Blake Lively called herself a 'b*** buster' in text messages to Justin Baldoni as $400M case escalates
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Blake Lively confessed to being a “ball buster” in one of her text messages to Justin Baldoni.
A secret trove of text messages recently came out amid the ‘It Ends With Us’ co-stars’ contentious court battle after Baldoni filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and the actress’s publicist, Leslie Sloane.
As reported by RadarOnline, Baldoni submitted a secret trove of text messages along with his lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York on Thursday, January 16. The ‘Jane the Virgin’ actor claimed that Lively reportedly attempted to gain control of their summer flick ‘It Ends With Us’ as it was in production.
Justin Baldoni claimed Blake Lively attempted to take control of the film
In his lawsuit, Baldoni -- who was credited as the director of the film based on Colleen Hoover’s novel of the same name -- accused Lively, Reynolds, and Sloane of civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy.
The 40-year-old actor claimed, "[Blake] continued to maintain what later appeared to be a façade of a close, caring relationship with [Justin], even as she continued to make escalating demands for creative control."
He further claimed that Lively acknowledged she could be "difficult and critical of others, using the kind of language she herself would have alleged to be inappropriate."
Baldoni substantiated his claim by providing a few text message conversations to support his case.
In one case, Baldoni allegedly sent, "I'm not going to tell you that you were amazing because you tease me for being so sentimental — but you were amazing today,” to which Lively responded, "Thank you. I do appreciate it. I’m just a ball buster but it means a lot to me. I care a great deal. And always want to deliver. You were terrific. I'm proud of everything we did today, but really every day."
Baldoni further claimed in his suit that the ‘Gossip Girl’ actress often attempted to gain control of the film, as he shared text messages of Lively requesting to see "raw footage of what was filmed that day, including the many 'takes'. This is not shared with the cast."
In another text message sent to Baldoni, Lively allegedly wrote, "Hey would you mind giving me access to dallies? And I’m curious which takes you liked of the scenes you showed [redacted.] My manager [redacted] flew out to visit set and leaves tomorrow am. He heard all about it from Warren and I’d love to show him. I appreciate you may be too slammed right now to make this happen but maybe someone else can facilitate? Thanks so much."
In yet another message provided by Baldoni, Lively wrote, "I watched the selects you sent. So great. I was so happy and energized. Such solid work from everyone on and off camera. We were working so quickly, there was never the time to look back."
"Please let me know who to reach out to get to access to the full gallery of dallies. I'm so looking forward to seeing all we have in the can. And of course, any scenes you cut together, I’d love to see. Hope you’re having a good summer. And hopefully a good edit. Will your assembly be done soon?" Lively purportedly wrote in another text message included in the lawsuit.
Justin Baldoni sought help from fellow producers to handle Blake Lively situation
Baldoni further claimed in the lawsuit that he often asked fellow producers for help on how to handle the escalating situation with the actress, which he claimed to have become a “common practice, so as not to trigger backlash from [Blake]."
He claimed that Lively asked him about the dallies and again inquired about who else had access to the footage.
His lawyers further claimed that the actress devised a “takeover strategy," as reported by Us Weekly, to wrest creative control of the film from Baldoni and that she tried to make him the “real-life villain.”
The actor claimed that their conflict began in May 2023 during the movie’s production.
Nevertheless, as their feud escalated with Lively filing a lawsuit against Baldoni accusing him of creating a hostile work environment, his lawsuit claimed that she was "determined to make Baldoni the real-life villain in her story" to deflect from the public criticism she received for her "tone-deaf" promotions during the film's media tour.
They also reflected on the emails exchanged between the two stars before filming commenced, with Baldoni asserting that Blake "expressed warm gratitude" for the work they had done to prepare for the film. He, however, believed it was a facade, merely a ploy to wrest the creative control out of him.
