Are you tired of the Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively drama? That's the point.

These days, it feels like it's another day, another allegation being made between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively over the fallout from their blockbuster, It Ends With Us.

Most recently, Baldoni sued Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds for defamation. The actor and director is seeking at least $400 million for damages that includes future lost income.

That sure is a pretty penny.

In the past few weeks, there's been an onslaught of 'bombshell' claims — mostly coming from Baldoni's legal team. Seemingly every day, there's a brand-new comment, denial, or 'leaked' clip.

It's enough to make punters want to switch off entirely from this whole saga. In the words of Lively's BFF Taylor Swift, people are starting to say, "I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative."

But is that the point? There could be an argument to be made that this is Baldoni's legal team's whole strategy: to overwhelm the media and the public with information, distracting from some of the more serious allegations made in Lively's lawsuit in a flagrant attempt to muddy the waters.

After all, it's his legal team making televised appearances and declaring boldly they would sue Lively and her associates "into oblivion". It's his legal team slowly releasing additional personal voice notes, photographs, and scenes for the public to devour. It's his legal team that just released unedited film footage in the hopes it would 'prove' his innocence in the eyes of the masses. Though, that decision appears to have already backfired.

Baldoni's legal strategy seems to be focused on drawing public attention. And it's working, with headlines dominated by Lively's friendship with Swift and those Game Of Thrones-themed text messages, rather than the more serious allegations.

Listen to The Spill hosts dissect the lawsuit here. Post continues after podcast.

In the new suit, filed in New York federal court on Thursday, Baldoni said he did not want to file it but that Lively "unequivocally left them with no choice, not only to set the record straight in response to Lively's accusations, but also to put the spotlight on the parts of Hollywood that they have dedicated their careers to being the antithesis of."

It comes just weeks after Lively filed a second lawsuit against Baldoni, and Baldoni filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times.

Things are getting messy.

$400 million is at stake, audio is getting leaked, Taylor Swift is somehow involved and this bitter feud is only escalating as both sides dig their feet in. So how did we get here exactly?

In order to sort through the claims and rumours, we have to go back to the very beginning.

January 26, 2023: Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are announced for It Ends with Us.

Blake Lively and Jane the Virgin's Justin Baldoni were cast to play the lead characters, Lily and Ryle, in the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's novel It Ends with Us, with Baldoni also cast as the movie's director.

"Our Lily is going to be played by Blake Lively — Blake Lively y'all! She's my dream Lily," Hoover wrote on Instagram.

"And then when I first met Justin Baldoni, who is directing the film for us, I immediately wanted him to be Ryle. I just thought that he had what it takes to play that character. And the good news is, he's going to be Ryle."

May 10, 2023: Filming of the movie begins, but the release is delayed.

The first scenes for It Ends With Us were shot on location in New Jersey. Filming was later delayed because of the writers' strike in the US, which lasted several months, but filming recommenced in January 2024.

This meant the release date was delayed as it was originally scheduled for February 9, 2024, but this was pushed back several times: first it was announced as June 21, 2024 before it later became August 9, 2024.

Watch the trailer for It Ends With Us. Post continues after video.

August 1, 2024: Blake Lively announces her haircare line.

A week before the movie's release, Lively announced she was launching a haircare line: Blake Brown. The line was inspired by her own personal regimen of shampoos, masks and styling products.

The brand is a combination of her name and her father's last name, Brown.

"Blake Brown has been more than a 7-year labor of love. I was determined to bottle up a premium, salon-quality haircare line that's cleaner, cruelty-free, easier, yummier, more sustainable and more accessible than anything I saw out there," Lively said in a press release.

August 6, 2024: Justin Baldoni didn't pose with the cast at the premiere.

A rift between Justin and the rest of the cast was apparent at the New York City premiere on August 6.

Not only did Justin not pose with a single other person from the film, but he watched the movie in a different auditorium to everyone else.

Brandon Sklenar posed with Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds at the New York premiere. Image: Getty.

