Justin Baldoni revealed he felt ‘the wrath of an angry husband’ as Blake Lively’s spouse Ryan Reynolds chastised him amid the tension-packed production of It Ends With Us nearly two years ago.
Baldoni, 41, traded incendiary text messages with actor Rainn Wilson, 59, about Reynolds allegedly ‘scolding him’ – with the exchange uncovered in a court filing obtained by People Thursday.
Baldoni told his colleague that he felt ’emotionally paralyzed’ following the January 2024 confrontation with Reynolds at the New York City apartment the A-list Deadpool star shares with The Gossip Girl star and their children.
The Jane The Virgin star said that he felt ‘ambushed’ by Reynolds, 49, who he found to be very condescending in the exchange.
‘Ryan was talking to me like a five-year-old and scolding me,’ Baldoni said in the messages, which were dated January 5, 2024.
Daily Mail has reached out to reps for both parties for further comment on the story and has yet to hear back.
Justin Baldoni, 41, said that he felt ‘the wrath of an angry husband’ as Blake Lively’s spouse Ryan Reynolds chastised him amid the tension-packed production of the film It Ends With Us nearly two years ago. Pictured August 2024
Reynolds, 49, and Lively, 38, pictured in NYC this past May 18
This comes after Baldoni’s legal team submitted a deleted scene from It Ends With Us as evidence on Thursday – which showed Lively allegedly improvising a kiss with a reluctant Baldoni
Baldoni told Wilson in the text messages that Reynolds expressed his concerns about the character of both himself and Wayfarer Studios CEO Jamey Heath.
‘They essentially said that Jamey and I are not who we claimed to be and that for us to have a podcast is unsafe because it makes people feel like we are safe,’ Baldoni said.
Baldoni said that Reynolds rattled off a list of complaints from his phone that had been ‘taken completely out of context’ from the realities of the situation.
‘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 said.
Baldoni told Wilson that he felt ’emotionally paralyzed, which is something I haven’t experienced in years.’
The actor said in a text messages that for the first time he began to look at Reynolds and Lively as adversaries as opposed to collaborators.
‘My brain was struggling,’ he said, ‘because what I wanted to say and do was run and blow this whole movie up because I feel this was so unjust.’
Baldoni said that in spite of the unfair situation and power imbalance, he did his best to try and allay Reynolds’ concerns.
Lively, who has spent the entire year in the legal battle, pictured in NYC in September
It Ends with Us, directed by Baldoni, was a surprise hit when it arrived in theaters in 2024
‘The only path forward was to acknowledge her and Ryan’s feelings and apologize and take the wrath of an angry husband – yeah, I couldn’t even do that correctly,’ Baldoni said.
Baldoni said he turned to spirituality to find strength in the challenging situation.
‘I prayed and prayed and prayed for the words and they didn’t come, so I felt abandoned by God in that moment – even though I know that’s not what happened,’ Baldoni said.
Reynolds characterized some of the behavior on the film set as ‘abuse,’ Baldoni told Wilson.
Baldoni said of Lively, ‘We were told this was the worst experience of her life … and others have witnessed this behavior… the behavior on our set was creepy.’
Baldoni said Reynolds’ ire was triggered by inquiries he had made with a personal trainer working on the film about Lively’s weight – as he was required to pick her up for one scene.
Baldoni noted that he had past suffered back problems and did not want to risk an injury, leaving the trainer to ask Lively, who then informed Reynolds.
Baldoni’s legal team said that their client said he had ‘never been spoken to like that in his life,’ characterizing the exchange as ‘traumatic.’
It earned $148 million in domestic box office, and $350 million globally – but whatever goodwill the film garnered has since been overshadowed by the allegations made by its stars
Lively pictured June 9 in NYC, hours after a judge threw out Baldoni’s case against her
The minute-long never-before-seen footage of a hospital hallway scene was filmed in May 2023 and in a bombshell twist, Baldoni is accusing Lively of the very conduct which she claims justifies her lawsuit against him
Baldoni’s lawyers noted that Reynolds ‘inappropriate and humiliating berating of Baldoni [was] delivered, perhaps intentionally, as other celebrity friends were coming in and out of their penthouse.’
Lively claimed Baldoni had sexually harassed her while making It Ends with Us, which was a surprise hit when it arrived in theaters in August last year. Baldoni denied the allegation.
This comes after never-before-seen footage from It Ends With Us showed Lively having an alleged unscripted kiss with a reluctant Baldoni.
According to court documents obtained by the Daily Mail, Baldoni’s legal team submitted a deleted scene as evidence on Thursday, arguing that it shows the actress improvising a kiss during filming – something she has cited of evidence of sexual harassment on the set of the drama.
The minute-long clip, filed as an exhibit in a November 13 motion for summary judgment, shows Lively and Baldoni shooting a hospital hallway scene in May 2023.
In the footage, Lively’s Lily strides up to Baldoni’s Ryle, grabs his arms and plants a quick kiss on him before smiling and walking off.
Baldoni’s legal team says the moment was unscripted and was not part of the written screenplay.
The filing claims that the former Gossip Girl star – who is married to Ryan Reynolds – not only approved the moment, but ‘oversaw’ the scene and ‘herself added to the script, in which her character kissed Baldoni’s character in every take, although there was no kiss in the script.’
The movie earned $148 million in domestic box office, and $350 million globally – but whatever goodwill the film garnered has since been overshadowed by the allegations made by its stars.
The motion picture, which also starred Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, Brandon Sklenar and Kevin McKidd, was based on the 2016 novel by Colleen Hoover.
The storyline of the film centered around a toxic relationship between Lily Bloom (played by Lively) and Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni).
According to a logline for the film, Lily ‘overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life,’ as ‘a chance meeting with a neurosurgeon sparks a connection but Lily begins to see sides of him that remind her of her parents’ relationship.’
In December of last year, Lively named Baldoni in a lawsuit accusing him of sexual harassment, retaliatory conduct, and intentional infliction of emotional stress.
In her lawsuit, the actress accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her in multiple ways – including body shaming her – and orchestrating a smear campaign against her to damage her reputation.
Barring any major changes, Baldoni and Lively will face off in a courtroom next spring
In her lawsuit, Lively named a number of Baldoni’s collaborators, including his company Wayfarer Studios, the studio’s CEO and financial backer, and PR personnel Nathan and Abel.
Baldoni had initially asked for $250 million in damages from The New York Times, mentioning a report it published on the topic, then added it to the $400 million lawsuit he filed this past January.
In the suit, Baldoni named Lively, her spouse Ryan Reynolds and her publicist Leslie Sloane, citing the aforementioned report in legal documents. It was thrown out of court this past June.
All parties have denied all of the allegations against them.
