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Calaruga Shark Media. Welcome back to feuds, power, pride, and payback.
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I'm Marcus Reid. Yesterday a federal judge in New York
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dismissed Justin Baldoni's four hundred million dollar countersuit against Blake Lively,
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delivering what her lawyers called a total victory in one
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of Hollywood's most explosive legal battles. But to understand how
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we got here, how two co stars went from making
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a summer blockbuster to waging war in federal court, we
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need to go back to the beginning, back to a
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film set in New Jersey, where, according to one of them,
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something went very, very wrong. This is the story of
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It Ends with Us, a movie about domestic violence that
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became the center of its own abuse allegations. A story
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about power control and what happens when the cameras stop rolling.
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But the real drama is just beginning. The case may
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be dismissed today, but the feud that created it that
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started long before any lawyer got involved. This is episode four,
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the set from Hell, Act one, the movie that wasn't
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supposed to happen. In early twenty twenty four, Blake Lively
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seemed to have it All. The former Gossip Girl star
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had successfully transitioned to films, married to Ryan Reynolds, one
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of Hollywood's biggest stars, mother of four, with a carefully
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crafted public image as the relatable millionaire next door. She
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was selective about her projects, turning down countless scripts while
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building her brand as a businesswoman and lifestyle influencer. So
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when she signed on to star in It Ends with Us,
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the adaptation of Colleen Hoover's best selling novel about domestic violence,
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it felt like the perfect vehicle for her to tackle
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serious material. The book had sold millions of copies, inspiring
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a devoted fanbase. The role of Lily Bloom, a strong
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woman who survives an abusive relationship, seemed tailor made for
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an actress looking to prove her dramatic chops. What Lively
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didn't expect was that her co star and director would
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allegedly turn the set into its own kind of battlefield.
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Justin Baldoni was writing high in January twenty twenty four.
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The former Jane the Virgin star had successfully transitioned to directing,
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building his Wayfarer Studios into a production company focused on
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meaningful stories. It Ends with Us was supposed to be
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his breakout moment, directing and starring opposite an A list
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actress in a film about one of society's most important issues,
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but according to the legal complaint Lively would eventually file.
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Problems began almost immediately. The first red flag Lively alleged
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came during early script discussions. Baldoni, she claimed, wanted to
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add sex scenes that weren't in Hoover's original novel, scenes
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that would require Lively to appear nude on camera. When
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she pushed back, citing the approved script she'd signed on to,
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the tension was already building. Then came the alleged incidents
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that would eventually destroy both their careers. According to Lively's
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December twenty twenty four complaint, Baldoni began making inappropriate comments
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about her appearance, describing her body in sexual terms during
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what should have been professional conversations. She alleged he would
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enter her makeup trailer unannounced, including times when she was
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breastfeeding her infant daughter or getting dressed. But it was
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during filming itself that things allegedly crossed the line from
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unprofessional to harassment. In one scene, Lively alleged Baldoni was
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supposed to speak dialogue while they slow danced for a
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montage sequence. Instead, she claimed he leaned forward and slowly
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dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck,
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while saying it smells so good. The scene required no
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such intimate contact, no kiss, no physical affection beyond dancing.
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When Lively objected to what she called improvised physical intimacy
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that hadn't been rehearsed or choreographed, she alleged that Baldoni
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dismissed her concerns. The complaint painted a picture of a
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set where boundaries were constantly crossed, where the director used
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his position of power to allegedly make his leading lady
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uncomfortable in scene after s Act two, the meeting that
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changed everything. By late twenty twenty three, with production pause
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due to the writers and actors' strikes, Lively had had enough.
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According to her legal filing, she demanded a meeting before
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filming could resume, a meeting that would prove to be
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the turning point in what would become Hollywood's most bitter
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legal war. The January twenty twenty four all hands meeting
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was held at Wayfarer Studios. Present were Lively, Baldoni, producer
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Jamie Heath, Wayfarer executives, and, in a move that signals
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how seriously Lively was taking the situation, her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
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The presence of Reynolds at what was ostensibly a work
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meeting was unprecedented. This wasn't a social visit or a
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set visit by a supportive spouse. This was the star
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of Deadpool using his considerable industry power to back up
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his wife's complaints about workplace harassment. Lively presented a list
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of demands that read like a workplace safety manual written
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by someone who'd been pushed to their absolute limit. No
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more showing nude videos of women, including producer Heath's wife,
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to Lively or her staff. No more discussions of Baldoni's
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or Heath's alleged former pornography addiction with cast and crew.
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No more descriptions of their genitalia. No more improvised sex
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scenes or nudity beyond what was in the approved script.
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The demand for an intimacy coordinator to be present at
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all times was particularly telling. In post Me Too, Hollywood,
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intimacy coordinators had become standard for scenes involving physical contact
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that Lively had to demand one suggests the production had
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been proceeding without basic safety protocols. According to Lively, said complaint,
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Wayfarer Studios agreed to all her demands. They would provide
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the intimacy coordinator, they would stick to the approved script,
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and crucially, they agreed not to retaliate against Lively for
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raising these concerns. That last promise, Lively would later allege
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was the first one they broke. Act three, The Summer
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That Went Wrong. It Ends with Us was released in
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August twenty twenty four to massive box office success. The
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film earned three hundred fifty one million dollars worldwide on
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a twenty five million dollar budget, a massive hit by
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any measure, but even during the promotional tour, something felt off.
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Industry insiders noticed that Baldoni and Lively rarely appeared together.
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During the film's New York premiere, Baldoni didn't pose with
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the cast for photos, press interviews were conducted separately. The
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chemistry that should have been evident between co stars who
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just made a successful romantic drama was nowhere to be found.
