Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, allegedly drafted a statement for Justin Baldoni to take responsibility for bad press surrounding It Ends With Us.
In the website launched by Baldoni, 41, and his legal team on Saturday, February 1, a posted “Timeline of Relevant Events” PDF claimed that Lively, 37, and Reynolds, 41, were “furious” with Wayfarer Studios and Baldoni for “positioning them as promoting the Film as a ‘Barbie film’ while elevating Baldoni to speak on the more serious messaging.”
“Reynolds and Lively purportedly believe [Melissa] Nathan is responsible for this positioning and demand that Wayfarer release a statement of contrition, taking accountability for the negative press toward Lively and Reynolds,” the docs claim. “They warn WME that absent compliance, the ‘gloves will come off.’ In turn, Reynolds tells WME that he would personally draft a statement for Wayfarer to release immediately.”
The statement was allegedly drafted in August 2024, the same month that It Ends With Us was released and Lively received backlash from fans for how she addressed the domestic violence theme of the movie. (Lively later provided domestic violence resources for those impacted by intimate partner violence via social media.)
UPDATE 1/16/25 at 12:43 p.m. ET: Justin Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios filed a $400 million lawsuit against It Ends With Us costar Blake Lively and her publicist, Leslie Sloane, on Thursday, January 16. In the 179-page filing obtained by Us Weekly, Baldoni claimed that Lively was “determined” to make him a “real-life villain in her story.” […]
“IT ENDS WITH US was a troubled production which we take full accountability for. We are very sorry to everyone we caused upset to privately and publicly. Blake Lively, Colleen Hoover, the entire cast and crew led with professionalism every step of the way, any negativity aimed at them is ours to own,” the alleged statement read. “We mutually agreed that the cast would be promoting the film separately and understood why. We have always said we are not perfect and even if unintentionally make mistakes, we will always own them.”
The alleged statement continued, “We hold ourselves accountable, it’s not anyone’s job but ours and that’s part of being ‘man enough.’ We will practice what we preach. We are learning and growing from the experience and we thank everyone for their patience as we find a better way to proceed. We are very proud of the film and the welcome arms that it’s been received. Part of our work is to have uncomfortable conversations for public growth. The film is doing that on screen and we are doing that off screen. Thank you to the cast crew and public for the opportunity to be imperfect and to be given the space to learn and grow.”
The alleged statement was signed, “With humanity and dedication.”
The docs allege that Jamey Heath and Jennifer Abel “are astounded that Reynolds and Lively blame Baldoni and Wayfarer for their self-inflicted PR nightmare.”
Blake Lively has responded via her legal team to Justin Baldoni’s studio filing a new lawsuit against her, her publicist Leslie Sloan and her husband Ryan Reynolds. The filing, obtained by Us Weekly on Thursday, January 16, seeks damages of $400 million and accuses Lively, 37, of being “determined to make Baldoni the real-life villain […]
The docs claim that Heath had “consistently communicated that neither Wayfarer, Nathan, nor anyone on their team was manipulating the internet, using bots, or seeding stories about Lively’s or Reynolds’ character. All press stories were organic and directly resulted from Lively’s own tone-deaf marketing approach.”
Two WME executives, Heath and Abel, went on to participate in a call to review the statement that was allegedly drafted by Lively and Reynolds on behalf of Baldoni, Heath and Wayfarer Studios.
“Upon review, WME concurs with Wayfarer that the statement was vague, implies culpability without substance, and fails to address the issues at hand,” the docs read. “Furthermore, if the goal was to mitigate negative online attention directed at Lively, the statement would have the opposite effect. In response, Wayfarer, Baldoni, and Heath reject the demand, firmly refusing to issue any statement falsely assuming responsibility for non-existent issues.”
Justin Baldoni‘s studio filed a new lawsuit against his It Ends With Us costar Blake Lively and her publicist, Leslie Sloane, seeking damages of $400 million. According to the filing obtained by Us Weekly on Thursday, January 16, Lively, 37, was “determined to make Baldoni the real-life villain in her story” to avert from her […]
Us reached out to both Baldoni and Lively’s reps for comment after the website was launched.
News broke in December 2024 that Lively sued her It Ends With Us costar and director Baldoni for sexual harassment. He denied all allegations and countersued Lively, Reynolds, and her publicist, Leslie Sloane, seeking $400 million in damages.
Amid the legal battle, Lively and Reynolds allegedly told a federal judge that they are seeking to dismiss Baldoni’s lawsuit. Us reached out to Baldoni’s rep for comment at the time.