"Baldoni sat in his one theater at AMC Lincoln Square with family, friends and execs from Sony and Baldoni's production company, while Lively watched the movie in a different theater with her own guests," a source told Page Six.

Baldoni's The Man Enough podcast co-host, Liz Plank, attended the event but only shared photos of Lively on social media.

August 6, 2024: Jenny Slate evaded questions about Justin Baldoni.

Blake's co-star, Jenny Slate, gave a bizarre response when she was asked by Deadline what it was like working with Justin as both a co-star and a director.

"I mean, what an intense job, to have to do so many things. I just found myself being like, 'Wow, I really just want to have one job at once.' And in fact, I've often felt that way," she replied, before completely shifting the conversation.

"I really like writing and I like it so much. It's special to be able to be a writer, but like yeah, I was looking around and like, 'I'm good with just acting.' I love it, I just want to do it."

Oh Queen Jenny Slate… so something DEFINITELY happened on the set of It Ends With Us and everyone hates Justin Baldoni. I need to get to the bottom of it pic.twitter.com/d28z41dHpP

— Meech (@MediumSizeMeech) August 8, 2024

August 6, 2024: Blake Lively shares Ryan Reynolds' involvement in the film.

On the red carpet, Lively claimed her husband Ryan Reynolds had rewritten some dialogue in It Ends With Us for the 'iconic rooftop scene'.

"My husband actually wrote it. Nobody knows that but you now," Blake said. This throwaway comment was arguably the catalyst for mounting rumours and reports that Hollywood couple, Blake and Ryan, were a 'demanding' presence on set.

August 6, 2024: Justin Baldoni says Blake Lively should direct the sequel.

At the same premiere, when asked at the premiere if he'd return to the sequel as director, Justin didn't mince his words.

"I think there are better people for that one," he told Entertainment Tonight.

"I think Blake Lively is ready to direct. That's what I think."

@entertainmenttonight

Justin Baldoni isn't down to direct the It Ends With Us sequel, but he thinks Blake Lively is ready to take on the job. #itendswithus #justinbaldoni #blakelively #colleenhoover

♬ original sound - Entertainment Tonight - Entertainment Tonight

August 8, 2024: An article is published claiming there were two versions of the movie made.

Rumours of friction between Lively and Baldoni continued as The Hollywood Reporter reported there was "a fracture among the filmmakers in the post-production process, wherein two different cuts of the movie emerged."

The report claimed Blake commissioned her own cut of the film during post-production.

August 9, 2024: It Ends With Us is released.

At last, It Ends With Us was released into the world. The film would go on to be a huge box office success, making over $345 million at the global box office against a $25 million production budget.

Multiple Colleen Hoover adaptions have been greenlit in the following months.

August 9, 2024: Reports claim that Justin Baldoni was "chauvanistic" and made Blake Lively "uncomfortable" on set.

An insider told Page Six that Justin fostered an "extremely difficult" environment on set and that he made Blake feel "uncomfortable" about her postpartum body.

The insider added that the whole cast was affected by Justin's behaviour.

"It's not just Blake," a source said. "None of the cast enjoyed working with Justin …They certainly didn't talk to him at the premiere."

Another report from Daily Mail claimed Justin was 'dismissive' of women's opinions while making the film.

"During scenes depicting abuse, Justin failed to consider Blake's character's perspective, instead focusing solely on what he believed was the abusive male viewpoint," a source claimed.

The source alleged, "His approach was very chauvinistic, creating a tense atmosphere on set… some women on set felt he was borderline abusive to them and that he was unprofessional and unapologetic."

August 11, 2024: A journalist makes headline for an old interview with Blake Lively.

A 2016 interview between Norwegian journalist Kjersti Flaa and Lively was uploaded on Flaa's YouTube channel, titled "The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job."

