Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds will be subpoenaed for all texts, emails, and messages sent about Justin Baldoni and the film It Ends With Us ‘imminently’, DailyMail.com has exclusively learned.
The high-flying Hollywood couple were both named as defendants in a blockbuster lawsuit filed by the actor last week which could see them facing a $400million payout if he prevails.
Both Lively, 37, and Reynolds, 48, along with their PR supremo Leslie Sloane, are also being hit with deposition requests which will see the pair ordered to provide hours of testimony and be quizzed by Baldoni’s lawyers.
A source familiar with the proceedings told DailyMail.com: ‘Unequivocally yes, all parties should be aware that they will be subpoenaed and deposed imminently’.
The impending subpoenas are a further sign that the gloves are coming off in the epic legal battle between glamorous blonde Lively and saturnine director Baldoni.
Lively and Baldoni’s feud first emerged in rumors of discord on the set of domestic abuse drama It Ends With Us that heated up during the promotional campaign that accompanied the film’s release last August.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds will be subpoenaed for all texts, emails, and messages sent about Justin Baldoni and the film It Ends With Us ‘imminently’, DailyMail.com has exclusively learned
Baldoni filed a lawsuit against the Hollywood couple last week which could see them facing a $400million payout if he prevails
According to Baldoni, the bitterness between the film’s two stars saw him and his family banished to a cinema basement for the premiere on Lively’s orders.
In December, the drama exploded into a legal fight when Lively sued claiming sexual harassment.
At the same time, the New York Times released a story based on Lively’s legal filing that accused him of orchestrating a negative publicity campaign against her and put the harassment claim front and center.
In turn, Baldoni sued the Times for defamation and, last week, launched a lawsuit against Lively and Reynolds that accused her of using their celebrity power to hijack his film and attempt to torpedo his career.
Another twist in the tale came earlier this week, when DailyMail.com obtained raw footage showing the slow dance montage scene during which Lively claimed Baldoni had sexually harassed her by nuzzling her neck and declaring: ‘It smells so good’.
In her civil rights complaint filed last month, the actress insisted nobody overheard the comment because the romantic montage was silent and the microphones were switched off.
DailyMail.com obtained raw footage showing the slow dance montage scene during which Lively claimed Baldoni had sexually harassed her by nuzzling her neck and declaring: ‘It smells so good’
The tapes show how friendly the two stars were before it all went so wrong. The two are heard and seen laughing and joking around
But DailyMail.com revealed Baldoni’s sound equipment was switched on – and has exclusively obtained an explosive video showing all three takes that smashes Lively’s claims into smithereens.
The tapes show how friendly the two stars were before it all went so wrong. They laugh and joke around – even joshing about the size of Baldoni’s nose and talk about how they spend their time with their spouses.
They include a complete record of the conversation in question at around the seven-minute mark that makes clear the comment about her smelling so good was in response to Lively talking about her spray tan as they film a romantic dance.
Baldoni tells Lively he’s probably getting his beard on her and she responds.by saying she’s probably getting spray tan on him. Then he quips back ‘it smells good’ before both laugh and she tells him the scent actually comes from her body makeup.
And while the montage does indeed show Baldoni nuzzling Lively’s neck as part of the scene in which they play lovers, the conversation between them is all business with the pair spending most of it talking about lighting and their other halves.
The clip, which is raw footage shot while filming It Ends With Us, comes complete with audio and was passed to DailyMail.com by the actor’s production company Wayfarer and his lawyer Bryan Freedman who has previously said Baldoni has ‘nothing to hide’.
After Baldoni tells Lively he’s probably getting his beard on her, she responds by saying she’s probably getting spray tan on him. Then he quips back ‘it smells good’ before both laugh and she tells him the scent actually comes from her body makeup
The clip, which is raw footage shot while filming It Ends With Us, was passed to DailyMail.com by the actor’s production company Wayfarer and his lawyer Bryan Freedman who has previously said Baldoni has ‘nothing to hide’
DailyMail.com’s exclusive footage is the latest revelation in a lengthy saga that began with rumors of rancor behind the scenes of It Ends With Us when it was released last August.
It then exploded into a legal fight just before Christmas when the glamorous blonde sued Baldoni for sexual harassment.
