Justin Baldoni claims Blake Lively set him up for a 'trap' during 'It Ends With Us' filming
Justin Baldoni vented about Blake Lively "setting [him] up for a trap" by refusing to use a body double for intimate scenes during the filming of It Ends With Us, according to newly unsealed texts.
Legal documents obtained by US outlets, including PEOPLE Magazine, showed the actor-director messaging his former agent at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME), Danny Greenberg, about his "really bad" week on Dec. 30, 2023.
"She (Lively) had the audacity to email me directly and invite me to a meeting at her house alone if I chose," Baldoni said, as per Us Weekly.
"She's refused a body double which now Sony and Todd [Black] (a producer on It Ends With Us) have to jump in to make sure that happens because that's just setting me up for a trap."
Baldoni added that Lively supposedly insisted on his having a double for the scene.
The Jane the Virgin alum further talked about how Lively allegedly rejected his storyboards and asked to keep the characters fully clothed for the intimate part of the film. "If you know the book, it's just ridiculous," he said on the notion.
Moreover, Baldoni told Greenberg that he's giving Lively "95% of what she wants for peace."
"[It's] been very draining on me and time-consuming over this break to be dealing with an actress who is rewriting the writer and director," he added, as per Page Six.
Days later on Jan. 4, 2024, Lively called for an all-hands meeting.
The Dec. 30 texts emerged in a motion filed by WME.
In October 2025, Greenberg compared Lively's behavior during filming of It Ends With Us as "extortion."
"My use of the word extortion there was referencing just cumulative behavior that both the studio and [production company Wayfarer Studios] and Justin [were] having to manage," he said.
The legal battle between the two actors began in December 2024, when Lively accused Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios CEO Jamey Heath of sexual harassment and running a smear campaign against her.
Baldoni later filed a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively and a $250 million one against The New York Times over its article, 'We Can Bury Anyone': Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine. The cases were dismissed in June.
In November, the actor-director asked a US judge to dismiss Lively's lawsuit against him.
The trial for Lively vs. Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios has been delayed to May 18, 2026.
