Amid bomb allegations Blake Livelys The lawsuit against It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni was a tidbit about how the actor allegedly sought to exploit Lively’s close relationship with pop star Taylor Swift.
According to the lawsuit obtained by Fox News Digital, a “scenario planning document” was sent by a hired crisis management team to Baldoni, the film’s producer Jamey Heath and others, outlining three likely scenarios that Lively and her team could use and vice versa Baldoni’s team would respond if she chose to “make her complaints public.”
Rumors circulated for months about an on-set feud between Lively and Baldoni, which intensified during the film’s press tour, although neither star ever said anything at the time.
Lively’s attorney claims in the filing that Baldoni’s hired crisis public relations manager, Melissa Nathan, distributed the document on August 2, 2024 “to spread misleading counter-narratives.”
Attached to the lawsuit was a “scenario planning” document that allegedly showed how Justin Baldoni and his team planned to use Blake Lively’s relationship with Taylor Swift to their advantage. (Getty Images)
One course of action the team could take, as the document states, would be to “explore planting stories about the weaponization of feminism and how people around BL (Lively) like it.” Taylor Swift, have been accused of using these tactics to “intimidate” them into getting what they want.”
Swift and Lively were close friends for almost a decade. Fox News Digital has reached out to Swift’s rep for comment but has not yet heard back.
Blake Lively and Taylor Swift have been close friends for almost a decade. (Blake Lively Instagram)
Other ideas to counteract any negative narrative, according to the document, included citing Baldoni’s “outstanding reputation among peers and industry peers – numerous quotes and interviews with positive experiences” and his support of the #.MeToo movement.
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Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively are photographed on the set of It Ends With Us in January 2024. (Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images)
The lawsuit also included a text exchange allegedly between Baldoni, Heath and Nathan (who are also listed as plaintiffs in the filing) in which the actor expressed his concerns about the document.
“I’m not thrilled with the document they sent me – I’m not sure I feel the protection I felt on the call,” reads the post, which refers to a larger conversation with Nathan’s team relates.
In a conversation the same day between Nathan and Baldoni’s publicist Jennifer Abel (also a plaintiff), Abel wrote that Baldoni wanted Lively to “feel like he was being buried.” Three days later, Baldoni sent a screenshot of the following post on X to Abel, referencing it Hailey Bieber and rhetoric about bullying.
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“This is what we would need,” Baldoni wrote in the lawsuit, to which Abel responded, “Yes, I literally spoke to Melissa at break about what we discussed last night on social and digital.” And then in a separate message: “Focus on reddit, TikTok, IG.”
A representative for Bieber did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. In the past, Bieber has spoken about her and her husband’s ex-girlfriend, Selena Gomez, feuding on social media over a false narrative that she believes is being spread on social media.
Rumors of an on-set feud between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively have been circulating on social media. (Getty Images)
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As Fox News Digital previously reported, Lively is suing Baldoni and his production company WayFarer Studios (which produced). “It ends with us”) alleging sexual harassment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and more in a lawsuit filed with the California Department of Civil Rights.
According to multiple reports, Baldoni was fired from his talent agency, WME, as a result of the lawsuit. The firm also represents Lively. A representative for the agency did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital also reached out to a representative for Baldoni but did not receive a response.
Christina Dugan Ramirez of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
