The Gossip Girl Star Serena Van Der Woodsen (Blake Lively) and Jane the Virgin Male Star Rafael Solano (Justin Baldoni) first met on the set of the “Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants 2″ which was released in 2008. He played a small role as a love interest for Blake’s character, these two got to know each other and would yet again cross paths.

Justin Baldoni had been working on the script for a famous book since 2019, by Colleen Hoover, a controversial author, ‘It Ends With Us.” It’s a book focused on domestic abuse, and reconnecting with lost loves, but the most important theme of it is that love isn’t always enough to sustain a relationship. Justin spent five years working on it, put all his passion into it, and finally got the book rights in 2019. He made sure to be as respectful as he could be and the movie was in production in 2022. He was also the director of the movie.

All of that changed when Blake Lively was brought into the fold by Colleen Hoover, rumors of a feud began to swirl around the set. Promos of the film showcased Blake Lively and the rest of the cast members such as Jenny Slate who played Ryle Kincaid’s sister (Justin Baldoni) and Atlas Corrigan (Brenton Skylener) and Colleen Hoover, they were all seen together, except for the actual director.

People theorized what was going on behind the scenes, but no one would guess what Blake would do after the movie was released in December.

Instead of advocacy on the red carpet, Lively highlights fashion and floral, showcasing her hairline and husband’s movie, and on camera avoids questions about domestic abuse. At the London premiere the press were asked to keep questions “fun and light-hearted.”

Lively was also criticized for her comments in another clumsy promotional tour video where she said, “Grab your friends, wear your florals and head out to see it.”

Ms. Paige accused Lively of promoting the film like it’s “the sequel to Barbie”.

On December 20th, 2024, Blake Lively filed a legal complaint against Justin Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer Studio, and Producer Jenny Heath. Blake claimed he had sexually harassed her and had made a smear campaign against her with his team to “destroy” her reputation. She contended that Baldoni who had produced, starred, and directed in the film exhibited “disturbing” and “unprofessional” behavior that made the workplace a “hostile environment.” The disturbing conduct Baldoni would allegedly do was enter into her trailer while she was breastfeeding.

Jed Wallace, an independent contractor, was also named in Lively’s filing, as well as Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, who are both publicists of Baldoni, in an alleged effort to destroy Blake’s reputation. A quote from Lively is, “I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted,” in a statement to the New York Times.

The investigation was reported to the New York Times so they quickly reported on this, making a story titled, “We Can Bury Anyone: Inside A Hollywood Smear Machine.”

Shortly after, on December 31, Baldoni filed his own lawsuit suing the New York Times for $250 million for alleging libel, false light invasion of privacy, promissory fraud, and breach of implied-in-fact contract. They defended themselves saying, “The article was meticulously and responsibly reported.” Baldoni was done playing games by then, on January 16th he filed another lawsuit this time dedicated to none other than Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist Leslie Sloane and her PR firm for $400 million on grounds of civil extortion, defamation, false light invasion of privacy, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, intentional interference with contractual relations, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage.

Their team did not respond but more allegations about what Justin Baldoni did came out. The exact charges were how Baldoni “inserted improvised gratuitous sexual scenes and content involving nudity in the film,” or how Baldoni did not hire an intimacy coordinator,  “improvised physical intimacy that had not been rehearsed, choreographed or discussed with Ms. Lively, with no intimacy coordinator involved.” Balke also spoke out saying a meeting was held with her husband and Baldoni to hash out their working condition. Some points that were made were “an intimacy coordinator on-set when Lively was present, no improvised kissing, and no talk of his own sex life or genitalia.”

Now I’m sure you’re wondering how Justin Baldoni responded. Well I’ll tell you that Baldoni’s lawsuit rebutted some of the many claims she made against him. Baldoni came prepared with his lawyer Bryan Freedman putting out messages with himself and Blake. Countering an allegation, Baldoni said he was “invited” into Lively’s trailer while she was breastfeeding, attaching a screenshot of an alleged conversation in which she said, “I’m just pumping in my trailer if you wanna work out our lines.” He responded, “Copy. Eating with crew and will head that way.” Furthermore, Baldoni claimed that while Blake alleged his PR team were planting negative stories about her in the press, he believes that she is the one who did so about him claiming that Lively’s publicist, “[planted] a false story alleging that there were ‘multiple’ HR complaints during production.”

On Jan. 16, Baldoni filed a lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds, Sloane and her PR company. In the filing he included many allegations including that Lively never even read the book that the movie is based on and therefore made “wrongheaded creative decisions” that “reflected her fundamental lack of understanding of the book,” and that she also joked he should get  that Baldoni ”should get plastic surgery” on his nose.

Baldoni’s team further stated to PEOPLE that they’re “private individuals” who have now received death threats because of Blake Lively’s complaint. Nathan and Abel have also stated that they’ve also been on the receiving end of “abhorrent abuse and vile anti-Semitic slurs hurled at us due to her decision to use us as scapegoats for her own choices promoting her film in which she made millions of dollars. With this filing, we lift our own curtain of what happens when the entitled weaponize power, fear and money to destroy, intimidate and bully those who get in their way.”

The ongoing legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni has not only captivated the public’s attention but has also raised important questions about the dynamics of power and influence in Hollywood. As more evidence and claims continue to surface, a trial date has been set for March 2026. This highly anticipated court showdown promises to reveal more about the contentious dynamics behind the scenes of “It Ends With Us” and the allegations that have rocked Hollywood.