NEED TO KNOW
\nBlake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal saga began in December 2024, when the actress sued her costar of sexual harassment and retaliationAhead of the May 2026 trial, several of Lively’s texts have been shared publicly in unsealed court filingsThe explosive messages name some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Matt Damon and Ben Affleck<\/p>\n
While the legal battle surrounding the behind-the-scenes of It <\/a>Ends with Us<\/a> is largely between Justin Baldoni<\/a> and Blake Lively<\/a>, several other celebrities have been caught in the crossfire.\n<\/p>\n In December 2024, the high-profile legal saga began when Lively sued Baldoni<\/a>, who directed and starred in the film, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation. Baldoni denied the allegations and later filed a since-dismissed $400 million countersuit<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n Though the trial is scheduled to begin in May 2026, several revelations have been shared in the months leading up to it. In November 2025, unsealed court filings originally submitted in July showed Lively stating more than 100 names of potential witnesses<\/a>, including Emily Blunt<\/a>,\u00a0Gigi Hadid<\/a> and\u00a0Hugh Jackman<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n Ahead of a Jan. 22 hearing that focused on Baldoni’s summary judgment<\/a>, a batch of alleged emails and text messages were submitted to court and unsealed, revealing several explosive messages that Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds<\/a> sent to some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Ben Affleck<\/a>, Matt Damon<\/a> and Taylor Swift<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n Below, here are the most notable celebrities named in Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s unsealed court docs.\n<\/p>\n Taylor Swift <\/p>\n Taylor Swift attends the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards on Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n Matt Winkelmeyer\/Getty<\/p>\n In text messages partially unsealed, Lively asked Swift to endorse a revised version of the It Ends with Us script she was proposing “even without having read it<\/a>,” Baldoni’s legal team alleged.\n<\/p>\n Swift allegedly replied, “I’ll do anything for you !!”\n<\/p>\n Lively’s attorneys said the released texts are missing necessary context in refiled exhibits filed on Jan. 20, pointing to Lively’s testimony in which the actress said she “sent Taylor the script on her way to my apartment because Justin was still there, and I asked her to read them. I told her she didn\u2019t have to, I didn\u2019t want her to feel pressured to do that, but I hoped that she would.”\n<\/p>\n The singer had allegedly been on her way to visit her friend when Baldoni was present in Lively’s home. Afterward, Lively wrote to Swift she was “so epically heroic today” and that she “recapped every moment” to Reynolds.\n<\/p>\n In other unsealed texts, Swift allegedly wrote to Lively about Baldoni, saying, “I think this b—- knows something is coming because he\u2019s gotten out his tiny violin<\/a>,” in early December 2024. Lively’s lawyers did not dispute that the “quoted language appears in the cited source,” though they claimed that it “does not support Defendants’ assertion” that Lively and Swift “privately discussed the forthcoming\u00a0New York Times\u00a0article”\u00a0that broke the news of the legal battle that month.\n<\/p>\n After the article was published, Swift allegedly texted Lively that she “helped so many people who won’t have to go through this ever again,” per the exchange filed with the court. “Never has a cancellation been reversed so fast.”\n<\/p>\n Travis Kelce <\/p>\n Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs prior to playing the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 6, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla.<\/p>\n Megan Briggs\/Getty<\/p>\n In an April 2024 email to Swift seeking her reaction to an edit, Lively asked her to show her fianc\u00e9 (then-boyfriend<\/a>), Travis Kelce<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n Lively allegedly wrote to Swift that she would “love to know what you think,” and added, “Please show Trav too!\n<\/p>\n “Would love his opinion also,” the message continued.\n<\/p>\n Matt Damon and Luciana Damon <\/p>\n Matt Damon and Luciana Damon at the ‘Shadow Force’ premiere on May 1, 2025, in New York.