Dozens of texts and email conversations from Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s PR dumpster fire have become public thanks to the ongoing legal battle between the Seraph of the End star and director.
This week, viewers around the world read an exhibit in a New York district court aimed at supporting both sides of Mr. Lively’s lawsuit against Mr. Baldoni for harassment and retaliation. Of particular interest to Hollywood insiders were the candid and brutally candid conversations between executives at Sony Pictures, which co-financed and released It Ends With Us in August 2024, in an effort to unravel the scandal that erupted when Lively came forward with the accusations against Baldoni. The director and co-star filed a defamation lawsuit against the actress and the New York Times over an article intended to expose them.
It’s not just how Sony’s emails and texts reveal the difficult business of making movies and dealing with ugly talent wars, but also how eerily reminiscent of the 2014 Sony hack that these revelations are. The corporate cyberattack, rated the worst in U.S. history, ended careers and sparked a long-standing rift in the entertainment industry thanks to archives of leaked emails between executives, agents and stars.
“She did this to herself,” Sanford Panitch, president of Sony Pictures Entertainment Film Group, wrote of Lively in August 2024. “At the time, it was revealed that Lively had insisted that Baldoni be banned from the red carpet of her film’s New York premiere until she got through the press line.”
“If she had just let him come to the premiere, if she hadn’t had the whole cast unfollow him or kicked him out of the movie and done what everyone in show business does for the sake of time and commemoration, which is to protect ‘the show,’ nothing about the investigation would have happened,” Panitch said. The “investigation” refers to countless users on social platforms like TikTok who have spent months investigating the feud between Baldoni, Lively and his cast.
“It was an epic level of stupidity to promote hair at the same time. She didn’t listen. She knows better,” Panitch concluded, referring to Lively’s decision to launch a marketing campaign for hair care and alcohol products in conjunction with the film’s release. “It Ends With Us” tells the story of domestic violence and how one woman attempts to break the cycle of harm. Selling shampoo and spiked lemonade behind the scenes of Colleen Hoover’s film adaptation seemed vulgar and opportunistic.
Tom Rothman, one of modern Hollywood’s longest-serving studio executives and CEO of Sony Pictures, said in an email that he didn’t think Lively deserved the enthusiasm she received, but added, “She brought it all on herself by refusing to listen to advice and selling her own product.”
Tara Grant, executive vice president and chief communications officer at Sony Pictures Entertainment, echoed similar sentiments. “She orchestrated all this drama in a completely uninformed and amateurish way (and basically…blackmailed Sony), and now it backfired on her and she’s mad,” Grant wrote about Lively in August 2024.
It would be unreasonable to blame Sony based on the post-mortem investigation. It Ends with Us grossed a whopping $350 million worldwide against a reported $25 million budget (executs admit in court documents that reshoots and delays due to Hollywood’s 2023 guild strike and the coronavirus outbreak ballooned the budget to nearly $55 million). For a mid-budget film that overperformed in theaters, a sequel would have been a given. The problem, of course, is that Baldoni owns the rights to the sequel.
That’s not the only tough story. Ange Giannetti, the Sony Pictures executive who directed “It Ends With Us,” appeared before a New York judge on Thursday after Baldoni filed a motion to dismiss Lively’s case before trial, and is at the center of much of the sordid evidence in the case. The judge adjourned sentencing for further advice.
Deadpool himself, Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds, showed that his love for Jannetty and one of his Sony colleagues is not lost, documents show. Mr. Leniols called the executives “fucking textbook, incompetent old men with no ideas or thoughtful communication skills. They’re just blunt instruments with six catchphrases and five or so keywords.”
Giannetti had some ideas of her own. In a lengthy deposition given by Baldoni’s lawyer, Brian Friedman, Baldoni admitted to calling Lively a “terrorist.”
Sony executives are not the only powerful people who have fallen into the trap of this evidence dump. Taylor Swift, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper and more were implored by Lively to back her “It Ends With Us” cut after Sony agreed to consider a version to both direct and star.
A New York judge is expected to issue a decision to proceed to trial within the next few days. Sony Pictures has not commented on this matter.