@scenesharks

Reporter 'Nearly Quits' After Uncomfortable Blake Lively Interview (2016) A 2016 interview between actress Blake Lively and journalist Kjersti Flaa has resurfaced, sparking renewed conversation about the dynamics of celebrity interviews. Flaa described the encounter as the "most uncomfortable interview situation" of her career, a sentiment she shared on social media alongside a clip of the interaction. The awkwardness began almost immediately when Flaa congratulated Lively on her pregnancy. The actress seemed taken aback and responded with a pointed comment about the journalist's own figure. The tension escalated as the conversation turned to the film's costumes, with Lively appearing dismissive of Flaa's questions.

♬ original sound - Did You Catch This? - scenesharks

In the four-minute-long video, Flaa spoke with Lively and Parker Posey for Woody Allen's film Café Society. In the chat, Flaa congratulates Lively on her newly announced pregnancy, telling her "congrats on your little bump."

In response, Lively mockingly said "congrats on your little bump" despite Flaa not being visibly pregnant.

The comment was wildly spread online with viewers stunned at Lively's 'rudeness'.

Flaa has since issued a response to Lively's lawsuit's claims of coordinated smear campaigning, denying any involvement.

"Some people have started these conspiracies that somehow I am connected to the PR campaign against Blake Lively. That is not true," Flaa said on YouTube.

"I am a journalist, this is what I do for a living. I would never accept money to jeopardise my integrity as a journalist."

August 12, 2024: A video surfaces of Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni arguing on set.

TMZ shared a video that was taken back in May 2023 showing Blake and Justin in a heated conversation.

Sources noted that Blake looked "visibly annoyed" at Justin.

August 12, 2024: More reports claim the cast wants "nothing to do with" Justin Baldoni.

In a report published in People, a source claimed that there was more to the story than just friction between Blake and Justin.

"All is not what it seems," the insider said.

"There is much more to this story. The principal cast and [author] Colleen Hoover will have nothing to do with him."

August 13, 2024: Blake Lively releases a statement on domestic violence.

In the aftermath of mounting backlash about the Flaa interview, Lively released a statement about domestic violence.

"One in 4 women aged 18 and older in the US alone have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime," she wrote.

Blake Lively shares a statement about domestic violence. Image: Instagram/@blakelively.

"Intimate partner violence affects all genders, including more than 12 million people every year in the United States. Everyone deserves relationships free from domestic violence."

August 13, 2024: Justin Baldoni hires the same crisis publicist as Johnny Depp.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Justin "hired veteran PR crisis manager Melissa Nathan," who is the same professional who worked with Johnny Depp during his defamation trial against Amber Heard.

Nathan's company The Agency Group "specialises in communications, crisis, reputation management, personal publicity and digital team services across the entertainment industry."

August 14, 2024: The internet turns on Blake Lively over multiple interviews going viral.

In the aftermath of the resurfaced 2016 interview, more videos continued to circulate online featuring Lively in an unflattering light.

In particular, clips of Lively telling It Ends With Us viewers to 'wear their florals' started popping up on TikTok and X.

This is how Blake Lively is promoting her movie about escaping an abusive relationship and breaking the cycle of the abuse…

Unhinged and tone deaf.

This isn’t Barbie! pic.twitter.com/ZM7HlGyrpE

— Gabriel Divina (@GabrielDivina2) August 13, 2024

On top of that, a more recent interview was shared widely online where Lively gave a sarcastic response when asked about domestic violence survivors.

During a junket with reporter Jake Hamilton, the journalist told Blake Lively, "If someone understands the themes of this movie and comes across you in public and they want to really talk to you, what's the best way for them to be able to talk to you about this? How would you recommend they go about it?"

Stunningly, Lively responded, "Maybe asking for, like, my address, or my phone number. Or, like, location share?! I could just location-share you and then we could…"

@opinionsthataremine

Replying to @Cԋҽʅʂҽყ🖤 this looks pretty bad if you ask me. She cant even acknowledge the real question when being asked about dv, this is such a serious topic and she had an opportunity to bring light to it and she chose not too and make a joke out of it instead. I have lost all respect for Blake Lively. #itendswithusmovie #blakelively #itendswithus #colleenhoover

♬ original sound - TeaTime

August 15, 2024: Sony Pictures CEO lends his support to Blake Lively, and the women working on this movie.