<\/p>\n John Nacion\/Variety via Getty<\/p>\n Reynolds allegedly messaged Damon and his wife, Luciana Damon, in May 2024, asking them to watch Lively’s edit of\u00a0It Ends with Us\u00a0and provide feedback. Lively followed up, emphasizing her husband’s message that it was a “zero pressure ask.”\n<\/p>\n In the court filing exhibiting Lively’s email, she appears to have described working on the movie as an experience that “nearly killed<\/a>” her,\u00a0while also accusing Baldoni of being “in a cult.”\n<\/p>\n Per the filing, Matt allegedly responded that they were happy to give her “any help we can,” and also suggested she direct her next movie with his and Affleck\u2019s production company, Artists Equity, if the\u00a0It Ends with Us\u00a0experience hasn’t “totally destroyed [her] soul.”\n<\/p>\n “We’re kind of like a cult but a really nice one,” Matt’s messages continue, to which Lively allegedly responded, “Where do I sign.”\n<\/p>\n Elsewhere in the email thread, Reynolds also alleged that several weeks before shooting the movie, and shortly after Lively had given birth to their son, Baldoni called their trainer and asked, “how much do you think Blake will weigh in two weeks?”\n<\/p>\n Reynolds alleged that Baldoni said he was asking because he has “low bone density” and would have to “carry her in a scene.”\n<\/p>\n Lively also claimed that Baldoni once told her he spoke to her\u00a0late father<\/a>\u00a0often, leading Luciana to respond that she was “fascinated by this creep” and suggested Lively make a movie about him.\n<\/p>\n “I literally already have the name of my doc,” Lively allegedly replied. “Lights, Cult, Action.”\n<\/p>\n Reynolds allegedly ended the email thread by calling Baldoni a “malignantly vein [sic], sociopathic FAUXminist with almost no sense of boundaries or shame.”\n<\/p>\n Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez <\/p>\n Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez at the premiere of ‘This Is Me…Now: A Love Story’ on Feb. 13, 2024, in Hollywood, Calif.<\/p>\n Steve Granitz\/FilmMagic<\/p>\n In the unsealed message from May 2024 viewed by PEOPLE, Lively also asked Affleck to watch the movie<\/a>, which she said had been rewritten and restructured. She asked the Argo actor-director to give her feedback, though again noted there was “zero pressure.”\n<\/p>\n “I’ve just come out the other side (well almost) of the most upsetting experience I’ve ever had on a movie,” she wrote. “The making of this doc would be more interesting than the movie could ever be. It’s like if Wild Wild Country<\/a>, Fyre Festival and Going Clear had a baby with The Room ….Room also works though.”\n<\/p>\n Lively also expressed interest in hearing Affleck’s then-wife<\/a> Jennifer Lopez<\/a>‘s opinion. “I’m such a fan of Jennifer’s,” Lively allegedly wrote, adding “it would be an honor to have her take.”\n<\/p>\n It remains unclear whether Affleck responded to Lively’s request and if he or Lopez watched the film.\n<\/p>\n Anna Wintour <\/p>\n Anna Wintour attends the 2025 Franca Fund Gala on Nov. 23, 2025, in Doha, Qatar.<\/p>\n Taylor Hill\/Getty<\/p>\n In August 2024, the same month that It Ends with Us premiered, former Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour<\/a> emailed Lively allegedly writing, “Blake that was a very brave and moving film and the rooftop scene is brilliant.”\n<\/p>\n She continued, “Knowing how hard a situation it was for you made me especially proud of you.”\n<\/p>\n Jenny Slate <\/p>\n Jenny Slate at the ‘It Ends With Us’ premiere on Aug. 6, 2024, in New York City.<\/p>\n John Nacion\/Variety via Getty<\/p>\n Jenny Slate<\/a>, who starred in It Ends with Us as Baldoni’s on-screen sister, slammed the actor as a “fraud” and “false ally” in unsealed texts<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n Slate allegedly sent a text to her team about doing early publicity for the film, writing, “i don’t want to do anything with Justin, i don’t want to talk about him, like … nothing. And the same goes for Jamey [Heath], who is truly unprofessional.” (Heath is the CEO of Wayfarer Studios, which produced the film; he is also a defendant in Lively’s lawsuit.)\n<\/p>\n She went on to say that filming the movie “has been a really gross and disturbing shoot, and I’m one of many who feel [this] way,” claiming that she and Lively “both complained directly” to the studio.