Justin Baldoni reportedly dragged Taylor Swift into his very public legal battle against fellow “It Ends With Us” co-star Blake Lively.
Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios filed a $400 million federal lawsuit against Blake Lively, her publicist Leslie Sloane and her husband Ryan Reynolds, according to TMZ. He accused Lively of organizing a “takeover strategy” amid a battle for creative control back in May 2023 while he was directing and co-starring in the project with her. Baldoni claimed that Taylor Swift was brought in to sway him to side with Lively on the ideas she had generated for the script. The famous singer is reportedly not a party to the suit and is only mentioned.
JERSEY CITY, NJ – JANUARY 12: Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively are seen on the set of “It Ends with Us” on January 12, 2024 in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images)
Baldoni claimed Swift swooped in after Lively rewrote the film’s important rooftop scene, where the main characters first run in to each other. He said a meeting was held at a New York City penthouse belonging to Lively and Reynolds, and now he claims it was a planned and strategically orchestrated ambush. Baldoni said in the lawsuit that Reynolds was present when he arrived and praised Blake’s rewrite of the script. Swift allegedly dropped by hours later and spoke out about how much she liked Lively’s version.
The lawsuit said Baldoni “understood the subtext: he needed to comply with Lively’s direction for the script,” according to TMZ.
He claimed he proceeded to text Lively to say he approved of her version and would have reached the same conclusion without Reynolds’ opinion.
JERSEY CITY, NJ – JANUARY 12: Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are seen on the set of “It Ends with Us” on January 12, 2024 in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 06: Taylor Swift leaves the “Poor Things” premiere at DGA Theater on December 06, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by James Devaney/GC Images/Getty Images)
Baldoni’s lawsuit went on to claim Lively and Sloan launched a campaign to smear his name and take control of the movie.
The lawsuit claimed Lively was “determined to make Baldoni the real-life villain in her story” to avoid getting tarnished as “tone-deaf” during the movie’s press tour, according to TMZ.
Baldoni’s lawsuit also referenced a meeting between himself, Lively, Reynolds and others of the cast and crew in January 2024. He alleged that Lively prepared a “17-point return to production demand” and threatened the movie unless she got to cut her own version of the film, according to TMZ.
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY – OCTOBER 01: (L-R) Singer Taylor Swift and Actor Ryan Reynolds cheer prior to the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on October 01, 2023 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
The documents said Sony Studios, the distributor, told Wayfarer that Lively refused to promote the movie if she wasn’t able to do her own cut, so they created a competition in which Baldoni’s version and Lively’s version would be shown to an audience to determine which cut would be used based on their feedback. Baldoni claimed his “scored significantly higher with key audience demographics” but Lively demanded that Sony move forward with hers, which they did, according to TMZ. (RELATED: Fake Loser Hollywood People Are Eating Each Other)
Baldoni has also filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times over the outlet’s article alleging he and others carried out a smear campaign targeting Blake.