"Blake, Colleen and so many women put so much effort into this remarkable movie, working selflessly from the start to ensure that such an important subject matter was handled with care," Sony Pictures Entertainment Chair-CEO Tony Vinciquerra told THR.

"Audiences love the movie. Blake's passion and commitment to advancing the conversation around domestic violence is commendable. We love working with Blake, and we want to do 12 more movies with her."

August 20, 2024: Co-star Brandon Sklenar defends Blake Lively.

Brandon Sklener played Lively's love interest in the film, and shared his thoughts on his Instagram account in a lengthy statement responding to the backlash against Blake.

"Vilifying the women who put so much of their heart and soul into making this film because they believe so strongly in its message seems counterproductive and detracts from what this film is about. It is, in fact, the opposite of the point," he wrote.

Colleen Hoover, Brandon Sklenar and Blake Lively at Book Bonanza. Image: Getty.

"This film is meant to inspire. It's meant to validate and recognise. It's meant to instill hope. It's meant to build courage and help people feel less alone. Ultimately it's meant to spread love and awareness. It is not meant to once again, make the women the 'bad guy,' let's move beyond that together.

"All I ask is that before you spread hate on the internet, ask yourself who its helping. Ask yourself if your opinions are based in any fact."

August 29, 2024: Blake Lively's brother-in-law says the "truth has not come out yet."

Blake's famous brother-in-law, Bart Johnson, responded to an Instagram comment which had negative words to say about Blake.

"I'm sure you have a huge heart and want the best. I can promise you the truth has not come out yet," he said.

"Blake worked harder on this film than anything I've seen her do in my entire life. Because it meant so much to her."

August 31, 2024: Justin Baldoni sends a message to domestic violence survivors.

Justin penned a message for victims of domestic violence which he shared on his Instagram.

"Dear Survivor, you embody resilience and courage, qualities that shine bright even on the darkest days," Justin wrote.

"In the tapestry of your life, each thread tells a story of endurance, strength, and hope. Every step forward you take, no matter how small, is a declaration of your unyielding spirit and an inspiration to others."

"You may not always see the impact you have, but your journey encourages and motivates, lighting the path for those of us still searching for the light."

December 4, 2024: Justin Baldoni gives an interview about how 'lonely' and traumatic filming was for him.

On an episode of the How to Fail With Elizabeth Day podcast, Baldoni shared his filming experience.

"Directing is a very lonely job, I'll just be very candid. Because you are kind of at the top of this totem pole," Baldoni said.

"And you don't really have many people to talk to, and you can't necessarily share your anxiety or your nervousness about something because you're also the leader."

Baldoni said during one scene he almost had a "near breakdown" from the intensity of the material.

"I'd have to remove myself and go shake it out. I mean, I've done a lot of somatic therapy so there were times when I was actually just shaking."

December 21, 2024: Blake Lively sues Justin Baldoni in sexual harassment lawsuit.

Lively filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Justin over his alleged behaviour while filming It Ends With Us, citing "severe emotional distress."

According to legal papers obtained by TMZ, Blake accused Justin of creating a "hostile work environment that nearly derailed the production of the film."

On top of several serious sexual harassment allegations, Blake alleged there was "a coordinated effort" by Justin's PR team "to destroy her reputation" in the weeks after the film was released.

Justin has denied the allegations, calling them "completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media."

In a statement from his lawyers, he referred to the lawsuit as a "desperate attempt to 'fix' her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film."

December 22, 2024: Justin Baldoni is dropped by his talent agency.

A day after the lawsuit, Justin was reportedly dropped by his talent agency, Talent firm WME, which also represents Blake, according to Deadline.

December 23, 2024: Colleen Hoover and the Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants cast come out in support of Blake Lively.

On top of Colleen Hoover's statement asking Lively to 'Never change. Never wilt,' her former costars from the Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants also released a statement.

"As Blake's friends and sisters for over twenty years, we stand with her in solidarity as she fights back against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation," they wrote.

