January 29, 2026 — 3:30pm
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In a private email to Matt Damon, his producer wife Luciana Damon, and Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds wrote the It Ends With Us film was “one of the all-time zingers on and off set. One day, we’ll make a movie about the movie.”
The message was one of many buried in previously sealed court documents, made public in a dump so mammoth in volume that, more than a week later, new revelations and reactions continue to emerge daily.
Unsealed court documents have revealed just how many celebrities are linked to the It Ends With us legal case, which is shaping up to be more star-studded than Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.Stephen Kiprillis
Taylor Swift’s private text messages to Lively, revealing the true toll of Lively’s legal battle against It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni on their friendship, were only a fraction of what was unsealed by a US court ahead of a summary judgment hearing.
In December 2024, Lively filed a complaint accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and running a smear campaign against her. Baldoni denied all accusations against him, and filed a countersuit against Lively. His case was dismissed in June. The trial of Lively’s lawsuit is set for May.
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This week, Reynolds (Lively’s husband) addressed the mortifying reality of his private correspondence becoming public by court order. A spokesperson for Reynolds told Puck News in an article published on Tuesday: “Yes, Ryan got involved – what husband wouldn’t support his wife and the mother of his children?
“He saw his wife fighting daily to stand up against sexual harassment in a private and respectful way, only to face retaliation for doing so.
“If anything, Ryan feels like he wasn’t angry enough. He passionately believes in and will stand up for the basic right to a safe workplace free of harassment and retaliation for his wife and others. Then, now and always.”
Reynolds isn’t the only high-profiler to address the latest document dump. Here’s what to know about the celebrities embroiled in the It Ends With Us case.
Jameela Jamil
Baldoni and Jameela Jamil share publicist Jennifer Abel. That’s who the British actress and activist was texting, according to an eight-page exchange dated August 2024, buried in 181 pages of court documents unsealed on January 20 and obtained by TMZ.
The Good Place star and Abel were reacting to a TikTok video, centred on Lively’s alleged “tone-deaf” promotion of It Ends With Us.
At the time, Lively was facing backlash for spruiking her haircare line and seemingly encouraging floral-clad women to watch the film in cinemas for a girls’ night out, rather than centring the film’s serious theme of domestic violence, as Baldoni was doing in his interviews.
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“I want to officially incorporate nightmare c— and demon c— into my vocabulary; UNBELIEVABLE; She’s doing this to herself,” Abel wrote to Jamil regarding Lively.
Jamil, who also said in the text exchange that she had “never seen such a bizarre villain act before”, responded: “[Lively’s] a suicide bomber at this point.”
Two days after the messages were made public, Jamil took to Instagram – where her profile reads “feminist-in-progress” – to clarify, without referencing Lively or Baldoni specifically, her belief that being a feminist does not prevent having personal differences with other women.
By January 24, she had also made an eight-minute TikTok video claiming her name was unredacted “deliberately” to “cause as much trouble as possible for me even though these text messages have nothing to do with the case”.
She also noted her messages were sent four months before Lively filed her sexual harassment complaint against Baldoni.
“I had no idea about any of this stuff, so I was just purely venting to my friend about how I felt about the press rollout for that f—ing terrible movie,” Jamil added.
In a later Substack essay, she said, “the epic fallout of this outrageous, and entirely pointless invasion of privacy” included enduring death threats.
Hugh Jackman
Reynolds’ friend and Deadpool & Wolverine co-star Hugh Jackman’s name has also been thrown around.
Court documents filed by Baldoni’s legal team, obtained by People in November, alleged Jackman and Swift were present during a meeting between Baldoni and Reynolds at Reynolds and Lively’s New York penthouse.
During the alleged April 2023 confrontation, Reynolds is said to have “unloaded” on Baldoni and accused him of fat-shaming Lively after Baldoni allegedly asked Lively’s fitness trainer how much she would weigh on the date they would be shooting a scene where he has to lift her, citing back and bone density issues.
Baldoni, per his team’s filing, felt “completely embarrassed and apologised”, and also cried. Their wider argument is that Lively used her high-profile network to intimidate Baldoni.