At the same time, the New York Times released a story based on Lively’s legal filing that accused him of orchestrating a negative publicity campaign against her and put the smell claim front and center.
In turn, Baldoni sued the Times for defamation and, last week, launched a $400million lawsuit against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds that accused her of using her celebrity power to hijack his film and attempt to torpedo his career.
The new clip, which Lively had previously insisted has no audio, begins with the pair discussing the scene with the actress telling Baldoni ‘I’m off my mark’.
Ironically, at one point the pair are heard debating whether it is better to talk or kiss during the montage, with Lively arguing that chatting is ‘more romantic’ which Baldoni acquiesces to and then, when she wonders whether anyone will discover what they’re really talking about, quips ‘They’re never going to find out’.
Lively claims the explosive video exclusively released by DailyMail.com, which shows all three takes of a dance scene between the duo, proves that she was uncomfortable during the scene; the two seen in a still from the movie
Lively’s legal team claims that her ‘leaning away’ from Baldoni during the scene was not acting, and that the clips shows her ‘repeatedly asking for the characters to just talk’; they are seen in 2024 on set
Conversation then turns to their other halves, with Lively saying she and Reynolds talk ‘all the time’ while Baldoni says he and wife Emily stare at each other ‘for 10, literally like we’ve done it for five minutes’.
Lively then bursts into laughter as he tells her ‘I think you would find it terrifying’. When Lively continues to tell him about how she can’t stop talking to Reynolds, Baldoni compliments: ‘Oh, I think that’s cute. You guys are really cute.’
Awkwardly, she replies ‘I think it’s more than cute’ which he hastily agrees with, adding ‘I think you guys are amazing.’
Baldoni, who directed as well as acted in It Ends With Us, then says he wants them to be filmed almost kissing, at which Lively then continues to talk – insisting its more romantic to chat and not give the audience the smooch she says they want.
She continues to talk before saying ‘heads together’, prompting both to lean their foreheads against each other.
At that point, Lively begins talking about noses, telling Baldoni: ‘I feel so nosey. It’s just noses’.
Baldoni accused Lively of using her celebrity power to hijack his film and attempt to torpedo his career; Lively and Reynolds seen in 2024
Baldoni then tells her ‘my nose is so big’ to which she bursts into laughter, exclaiming: ‘Yes. I was hoping we could address this. Just got to shut down, gotta call an insurance month and just deal with that. Just kidding.’
The clip then continues into the second take, with Baldoni heard giving instructions to the crew and discussing the scene with Lively.
Then, just over seven minutes in, comes the critical conversation that appears to be the source of Lively’s accusation which begins when Baldoni asks ‘if I’m getting beard on you’.
She laughs and says ‘I’m probably getting spray tan on you’ to which he replies ‘it smells good’ and they both laugh.
Lively then tells him: ‘Well it’s not that, it’s my body makeup.’
As the extras erupt in cheers, Baldoni shouts ‘cut!’ and tells her they have enough for a 17-minute reel.
The final take, which focuses on their feet, includes audio of Baldoni telling Lively that ‘I’m going to let you direct this’ with the actress then insisting her heels aren’t cropped out ‘because of the sparkle’.
DailyMail.com’s explosive new clip comes less than five days since Baldoni’s lawsuit was filed and two weeks after the actress was accused of serving the actor and his team papers as they evacuated during the Los Angeles wildfires.
In Baldoni’s suit, Lively is accused of failing to read the novel on which the book is based until long after filming had begun and orchestrating a negative publicity campaign of her own with the connivance of her own publicist Leslie Sloane and the New York Times.
During one incident, according to the legal filing, Lively attempted to intimidate Baldoni by pointing to her famous husband and close friend Taylor Swift then comparing herself to Game of Thrones character Khaleesi and telling him ‘I have a lot of dragons’.
The actress and her team are also accused of doctoring text conversations between Baldoni’s publicists to make them look damning and as if they’re plotting a smear campaign against her – which led to both being subjected to social media abuse when the edited texts were published.
Baldoni’s cross-complaint also revealed that he and his family had been forced to spend the premiere of It Ends With Us sitting in a basement because Lively refused to allow him to be in the same room as her.
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