America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, Blake Lively and Alexis Bledel's friendship spans decades. Image: Getty.

"Throughout the filming of It Ends With Us, we saw her summon courage to ask for a safe workplace for herself and colleagues on set, and we are appalled to read the evidence of a premeditated and vindictive effort that ensued to discredit her voice.

"Most upsetting is the unabashed exploitation of domestic violence survivors' stories to silence a woman who asked for safety. The hipocrisy is astounding."

The statement was signed, "In support of our sister Blake. America, Amber and Alexis."

December 23, 2024: Justin Baldoni's publicist breaks her silence on the text messages.

Justin's publicist Jennifer Abel, who was one of the individuals identified in the text messages included in the lawsuit, released a statement on Facebook to address her involvement.

Calling the messages "cherry picked", Jennifer claimed that there was "no 'smear' implemented" and that it was the internet that "was doing the work for us".

"No negative press was ever facilitated, no social combat plan, although we were prepared for it as it's our job to be ready for any scenario. But we didn't have to implement anything because the internet was doing the work for us," she wrote.

"Sure we talked about it, contemplated if we needed certain things, flagged accounts that we needed to monitor, worked with a social team to help us stay on top of the narrative so we could act quickly if needed, and yes, we rejoiced and joked in the fact that fans were recognising our client's heart and work without us having to do anything but keep our heads down and focus on positive interviews for our client."

Jennifer admitted to joking privately about the internet's reaction to Lively, but maintained that their team did not have to do anything to protect Baldoni.

December 23, 2024: Sony Pictures releases a statement in support of Blake Lively.

Amid the growing controversy, Sony Pictures, the studio behind It Ends With Us, released a statement addressing the allegations and voiced their support for Blake.

"We have previously expressed our support for Blake in connection with her work on and for the film. We fully and firmly reiterate that support today," a spokesperson for Sony Pictures Entertainment told Variety.

"Further, we strongly condemn any reputational attacks on her. Any such attacks have no place in our business or in a civil society."

December 23, 2024: SAG-AFTRA supports Blake Lively.

SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents approximately 160,000 actors in Hollywood, has expressed its support for Blake Lively in a statement.

"These are startling and troubling allegations. Employees have every right to raise issues of concern or to file complaints. Retaliation for reporting misconduct or inappropriate behaviour is illegal and wrong," the organisation said.

"We applaud Blake Lively's courage in speaking out on issues of retaliation and harassment and for her request to have an intimacy coordinator for all scenes with nudity or sexual content. This is an important step that helps ensure a safe set."

December 24, 2024: Justin Baldoni's former publicist sues his current PR team.

Stephanie Jones, former publicist for Justin Baldoni, filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court on December 24, 2024.

The lawsuit accuses Baldoni's current PR team, specifically Jennifer Abel and crisis manager Melissa Nathan, of orchestrating a smear campaign against Lively.

Jones' filing included allegations that Abel and Nathan had planted negative stories about Lively in various media outlets, created fake social media accounts to amplify attacks against her, and used Baldoni's public image as a feminist ally to discredit Lively's claims.

Jones also claimed Abel breached her contract by stealing company documents, poaching clients, and secretly conspiring with Nathan to damage Jones' professional standing.

December 29, 2024: Justin Baldoni's lawyer hints at a "shocking" countersuit to come.

Following reports by the Daily Mail that Baldoni would be filing a countersuit in January 2025, Baldoni's lawyer made a statement to Deadline regarding a potential lawsuit. While he did not confirm the timing, he revealed some details about what can be expected.

"I am not going to speak to when or how many lawsuits we are filing, but when we file our first lawsuit, it is going to shock everyone who has been manipulated into believing a demonstrably false narrative," he said.

"It will be supported by real evidence and tell the true story. In over 30 years of practising, I have never seen this level of unethical behaviour intentionally fuelled through media manipulation. It reminds me of what NBC tried to do to Megyn Kelly and Gabrielle Union and we all know how that ended up. Standby."

Similarly, Vision PR's Leslie Sloane, who works with Lively, offered her statement on the situation ahead of any countersuit.