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According to court documents unsealed on January 20 and obtained by USA Today, Lively testified in a deposition that although Jackman stopped by at the penthouse to pick Reynolds up for lunch, he merely “exchanged niceties” with Baldoni.
“No one but Baldoni, myself, and Reynolds was anywhere in our office during the discussion about Baldoni’s inappropriate inquiries into my weight,” Lively testified. Jackman has been named as a potential witness.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez
“Ben, It’s Blake. Don’t hang up,” opened Lively’s email to Ben Affleck, with whom she co-starred in 2010’s The Town. Lively said she was about to come out the other side of “the most upsetting experience I’ve ever had on a movie” thanks to “wild HR issues and beyond” before making a “zero-pressure” request: would he be willing to watch her cut of the film and provide feedback on it?
If Affleck’s then-wife, Jennifer Lopez, was available, Lively wrote that “it would be an honour to have her take” too.
Lively, who was also a producer on It Ends With Us, commissioned a separate edit of the film from Deadpool & Wolverine editor Shane Reid. Distributor Sony Pictures Releasing chose Lively’s version over Baldoni’s.
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were married at the time, and Lively’s message to Affleck included the admission she was a fan of Lopez.AP
It’s unclear if Affleck responded to Lively. If he did, and it was filed, it hasn’t been unsealed by the court.
Matt Damon and Luciana DamonRelated Article
“We’ll give you any help we can. And if this experience hasn’t totally destroyed your soul, Blake, you should come direct your next movie at Artists Equity,” Damon wrote in a group email with Lively, Reynolds and his wife, Luciana Damon, according to unsealed court documents.
Reynolds and Lively had asked the Damons to watch Lively’s cutand provide feedback after a screening in New York the next day.
Luciana Damon is a partner in Artists Equity, the production company Matt Damon co-founded with Affleck. She responded: “Of course! We’re happy to watch and [hopefully] be helpful.”
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard
Reynolds compared the It Ends With Us saga to the circus that surrounded Johnny Depp’s mostly successful 2022 defamation suit against ex-wife Amber Heard.
While discussing PR strategies with his agent, Warren Zavala, following what appeared to be Baldoni swaying public opinion via the press, Reynolds wrote to Zavala: “But honestly, someone is just gonna tell a journalist the real deal, and it’s gonna blow up in [Baldoni’s] face.”
Zavala, who described Baldoni as a “fraud shit weasel”, sent Reynolds a link to an article about Lively and Baldoni’s feud over It Ends With Us′ final edit with the note: “This is all spin. I think we let it burn.”
Reynolds responded: “How’d that work out for Depp??”
“Not well,” Zavala answered. “Cratered both of them ultimately.”
After Lively filed her sexual harassment claim in December 2024, which also alleged that Baldoni hired Melissa Nathan – the PR crisis manager Depp hired during his 2022 lawsuit against Heard – to damage her reputation with an orchestrated “retaliatory social manipulation campaign”, Heard offered her support to Lively.
“Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying, ‘A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on’,” Heard told NBC. “I saw this firsthand and up close. It’s as horrifying as it is destructive.”
Zavala, through agency WME, represents Reynolds and Lively, and Lively’s It Ends With Us co-star Brandon Sklenar. Baldoni was previously a client of WME, but as reported by Deadline, the agency dropped him after Lively filed her December 2024 complaint.
Anna WintourRelated Article
It Ends With Us was a “very brave and moving film”, according to an unsealed email sent to Lively allegedly by former Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour in August 2024, after the film premiered. Lively and Reynolds co-hosted the Met Gala with Wintour in 2022.
“Knowing how hard a situation it was for you made me especially proud of you,” Wintour allegedly wrote.
The Sisterhood
Lively’s The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants cast-mates issued a statement supporting Lively when The New York Times published its “We Can Bury Anyone” : Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine investigation.
“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,” the statement, shared to Instagram and co-signed by Alexis Bledel, America Ferrera and Amber Tamblyn, began.
“We are struck by the reality that even if a woman is as strong, celebrated, and resourced as our friend Blake, she can face forceful retaliation for daring to ask for a safe working environment. We are inspired by our sister’s courage to stand up for herself and others.”
