A number of A-list celebrities were mentioned in the lawsuit Blake Lively filed against Justin Baldoni. When Lively, 37, sued her It Ends Wi...
A number of A-list celebrities were mentioned in the lawsuit Blake Lively filed against Justin Baldoni.
When Lively, 37, sued her It Ends With Us co-star and director, 40, and he filed a response, several notable A-listers were referenced in the court documents.
The lawsuit was filed by Lively on Friday, and in the filing, she accused him of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment as well as launching a smear campaign with the intent to 'destroy' her reputation.
The lawsuit also referenced Lively's close friend Taylor Swift as well as her former colleagues Leighton Meester, Anna Kendrick and Ben Affleck.
A 'scenario planning' document, which Lively attached to the complaint, revealed the alleged PR plan from Baldoni's side with mentions of all the aforementioned names.
In the court documents, the leaked plan from Baldoni's crisis management team reportedly revealed the intention to target Lively in a calculated smear campaign.
Leighton Meester
Lively's previous working relationships with Meester, Kendrick and Affleck were also points of interest for Baldoni's crisis management team.
Lively previously worked with Meester on Gossip Girl from 2007 to 2012.
In the filing, Baldoni's team allegedly started planning as they anticipated the hypothetical scenario that 'Blake subtly hints at her "experience" [working on set with Baldoni on It Ends With Us] in post-premiere coverage, either in an op-ed, interview or otherwise.'
The documents suggest that Baldoni's team was throwing out the idea of encouraging journalists to scrutinize Lively's past working relationships with the three aforementioned actors.
'These pieces will lively come out following any potential hit piece and/or coverage from the premiere,' the document reads.
'Our recommended approach would be to provide reporters who reach out for comment, should it be obvious she's referring to you, with the appropriate background information (listed in Scenario 1) to ensure their stories are balanced and the speculation can be turned to another one of the many people she's had issues working with (Leighton Meester, Anna Kendrick, Ben Affleck, etc.).'
When they were working on Gossip Girl together, Lively and Meester were rumored to have clashed due to their different personalities.
Although the two actresses have never spoken in length about their relationship on and off the set, their former colleagues — executive producer Joshua Safran and fellow actress Michelle Trachtenberg, in particular, in a 2017 interview with Vanity Fair — denied speculation of a feud between any of the cast members.
Anna Kendrick
Lively worked with Kendrick on the 2018 crime-thriller film A Simple Favor.
During the press tour, they were rumored to have a tense relationship as fans believed their interviews were awkward.
As for Lively and Kendrick's working relationship, the latter actress seemed to suggest they were on good terms when she previously spoke about how they reunited for a sequel earlier this year.
Kendrick said that because they live on different coasts, they just 'don't get to see each other often.'
However, she said it was 'lovely' reuniting and 'so fun to just get the gang back together' before adding that it 'does feel a little bit like riding a bike' in an October interview with People.
Ben Affleck
Lively worked with Affleck in their 2010 action-thriller movie The Town, which was also directed by him.
After working with Lively on The Town, Affleck also spoke highly of his experience during their press tour.
In regards to filming their sex scene, he praised the actress and said she was 'very poised and comfortable about it — more mature than some of the crew members.'
Affleck recalled taking Lively around his hometown of Boston during filming, and said that Lively was shocked to learn that he was friends with Matt Damon.
He also previously spoke about being impressed with her hard-working nature and how she 'brought a sense of complexity and nuance to the character that I felt was really important,' in her cover profile in Interview Magazine in 2010.
Taylor Swift
Lively's longtime pal Swift was also referenced within the court documents.
Exhibits attached to the complaint showed an email, which mentioned Swift, that a crisis management expert working for Baldoni sent on August 6.
According to the email, it appeared Baldoni's team was concerned about the overlap of Lively's supporters and Swift's fanbase.
In preparation for a hypothetical scenario of how viral an issue could become if raised by Lively, just based on her friendship with the superstar, a separate 'scenario planning' document showed how they allegedly intended to 'plant stories' against Lively and Swift.
The aforementioned email read: 'We have seen the most innocuous issues turn giant due to socials or the hugest crises have no effect on social whatsoever. You just cannot tell at this stage. But BL does have some of the same TS fanbase so we will be taking it extremely seriously.
Another exhibit, a separate 'scenario planning' document from Baldoni's side, noted: 'Our team can also explore planting stories about the weaponization of feminism and how people like Taylor Swift, have been accused of utilizing these tactics to "bully" into getting what they want."
Hailey Bieber
Another exhibit referenced Hailey Bieber as Baldoni had texted his team using the model as an example of how they could tarnish Lively's reputation.
He referenced the post on X, formerly Twitter, as an example of an 'astroturfing' plan against Lively.
Astroturfing is 'the practice of publishing opinions or comments on the internet, in the media, that appear to come from ordinary members of the public but actually come from a particular company or political group.'
Per the text exchange in the exhibit, Baldoni sent a screenshot of an X thread that about 'Hailey Bieber's history of bullying women,' and he wrote to his team: 'This is what we would need.'
Ryan Reynolds
Another exhibit showed text exchanges between Baldoni and his team about Lively's husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, in May 2024.
In the texts, Baldoni was telling his team that Reynolds had allegedly blocked him on social media as well as his production company Wayfarer Studios on Instagram.
He appeared to be telling his team to be prepared in case Lively would do the same and the public would learn of their on-set tension and alleged issues with each other.
'We should have a plan for IF she does the same when [the] movie comes out,' Baldoni texted his publicist, according to Lively's complaint.
'Just want you guys to have a plan. Plans make me feel more at ease.'
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