LOS ANGELES – Newly surfaced text messages from Justin Baldoni have revealed the star's desperate, real-time thoughts following a "traumatic" confrontation with Ryan Reynolds, in which he alleges he was "ambushed" and "emotionally paralyzed" over conduct complaints from his It Ends With Us co-star, Blake Lively.
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| Justin Baldoni; Blake Lively; Ryan Reynolds |
The messages, sent to actor Rainn Wilson and now part of an explosive ongoing legal battle, provide a raw, first-person account of the high-stakes meeting that has become central to the bitter feud.
In the court documents, obtained by PEOPLE, Baldoni details a tense showdown at the New York City apartment of Reynolds and Lively in January 2024. The meeting, he claims, left him feeling "abandoned by God" after Reynolds "scolded" him "like a five-year-old."
"I Was Emotionally Paralyzed"
The text message, dated Jan. 5, 2024, was sent just one day before filming on the highly-anticipated movie was set to resume after the Hollywood strikes.
"Ryan was talking to me like a five-year-old and scolding me,” Baldoni, 42, wrote to Wilson. He described how Reynolds allegedly read a list of accusations from his phone, many of which Baldoni claimed were "taken completely out of context."
The words "creepy" and "abuse" were reportedly used to describe his behavior on set. Baldoni claimed he was even given a written apology to read aloud to the couple but was physically unable to do so.
"It's hard to feel so much of what they believe about me is false because they are so convinced that it's real," Baldoni wrote. "I was emotionally paralyzed, which is something I haven’t experienced in years."
The director's anguish is palpable in the texts: "My brain was struggling because what I wanted to say and do was run and blow this whole movie up because I feel this was so unjust... I prayed and prayed and prayed for the words and they didn’t come, so I felt abandoned by God in that moment."
He added, referring to Lively, "We were told this was the worst experience of her life."
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| Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Justin Baldoni |
The Trigger: A Question About Weight
According to Baldoni, the intense confrontation was triggered by a seemingly practical, on-set inquiry.
Baldoni, who suffers from a history of back problems, was scheduled to film a scene in which his character had to lift Lively. He claims he asked a trainer how much Lively weighed to ensure he could perform the lift safely.
He says the trainer relayed this question to Lively, who then told Reynolds, which ultimately prompted the "ambush" meeting.
The Legal War
This January 2024 meeting has become a cornerstone of the dueling lawsuits. Baldoni's legal team later characterized the event as an "inappropriate and humiliating berating," alleging Reynolds "launched into a tirade" as other celebrity friends were "coming in and out of their penthouse."
However, Lively's lawyers countered in their own lawsuit, stating that she chose to have Reynolds present as "her representative." They claim the group "discussed in detail the inappropriate conduct that Ms. Lively, her employees, and other cast and crew experienced at the hands of Mr. Baldoni."
While the newly revealed texts paint a dramatic picture of Baldoni's distress, the legal tide has recently turned against him. In June, a judge dismissed Baldoni’s massive $400 million countersuit accusing the couple of extortion and defamation, as well as a separate $250 million suit against The New York Times.
Lively's original case against Baldoni for his alleged conduct is still active and is scheduled to go to trial in New York in March 2026.