"I was contacted on 8/11 by Sara Nathan (Melissa Nathan's sister) forwarding an anonymous tip that Page Six received, regarding allegations of HR complaints on the set of It Ends with Us," Sloane said.

"After that, I was contacted by various press outlets asking about allegations of HR complaints. When contacted, I responded to press questions by referring them to Wayfarer or Sony for information regarding HR complaints," she added.

"It's clear that Mr. Baldoni and his Wayfarer Associates are suggesting that I originated press stories about HR complaints on set, which is false. Please read Ms. Lively's Complaint and the Complaint filed by Jonesworks LLC and Stephanie Jones, which provides the details of the campaign against my client."

December 31, 2024: Blake Lively files second lawsuit against Justin Baldoni.

Blake Lively filed her second lawsuit against the director on December 31, 2024, in New York federal court.

The lawsuit alleges sexual harassment and claims Baldoni orchestrated a smear campaign to damage her reputation. She is seeking punitive and compensatory damages, naming Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and his PR team as defendants.

January 1, 2025: Justin Baldoni filed a lawsuit against The New York Times.

Justin Baldoni filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times in Los Angeles Superior Court for libel and false light invasion of privacy.

The lawsuit alleges the newspaper published a defamatory article about Lively's sexual harassment claims, relying on 'cherry-picked' communications and disregarding contradictory text messages.

The suit claims the Times failed its journalistic integrity by publishing Lively's unverified narrative without proper vetting.

Baldoni's lawsuit included the mention of a heated confrontation with Ryan Reynolds at the couple's New York City penthouse. Reynolds allegedly "aggressively berated" Baldoni in front of the Deadpool actor's 'celebrity friends' after the director inquired about Lively's weight on set.

The lawsuit against The New York Times confirmed there were creative differences between him and his It Ends With Us costar, Lively.

He claims Lively, the film's executive producer and star, made a "calculated and audacious attempt to seize control of the film." In text messages, Baldoni expressed frustrations with Lively allegedly shutting him out of the editing process.

"She's kicked me out officially from the film now," Baldoni texted. "She's finishing it all. I can't be involved."

January 6, 2025: Blake Lively's legal team fires back.

Lively's lawyers told PEOPLE in a statement that her "serious claims of sexual harassment and retaliation" are "backed by concrete facts."

"This is not a 'feud' arising from 'creative differences' or a 'he said/she said' situation," the statement read.

"As alleged in Ms. Lively's complaint, and as we will prove in litigation, Wayfarer [Studios] and its associates engaged in unlawful, retaliatory astroturfing against Ms. Lively for simply trying to protect herself and others on a film set. And their response to the lawsuit has been to launch more attacks against Ms. Lively since her filing."

They continued, "A classic tactic to distract from allegations of this type of misconduct is to 'blame the victim' by suggesting that they invited the conduct, brought it on themselves, misunderstood the intentions, or even lied," the team wrote.

"Another classic tactic is to reverse the victim and offender, and suggest that the offender is actually the victim. These concepts normalise and trivialise allegations of serious misconduct."

January 7, 2025: Justin Baldoni's lawyers accused Blake Lively of 'a pattern of bullying'.

Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, released a response, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"It is painfully ironic that Blake Lively is accusing Justin Baldoni of weaponising the media when her own team orchestrated this vicious attack by sending the New York Times grossly edited documents prior to even filing the complaint," he said.

"We are releasing all of the evidence which will show a pattern of bullying and threats to take over the movie. None of this will come as a surprise because consistent with her past behavior Blake Lively used other people to communicate those threats and bully her way to get whatever she wanted. We have all the receipts and more."

January 8, 2025: Justin Baldoni's lawyers leak a voice memo audio from the It Ends With Us premiere.

As Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, appeared on an episode of The Megyn Kelly Show, the host played an alleged voice message Baldoni sent to his team on the night of the It Ends With Us premiere in New York, which Baldoni notably attended separately from the rest of the cast.