The star-studded witness list
Lively’s potential witness list, which was submitted in July and unsealed by court order in November, included more than 100 names.
In addition to Swift, Jackman and Lively’s Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants co-stars, actress Emily Blunt, all three members of the HAIM band – Este Haim, Danielle Haim, and Alana Haim – and model Gigi Hadid were named.
Speculation that Bradley Cooper, who has been in a relationship with Hadid since 2023, would be called to testify has so far not eventuated. Lively’s sister Robyn Lively, and brother-in-law Bart Johnson of High School Musical fame, have also publicly supported Lively.
American businessman Scooter Braun – most famous for his long-running feud with Swift regarding the ownership of her music catalogue – was name-checked by Lively in a text exchange with the songstress. Lively subpoenaed Braun due to a 51 per cent investment stake HYBE America, where Braun serves as CEO, has in The Agency Group (TAG), a publicity firm founded by Nathan.
Jenny Slate, who played Baldoni’s sister in It Ends With Us, alleged in a deposition he made her uncomfortable on set.Invision/APWhere do Baldoni and Lively’s co-stars stand?
Twelve days before Lively filed her complaint against Baldoni, Hasan Minhaj – who played Baldoni’s brother-in-law in It Ends With Us – presented Baldoni with the Vital Voices Solidarity Award, recognising his work as a women’s rights ally.
“Thank you for being a true friend and always showing up – but most importantly, when the cameras aren’t rolling,” Baldoni wrote of his “soul brother” Minhaj in a since-deleted Instagram post after the ceremony. Vital Voices confirmed it rescinded Baldoni’s award two days after Lively filed her complaint.
Brandon Sklenar, who played Lively’s love interest, has voiced his support on social media for Lively and the women involved in It Ends With Us.
Privately, according to unsealed texts, Sklenar and Lively discussed getting Zavala, their mutual agent, to adjust Sklenar’s 1923 shooting schedule so he could spend more time promoting It Ends With Us.
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“I’m becoming pimp adjacent. Put on a short little skirt and get on that corner, Skelnar [sic],” Lively wrote in May 2024. “[Because] I’m not selling this movie on [Baldoni].”
Jenny Slate, who played Baldoni’s sister, said in a text message unsealed last week that Baldoni was “truly a false ally and I’m unwilling to do anything that promotes the image that he’s crafting as a ‘male feminist’ … Honestly I have no words to describe what a fraud he is.”
She was deposed in September 2025, and the transcript revealed Slate claimed Baldoni made a comment on her appearance that was “not appropriate” in “any workplace”. Baldoni, Slate alleges, told her on her first or second day on set: “I can say this because my wife is here, but you look sexy in what you’re wearing.”
A transcript of Isabela Ferrer’s deposition was also unsealed last week, in which the 25-year-old actress – who played a younger version of Lively’s character – claimed she felt “uncomfortable” after Baldoni called one of her intimate scenes “hot”.
Colleen Hoover, pictured here at a Regretting You fan screening in September, skyrocketed to household-name status in 2022 when #BookTok helped It Ends with Us shoot to No.1 on the New York Times Best Seller list.Getty Images for Paramount Pictures
“It felt out of place and strange to hear about a scene, especially a scene that is meant to be a PG scene about two young teenagers having a very innocent experience intimately,” Ferrer said in her testimony. “It felt out of place to hear my director say that as a personal thing to me and my co-star.“
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An unsealed email sent by Colleen Hoover to Sony Pictures Releasing in July 2024 revealed the author’s hesitation to attend an It Ends With Us premiere.
“I have felt backed into a corner more than once with the choices I’ve been asked to make,” Hoover wrote. “Am I going to be comfortable if Justin is there? No, things are beyond uncomfortable at this point. But my comfort isn’t my priority.”
Baldoni’s legal team urged Judge Lewis Liman to dismiss Lively’s case in a three-hour hearing last week. Unless Liman rules otherwise, Lively and Baldoni are scheduled to face off in New York’s Southern District Court when the trial begins in earnest on May 18.
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Bronte Gossling is a reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, WAtoday and Brisbane Times.Connect via email.From our partners