Justin Baldoni accused Blake Likely of “setting me up for a trap” by refusing to use a body double in “It Ends With Us” sex scenes, according to recently unsealed text messages amid their ongoing legal battle.
“She’s refused a body double,” Baldoni wrote in a private text exchange with his former William Morris Endeavor agent Danny Greenberg on Dec. 30, 2023, per legal docs obtained by Page Six.
He argued that the move was “just setting me up for a trap,” adding that she insisted Baldoni use a body double for their scenes.
While explaining his “really bad week” to his agent, Baldoni described how Lively shut down his ideas for the film’s sex scenes and suggested that the stars “keep all of both of our clothes on for the big love scene,” which he claimed was “just ridiculous if you know the book.”
“The whole thing is just a gigantic cluster f–k and yet I’m doing my best to stay positive, although 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 complained.
The “Jane the Virgin” alum, 41, claimed that he was giving into “95%” of her demands “for peace,” but called the ordeal a “brutal experience.”
In an update, Baldoni confirmed that he would be meeting with Lively, 38, at her house to go over her edits as she insisted the meeting “needed to take place” there.
He also alleged that the “Gossip Girl” alum pushed back on Wayfarer Productions’ CEO Jamey Heath being present on the film’s set — which Baldoni assured he was “fighting back on.”
“I’m doing my best to just stay positive and give her as many wins as possible to just finish this thing but it’s gonna be tough at some point,” he wrote, adding that Lively was “destroying her reputation.”
“Where we will need the most help is during the Edit because I’m not going to get everything she wants and I foresee that being a big issue,” he told Greenberg.
Reps for Lively and Baldoni did not immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.
A source close to Lively, however, tells Page Six that “these messages were sent only after Blake had laid out in detail the numerous ways that Baldoni and Heath had created a hostile work environment on the set, after they agreed to more than a dozen ‘protections’ for the safety of the cast and crew, and just days ahead of the January 4 meeting at which these protections would be discussed before filming resumed.”
“The text chain underscores Baldoni’s retaliatory intent,” the source continues. “It reflects his private anger over the same safeguards that he had said in public were both ‘reasonable’ and ‘essential,’ and which he later admitted in his deposition were reasonable, including his resentment for having to show up to an ‘all hands’ meeting he had also agreed to.”
As we previously reported, one of the major issues sparking Lively and Baldoni’s larger-than-life feud was their divisive creative differences on the “It Ends With Us” set.
While Baldoni directed, starred and produced through his Wayfarer Productions company, Lively also earned a producer credit on the movie, which is based on Colleen Hoover’s book of the same name.
At the time, a source told the Hollywood Reporter that Lively commissioned a separate cut of the film from editor Shane Reid, who worked on husband Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
“There was a fracture among the filmmakers in the postproduction process, wherein two different cuts of the movie emerged,” the outlet reported.
A source seemingly confirmed the outlet’s reporting in August 2024, exclusively telling Page Six that Lively gave the final approval on the film.
“There were two edits and the studio went with a more feminine edit,” the insider shared.
It was also reported that Baldoni allegedly made Lively feel “uncomfortable” on set and created an “extremely difficult” atmosphere for the cast in general.
Lively filed a formal lawsuit against the director in December 2024 for alleged sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and lost wages.
Baldoni hit back with a $400 million countersuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. However, that suit has since been tossed.
A May 18, 2026 trial date has been set for their case.
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