\n<\/p>\n “Justin is truly a false ally and I’m unwilling to do anything that promotes the image that he’s crafting as a ‘male feminist’ … like … honestly i have no words to describe what a fraud he is,” Slate wrote in one text. In another, the actress said she has “never ever encountered anything like this dude.”\n<\/p>\n Slate continued, “He’s the biggest clown and the most intense narcissist. Lots of lessons learned!”\n<\/p>\n Brandon Sklenar <\/p>\n Brandon Sklenar at the ‘It Ends with Us’ New York premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on Aug. 6, 2024, in New York City.<\/p>\n John Nacion\/Variety via Getty\u00a0<\/p>\n Brandon Sklenar<\/a>, who starred as Atlas in It Ends with Us, exchanged several messages with Lively in May 2024, from casual conversation about their travels to direct comments about their costar Baldoni.\n<\/p>\n Speaking about a screening of the film, Lively said in the unsealed exhibits that she felt “acknowledged” and “can move forward” after Baldoni allegedly emailed to let her know he had taken some footage from her cut.\n<\/p>\n She then called him “bat s—” and said he “wasn’t authorized” to watch her cut yet.\n<\/p>\n “Can’t believe he did that,” Sklenar responded, adding, “I mean I can.”\n<\/p>\n Elsewhere in the messages, Lively claimed Baldoni was “always trying to rope everyone into his messiness.”\n<\/p>\n Sklenar replied, “I’m just so baffled by his lack of foresight especially given his ted talks and podcasts and books.”\n<\/p>\n Jameela Jamil <\/p>\n Jameela Jamil attends the Glamour Women of The Year Awards 2024 at Raffles on Oct. 1, 2024, in London.<\/p>\n Karwai Tang\/WireImage<\/p>\n In an unsealed thread of messages sent a few days after the movie premiered in August 2024, actress Jameela Jamil<\/a> criticized Lively while texting with Jennifer Abel<\/a>, who is both her and Baldoni’s publicist.\n<\/p>\n In one text, Jamil texted Abel regarding a TikTok video condemning Lively’s tone throughout the press tour interviews for a movie about domestic violence and abuse.\n<\/p>\n “She\u2019s a suicide bomber at this point,” Jamil wrote.\u00a0“I\u2019ve\u00a0never seen such a bizarre villain act before<\/a>.”\n<\/p>\n After a few text messages were exchanged about Lively’s team, Jamil asked Abel if she had seen the actress had posted a “survivors link” to her social media. Abel called it “sick,” while Jamil added that it was “so cold” and was just “some stats and a link.”\n<\/p>\n Abel then said she was “thinking about having Justin share it,” to which Jamil replied, “Ahahaha no keep him away from her” and “Keep him silent.”\n<\/p>\n Jamil then proceeded to describe Lively as a “bizarre villain act” and said she is “OVER over.”\n<\/p>\n Johnny Depp <\/p>\n Johnny Depp on July 8, 2025, in London.<\/p>\n Gareth Cattermole\/Getty<\/p>\n According to unsealed exhibits, the same day It Ends with Us premiered in August 2024, Reynolds allegedly sent a lengthy message to his manager, Warren Zavala, expressing outrage over Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath<\/a>‘s alleged response to Lively’s work environment complaints \u2014 and also outlining the online narratives framing her as a “controlling b—-.”\n<\/p>\n In one message, Zavala suggested they “see if the noise subsides,” and sent the link to an article that illustrated Lively and Baldoni fighting over the final cut of the movie.\n<\/p>\n “This is all spin. I think we let it burn,” Zavala wrote, to which Reynolds replied, “How’d that work out for [Johnny] Depp<\/a>??” (Reynolds was seemingly referencing the actor’s highly publicized legal dispute with ex-wife<\/a> Amber Heard<\/a>.)\n<\/p>\n “Not well. Cratered both of them ultimately,” Zavala continued. “That’s why he’s an egotistical s— weasel with a god complex.”<\/p>\n Bradley Cooper <\/p>\n Bradley Cooper at the Los Angeles premiere of ‘A Star Is Born’ in September 2018. In May 2024, according to an unsealed filing, Lively messaged an undisclosed recipient that she had “SO much to tell” them, including that It Ends with Us author Colleen Hoover<\/a> reached out to her because Baldoni was allegedly on an “internal smear campaign trying to get his edit through.”\n<\/p>\n Lively said Hoover was “horrified.”\n<\/p>\n “She was his safety net all along,” Lively wrote of Hoover and Baldoni. “Meanwhile he shut her out and wouldn’t include her in anything and told her she had no voice or value yet paraded her around in front of cameras for goodwill and told us all that all his decision he got pushback on were her ideas.”\n<\/p>\n
\nJordan Strauss\/Invision\/AP\/REX\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n