they sort of threw open their document dump, which seemed to absolve Justin of many of the things that Lively has been claiming. Nonetheless, these two are now locked
In a bitter, bitter, expensive lawsuit, Baldoni's countersuing Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for $400 million, which is, I believe, what he thinks their estimated net worth is. And the trial is tentatively set for March 2026.
So before we get to some of the kind of legal ramifications, there's obviously been a lot of leaks. There's been a lot of, I would even say, shifting in public loyalties back and forth. At least that's been my experience. At the outset, I was kind of team Justin. And then I went, well, wait a minute. Okay, that...
How has the public perception shifted in the PR war between Lively and Baldoni?
New York Times piece was really persuasive, but then Justin Baldoni's team released some new audio leaks and those kind of things sort of shifted the game a little bit. What's your sense right now of who's on top in the PR war?
I think Blake Lively is suffering mightily right now, and the collateral fallout is affecting not just her husband, Ryan Reynolds, but her so-called dragon, her BFF, Taylor Swift, who it's reported has been taking a step back from her friendship with Blake because she doesn't want any of this runoff affecting her career. Justin's team has been very smart in what they're leaking and when. They leaked footage of the two of them while filming a scene, rehearsing a scene in which they were dancing very closely. And Justin had his mic on. And so they're working out how they're going to do this scene. Justin is saying, I think we should be kissing. And Blake says, no, I think we should be talking. I think that's even more intimate. And Justin says, okay.
So that sort of takes some wind out of her sails. They also released another lengthy voice memo that Justin had sent to Blake in which he's phrasing her to the high heavens and saying he has let her down by not taking all of her notes and she's so brilliant and so smart and he's going to do everything he can to make her happy. Again, A counter-narrative to Lively's claims that he was doing everything possible to sabotage her and make her feel unsafe on that set. So I think right now, Baldoni's team is in the power position, but that of course could shift in another few days.
Well, you know, it seems like there was a moment where Lively could have disengaged and just moved on. And this would have been something of a blip on Hollywood's gossip radar. Why do you think she escalated to a lawsuit that opened up so much more of these internal communications?
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the Hollywood feud between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni about?
0:03–0:27
2
Who provides expert insight into the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni legal battle?
0:27–0:56
3
What are the allegations made by Blake Lively against Justin Baldoni?
0:56–2:42
4
How has the public perception shifted in the PR war between Lively and Baldoni?
2:42–4:56
5
Why did Blake Lively escalate the conflict to a lawsuit?
4:56–6:48
6
Are the messages between Baldoni and Lively flirty or familiar?
6:48–13:48
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from Morning Wire
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