Blake Lively Labels Justin Baldoni as 'Clown' in Unsealed Court Documents

Thu Jan 29 2026 20:11:04 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

In newly revealed text messages from her legal case against Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively refers to him as a 'doofus director' and a 'clown', shedding light on the turmoil during the filming of 'It Ends With Us'.

Court documents from Blake Lively's ongoing lawsuit against Justin Baldoni reveal derogatory text messages where she describes him as a 'clown' and 'doofus director'. The actress accused Baldoni of sexual harassment, claims he denies. The litigation continues with trial set for May, amidst ongoing tensions between the two stars following their collaboration on the film 'It Ends With Us'.

Blake Lively referred to Justin Baldoni as a doofus director and a clown, according to newly unsealed court documents from the actress's legal case.

The pair starred together in It Ends With Us, but Lively sued Baldoni in December 2024, accusing him of sexual harassment and waging a smear campaign against her. Baldoni strongly denies the claims and is defending the lawsuit.

Text messages from 2023 between Lively and people close to her appear to show that Lively called Baldoni a rabid pig, while her friend Taylor Swift suggested Baldoni knew the lawsuit was coming because he's gotten out his tiny violin.

Baldoni's $400m counter-suit was dismissed by a judge last June. Neither has yet responded to the BBC's request for comment.

Lively's case is set to go to trial in May. The newly unsealed documents show both Lively and Baldoni venting to friends and colleagues about filming It Ends With Us, and the subsequent press tour, ahead of the film's release in August 2024.

In the messages, Lively referred to Baldoni as this doofus director of my movie and described him as a clown who thinks he's a writer now. In their filing earlier this week, Lively's team did not deny the language she had used but said the text messages were missing context.

They referred the court to the complete text exchange, including subsequent messages from Lively to Baldoni which said we all benefit from her relationship with Swift and her husband Ryan Reynolds, and you will too, I can promise you.

The messages also show Lively saying of Baldoni: Despite his repeated disturbing behaviour and acts, I still feel bad for him. She expressed her frustration over how he was allegedly smearing her for wanting better conditions on set, stating, I literally don't know a single thing I've done that he can smear me about.

The documents note that a friend recalled working on Baldoni's set as truly one of the worst days of [her] life. The text messages were unsealed just ahead of a summary judgement hearing scheduled for January 22.