"On what could have been one of the most beautiful nights of my life career-wise, I literally was sent to the basement with all my friends and family for over an hour because I wasn't allowed to be seen, she didn't want me anywhere near her or the rest of the cast," the alleged voice message said.

"So they ushered me off the carpet and sent us down to the basement, we were down there together, my friends and family, the people that love me the most," he continues. "We start laughing because of the ridiculousness of this whole thing and I realised like on a night that was supposed to be so materialistically joyful, I was in the basement with the people that love me the most and we were all joyful and laughing cause none of that shit matters, none of it.

He continued, "That's not why we're in the business … to attend a premiere and be celebrated like that. We're in it because we're artists and we believe in what we do and because we want to create art that touches people's souls and can move people. And that's what we did, that's what you both did and I believe that will follow us, the truth will prevail and light and love will win."

January 8, 2025: Justin Baldoni's lawyer accuses Ryan Reynolds of mocking him in Deadpool & Wolverine.

This saga took an unexpected turn (again) when Baldoni's lawyer claimed to Megyn Kelly that the feud between Lively and Baldoni had spilled over to her husband Ryan Reynold's film, Deadpool & Wolverine, as both films were shot around the same time.

However, it's not actually known when the scene in question was filmed — so currently, this is a big stretch, given this could have been written long before Baldoni and Lively's feud began. Timing aside, it's still a bit of a stretch given the scene mocks a very common stereotype of the 'nice guy'.

In the action-comedy, there's a character named NicePool, who is a stereotypical faux-sensitive man. The character is poked fun at for having a man-bun, a podcast, and for identifying as a feminist while saying derogatory things about LadyPool.

In the film, Lively portrayed the character LadyPool. And so, Baldoni's lawyer claims this NicePool character is a parody of Baldoni.

Reynolds is yet to respond to these allegations, but at a recent event for the National Board of Review Gala, he spoke about the double standard women face.

"Stories about women seem to be held to a different set of standards, and that is to say that they're often held to the standard women are held to in life," the actor said.

Baldoni's lawyer also demanded that Disney and Marvel keep any documents relating to Nicepool.

A letter, seen by Variety, called for any information relating to the development, writing and filming of Nicepool scenes be preserved over his client's "anticipated claims". It also requested "any and all documents relating to or reflecting a deliberate attempt to mock, harass, ridicule, intimidate, or bully Baldoni through the character of Nicepool."

January 16, 2025: Justin Baldoni sues Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds for defamation.

And the bitter legal battle continues.

Last week, Baldoni sued Lively and Reynolds for defamation in New York federal court.

Baldoni is seeking at least $400 million in damages that include lost future income, claiming the couple sought to "destroy" him with false allegations of sexual harassment.

The 179-page complaint from Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios also names publicist Leslie Sloane as a defendant.

"At bottom, this is not a case about celebrities sniping at each other in the press. This is a case about two of the most powerful stars in the world deploying their enormous power to steal an entire film right out of the hands of its director and production studio," it states.

"Then, when Lively and Reynolds' efforts failed to win them the acclaim they believed they so richly deserved, they turned their fury on their chosen scapegoat."

It continues claiming, "When Plaintiffs have their day in court, the jury will recognise that even the most powerful celebrity cannot bend the truth to her will."

The lawsuit includes pages of text messages, with some alluding to both Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Swift's involvement in the feud.

Regarding the film's opening roof scene when her character Lily Bloom meets Baldoni's Ryle Kincaid, Lively asked to "take a pass" at rewriting it.

The lawsuit claims that Lively 'summoned' Baldoni to her New York penthouse, where Reynolds was waiting. Baldoni claims the Deadpool actor then "launched into enthusiastic praise" for his wife's version before another famous friend arrived.

"Hours later, as the meeting was ending, a famous, and famously close, friend of Reynolds and Lively, walked into the room and similarly began praising Lively's script," the lawsuit read.

Taylor Swift and Blake Lively have been besties for years. Image: Getty.

"Baldoni understood the subtext: he needed to comply with Lively's direction for the script."