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But it was Lively's promotional strategy that became the subject
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of intense online criticism. While Baldoni spoke seriously about domestic
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violence and the film's important message. Lively treated the press
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to her like a celebration. She promoted her hair care line,
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talked about fashion, and seemed to approach a movie about
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abuse with what critics called inappropriate levity. The backlash was
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swift and brutal. Social media turned against Lively with a
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ferocity that seemed disproportionate to her promotional missteps. Suddenly, old
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interviews resurfaced, her comments were dissected, her every public appearance
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was criticized. What looked like an organic social media pylon
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would later be revealed, according to Lively's complaint, as something
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far more sinister. Act four, the Digital Army. On December twentieth,
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twenty twenty four, Blake Lively filed a bombshell complaint with
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the California Civil Rights Department that would change everything. The
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allegations of onset harassment were damning enough, but it was
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what Lively claimed happened after filming that truly shocked Hollywood.
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According to the complaint, Baldoni and his team had orchestrated
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what Lively called a sophisticated press and digital plan designed
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to destroy her reputation using crisis management techniques typically reserved
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for major scandals. They allegedly deployed what the complaint called
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a digital army to weaponize social media against her. Text
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messages in included in the complaint appeared to show Baldoni's
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publicists discussing strategies to make Lively feel like she can
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be buried. One message allegedly read we can't write, we
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will destroy her, suggesting they understood the line between aggressive
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PR and illegal retaliation. The complaint alleged that Baldoni's team
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hired subcontractors to create fake social media accounts and promote
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negative content about Lively across multiple platforms. They allegedly planted
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stories and media outlets, and coordinated online harassment campaigns designed
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to look organic but were actually carefully orchestrated character assassination.
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This wasn't just about winning a PR battle, according to Lively,
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this was about using the power of modern media manipulation
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to punish a woman for speaking up about workplace harassment.
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The summer's social media pylon against Lively suddenly took on
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a different meaning. Those viral tiktoks criticizing her interviews, the
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resurfaced old clips, the seemingly organic outrage. Lively alleged it
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was all manufactured by professionals hired to destroy her reputation.
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Act five the Explosion. The New York Times published lively
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story on December twenty first, twenty twenty four, under the
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headline we can bury anyone inside a Hollywood smear machine.
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The article included the text messages, the alleged harassment, details,
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and documentation of what appeared to be a coordinated retaliation campaign.
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The response was immediate and devastating for Baldoni. Within hours, WME,
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one of Hollywood's most powerful talent agencies, dropped Baldoni as
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a client. The Vital Voices Organization rescinded an award they'd
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planned to give him for supporting WI Women. His Man
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Enough podcast co host, resigned. Colleen Hoover, the author whose
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book had made this all possible, released a statement supporting Lively.
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But Baldoni wasn't going down without a fight. On December
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thirty first, twoenty twenty four, hours before the end of
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the year, Baldoni filed a two hundred fifty million dollar
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libel lawsuit against The New York Times, accusing the newspaper
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of journalistic malpractice and alleging they had cowered to the
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wants and whims of two powerful, untouchable Hollywood elites. That
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same day, Lively escalated by filing her own federal lawsuit
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in New York, formally bringing her harassment allegations into court.
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But the real nuclear option came on January sixteenth, twenty
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twenty five, when Baldoni filed a four hundred million dollar
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lawsuit directly against Lively, Reynolds, and their publicist, the Complain
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to accuse them of extortion, defamation, and attempting to steal
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creative control of the film. It painted Lively not as
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a harassment victim, but as a manipulative a lister who
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weaponized false accusations to get her way. The lawsuit alleged
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that Lively had never even read Hoover's novel before signing
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onto the project, a devastating claim that suggested she didn't
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understand the material she was adapting. It accused her of
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making wrongheaded creative decisions and systematically excluding Baldoni from the
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production of his own film. Most explosively, it claimed that
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Lively had threatened to withdraw from the project and make
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sexual harassment allegations public unless she was given unprecedented creative control.
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According to Baldoni, the harassment claims weren't real grievances. They
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were weapons deployed by Hollywood Royalty to get their way. Epilogue,
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The Point of no Return. By January twenty twenty five,
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what had started as workplace tensions on a movie set
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had exploded into multiple federal lawsuits, industry blacklisting, and a
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media circus that dominated entertainment headlines. Both careers lay in ruins. Baldoni,
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once positioned as Hollywood's feminist ally, was now persona non grata,
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his directing career effectively over Lively, despite support from advocacy groups,
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faced continued online harassment and questions about her motivations. The
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film that was supposed to raise awareness about domestic violence
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had become the center of its own abuse allegations. The
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movie that was meant to empower women had divided Hollywood
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into warring camps questioning who was the real victim. What
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makes this feud particularly devastating is that there are no
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winners if Lively's allegations are true. She endured months of
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harassment and then suffered a coordinated retaliation campaign designed to
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destroy her career, all for the crime of speaking up
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about workplace abuse. If Baldoni's counter allegations are true, he's
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the victim of false accusations deployed as weapons by powerful
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celebrities who used Me Too movement's important principles to cover
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their own professional misconduct. The truth, as it often is
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in Hollywood, remained somewhere in the disputed territory between competing narratives,
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buried under mountains of legal filings and pr strategies. But
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what's undeniable is that a film about ending cycles of
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abuse had created its own cycle of professional destruction that
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consumed everyone it touched. The case may be dismissed today,
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but the real trial, the one that will determine whose
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version of events the world believes, is still set for
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March twenty twenty six, and, as we'll see in our
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next episode, the legal battle that followed would prove even
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more destructive than the original allegations, because when Hollywood goes
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to war, the collateral damage always extends far beyond the battlefield.
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I'm Marcus Reed, thanks for listening to feuds, power, pride,
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and payback.