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Credit: 20th Century Studios2024 was a big year for movies, with movies like Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, Moana 2, and Wicked dominating the box office. But there was one movie that might have been more controversial than any other — It Ends With Us.
Based on Colleen Hoover’s book of the same name, It Ends With Us tells the story of flower shop owner Lily Bloom (Blake Lively) and her doomed relationship with neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni). Their attraction to each other is undeniable, but Lily finds herself unable to stay in the relationship when Ryle begins to abuse her.
Related: ‘X-Men’ Star Says Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds Bait-And-Switched Her About ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’
Despite their on-screen chemistry, Lively and Baldoni were anything but friendly. In fact, they appeared downright hostile, something fans noticed as the movie neared its August 9 world premiere. Baldoni did not appear in interviews with his fellow cast members, and he did not pose with them on the red carpet.
Then, just days before Christmas, it was announced that Ms. Lively intended to sue Mr. Baldoni for sexual harassment. She accused Mr. Baldoni of fat-shaming her, trying to add unnecessary sex scenes to the film, making inappropriate sexual comments, and speaking about his previous addiction to pornography.
There were also text messages released that appeared to show Mr. Baldoni and his team preparing to launch a smear campaign against Ms. Lively.
In the hours and days following the accusations made by Ms. Lively, Baldoni was dropped by his agency — WME –, had a planned reward revoked, was sued by his former publicist, and his podcast cohost quit.
While things did not look good for Mr. Baldoni, his team vowed to fight back. They said they were planning to file a countersuit against the actress that would “shock everyone.” They also claimed that Ms. Lively had only made the accusations against her costar in an attempt to make herself look better.
Prior to her accusations, Ms. Lively’s image had taken a hit when a reporter revealed that Ms. Lively was so unkind during an interview that the reporter almost quit her job. Then, the Gossip Girl star was accused of using the film to promote her new hair care line, while Mr. Baldoni was using it to promote resources for domestic abuse victims.
However, Mr. Baldoni’s first target was not Ms. Lively, it was actually The New York Times and an article called “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.”
On New Year’s Eve, Mr. Baldoni filed a lawsuit against The New York Times for an astronomical $250 million for libel and “false light invasion of privacy.” The Jane the Virgin star claimed that the publication relied on Ms. Lively’s narrative and a handful of “cherry-picked” text messages that had been altered to be intentionally misleading.
But The New York Times reporters were not the only ones Mr. Baldoni accused of acting inappropriately when it came to his behind-the-scenes issues with Ms. Lively.
According to the lawsuit, Lively’s husband, Deadpool & Wolverine star Ryan Reynolds, did not take kindly to the way Mr. Baldoni acted towards his wife.
In his complaint, Mr. Baldoni claimed that the day before filming was set to resume after the SAG and WGA strikes, he and some of his fellow It Ends With Us producers were called into a meeting with Mr. Reynolds and Ms. Lively.
There, “Reynolds launched into a tirade, berating Baldoni in what Baldoni later described as a ‘traumatic’ encounter, stating he had ‘never been spoken to like that in his life,’ ” the complaint alleges.
Baldoni, 40, claims Reynolds, 48, “demanded” an apology for Lively, 37, accusing him of “fat-shaming” her, and when Baldoni “resisted apologizing for what he had not done, Reynolds became further enraged.”
His lawyers characterize the alleged exchange as an “inappropriate and humiliating berating of Baldoni — delivered, perhaps intentionally, as other celebrity friends were coming in and out of their penthouse.”
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Mr. Baldoni has repeatedly said that the “fat-shaming” incident was merely a misunderstanding. The actor has back issues and said that he inquired about Ms. Lively’s weight so he could figure out how to lift her without further injuring himself.
Previous reports also indicate that Ms. Lively actually brought in her own editor to make her own cut of the film. It was an editor that both Ms. Lively and Mr. Reynolds have used in the past. Mr. Baldoni — who was also producing and directing the movie — was not happy when he learned that Ms. Lively was making her own cut of It Ends With Us.
In the end, it was determined that the studio’s cut of the film was superior.
The New York Times has defended its reporting and said that its reporters did their due diligence before publishing the article.
Neither Ms. Lively nor Mr. Reynolds have responded to the lawsuit.
Ms. Lively has received support from Colleen Hoover and Jenny Slate, her It Ends With Us costar. Lively’s Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005) costars also released a message of support.
Whose side are you on, Justin Baldoni’s or Blake Lively’s? Share your thoughts about the lawsuit in the comments!