In a following text message, Justin referred to the "famous" friend as Taylor. "[I] was working on rooftop scene today, I really love what you did," he texted Lively.

"Makes it so much more fun and interesting. (And I would have felt that way without Ryan and Taylor)."

As the texting continued, Lively made another potential reference to Swift by referring to "one of her dragons" as she compared herself to Game of Thrones' Mother of Dragons, Khaleesi.

She referred to Reynolds and her famous friend as "absolute titans as writers and storytellers outside of their primary gig," she texted.

"If you ever get around to watching Game of Thrones, you'll appreciate that I'm Khaleesi, and like her, I happen to have a few dragons. For better or worse, but usually for better. Because my dragons also protect those I fight for. So really we all benefit from those gorgeous monsters of mine. You will too, I can promise you."

Baldoni took this comparison as sending him a 'clear' message.

"Baldoni was not just dealing with Lively. He was also facing Lively's 'dragons,' two of the most influential and wealthy celebrities in the world, who were not afraid to make things very difficult for him," the lawsuit claimed.

However, these are the claims of Baldoni's lawyers and have not yet been addressed by Lively's team.

January 22, 2025: Justin Baldoni's legal team released raw video footage from It Ends With Us.

In an attempt to refute Lively's sexual harassment claims, Baldoni's lawyers released a 10-minute video from It Ends With Us in an attempt to refute Lively's claims he was "behaving inappropriately" during the film's slow dancing scene.

"The scene in question was designed to show the two characters falling in love and longing to be close to one another. Both actors are clearly behaving well within the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism," the statement read. "These are all three takes filmed in sequence."

Raw video from #ItEndsWithUs reveals some very telling conversation between #BlakeLively and #JustinBaldoni.

Read the full story on why this particular scene is especially relevant to their ongoing legal battle: https://t.co/Nioc0QmtCS

🎥: Courtesy of Bryan Freedman pic.twitter.com/nzSdYu5KBO

— TMZ (@TMZ) January 21, 2025

The clip shows Lively and Baldoni having a conversation during a slow dancing scene. At one point, Lively suggests it was "more romantic" for them to talk while they danced.

As they spoke, Lively joked that when their noses touched, it was "so nosey," to which Justin replied, "I know. And my nose is so big."

In reply, Lively said "Yes. I was hoping we could address this. It's not too late." Lively then joked he could get plastic surgery, telling him to "shut down [production]" and "call an insurance month."

The conversation supports an earlier claim from Baldoni that Lively spoke negatively about his facial appearance.

In another take, Justin said he was "getting beard" on his co-star, with Lively joking that she was probably getting spray tan on him. He then replied, "It smells good."

Lively has already responded to the release of the video, with her legal team saying the video proves her claims regarding the intimacy coordinator and intimate scenes without consent. They showed direct correlation between the related scenes and claims Lively had already made in her initial lawsuit.

Blake's legal team tells TMZ, "Justin Baldoni and his lawyer may hope that this latest stunt will get ahead of the damaging evidence against him, but the video itself is damning. Every frame of the released footage corroborates, to the letter, what Ms. Lively described in Paragraph 48 of her Complaint."

"The video shows Mr. Baldoni repeatedly leaning in toward Ms. Lively, attempting to kiss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, flicking her lip with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and talking with her out of character."

Blake's team points out none of the intimacy was discussed or choreographed.

"Every moment of this was improvised by Mr. Baldoni with no discussion or consent in advance, and no intimacy coordinator present. Mr. Baldoni was not only Ms. Lively's co-star, but the director, the head of studio and Ms. Lively's boss," they said.

Blake leaning away from Justin in the scene was not acting, according to her lawyers. They say, "The video shows Ms. Lively leaning away and repeatedly asking for the characters to just talk. Any woman who has been inappropriately touched in the workplace will recognise Ms. Lively's discomfort. They will recognise her attempts at levity to try to deflect the unwanted touching. No woman should have to take defensive measures to avoid being touched by their employer without their consent."

This article was originally published on December 23, 2024 and has since been updated with new information.

Feature image: Getty.